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

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 105 Aft Upper Deck Beams

Posted 10/28/11

 

 

 

In Part 103 I discussed the way the beams with iron knees were being fabricated and the sequence for installing them and in 104 discussed the tiller sweep.  The installation of the beams that will support the tiller sweep and the associated sheaves, in and around the officers cabin partitions, turned out to be an interesting puzzle, but first some improvements in the beam and iron knee process.

 

The first picture shows a step in the slightly modified process for attaching the iron knees to the beams.

 

 

Initially the bolts were basically “nailed” into the beam in predrilled undersized holes and in the nailing process a head would be formed and peened over on the copper bolt.  The new process is somewhat more authentic.  The copper wire is forced all the way through the beam, then cut flush on the back side and cut somewhat higher above the surface of the knee.  The picture was taken just before cutting off the excess.  The beam was then laid on an anvil and the bolt hammered to form a head on both ends, leaving (usually) a very tight bolt.  The next picture shows a pre fabricated beam assembly.

 

 

I believe this is beam 27 on the drawing.  The next picture shows this beam glued in and the bolts installed through the filling pieces into the frames.  These are still being done like nails.  The wood is wet from washing off of the sulfur blackening solution.

 

 

The next picture shows a U-shaped lodging knee, necessitated by the presence of the rider forward of beam 25, leaving no room for a lodging knee on that side. 

 

 

 

This knee is bolted to beam 26 in the picture, but bolting to beam 25 to the left will have to be done in place, but first beam 25 needs its hanging knees.  The picture also shows one of the sheave assemblies that will be installed at the ends of the sweep under beams 26 and 27, the middle two in this picture.  The sweep is also clamped temporarily in place in this picture.

 

The next picture shows the present state of construction with the aftermost 4 beams installed.

 

 

In the picture the end sheave assembly has also been installed.  The sweep is still only clamped.  The sheave bracket needed to be precisely located so the rope would run smoothly into the groove in the sweep.  The officers’ cabins further complicate this work and need to be fitted up in concert with the sweep so the rope will not be fouled by the aftermost partition.  This required laying out the run of the rope to the location of the sheaves ahead of the mizzenmast that will lead the rope up to the wheel.  This all required a lot of finicky checking and some adjustment to the partition location.

 

The next picture shows the sheave with the rope led into the sweep.

 

 

I left the end of the sheave bracket open to facilitate feeding the rope through.  This side was threaded up first because all this will be covered with decking.  The other undecked side will be threaded up after the wheel is installed and the rope will be made off to the other side of the tiller.

 

The next picture is another view.  The rope is comfortably in the groove and barely visible.

 

 

The last picture is an overhead view showing the U-shaped knee on the port side.

 

 

The aftermost partition was removed for this picture and is lying on the deck.  The next two are in position.  They fit right under the beams to one side of the iron hangers yet to be installed.  The sheave brackets leading the rope up to the wheel, will be fit between beams 24 and 25 and will need to be positioned around the space for the mizzen mast.

 

Whew!  This has been a very interesting and at times frustrating bit of assembly, but I think it is going to work out.

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 106 Officers Quarters/Tiller Sweep

Posted 11/1/11

 

 

The next step in the puzzle was to fabricate the inside fore and aft wall of the officers’ cabins.  This needed to be done at this time so the doors could be lined up with the opening in the baseboards on the deck before the beams would block access for this.

 

 

The doors were made as simple paneled doors with glass lights.  This was done in a simple way from the outside because the insides will be completely enclosed by the decking on this side and not visible.  The next picture shows this simple construction.

 

 

The stanchions for the wall were first laid out and pinned on the grey Homasote board and the planking was glued to them over the full length.  The doorways were then cut out on the circular saw.  With the bottom panels glued into the openings, the side frames and stretchers were glued in place.  The window mullions were then fabricated as tees from notched strips, cut to size and glued in.  The mullions were then bearded slightly on the outside to eliminate the clunky square appearance seen in the above picture.  Transparency film was then cut to size and fixed to the back of the door with holding strips.

 

The next picture shows the wall in position so the notches for the beams can be marked.

 

 

The next picture shows the wall with notched for the beams. 

 

 

 

These cuts are a bit loose so the wall can be slipped into place after all the beams and internal partitions are installed.  This is necessary because access is needed to install the knee bolts for each beam and this could not be done with the wall in place.  The door hardware has also been installed in this picture.  The doors get a bit more elegant at each deck – simple planked doors on the lower, simple paneled doors at this level and hopefully more ornate fancier panels on the next deck – the Captains quarters.  Unfortunately the lower deck doors are mostly now out of sight.

 

Beam 25, which supports the center of the sweep, was then installed along with its iron knees.  In the next picture the sweep is being permanently fixed into place.

 

 

 

 

The next picture shows a closer view of this.

 

 

 

The port side of the tiller is threaded up and the near side still has a remnant of the rope that was originally installed on that side.  That will be removed when the final attachments are made later.  There is a small pinhole visible in the top of the tiller just aft of the sweep.  This was used to align the sweep to the tiller arc so when the gooseneck is installed it will not bind when the tiller is moved.

 

The last picture shows this assembly from forward.

 

 

 

The scarph bolts are also visible in this picture.  These have now been installed in all the made beams.  The deep notches in the deck clamp visible in this picture are not the beam notches, which are very much shallower.  These are the cutouts for the ventilation scuttles – one in each cabin on each side and six more for the other 250 or so crew.

 

Ed

[the learner]

Ed, is your construction of the doors on this deck similiar to the lower deck? can you show us your process? Looking goog as usual

 

Guy

[the learner]

Ed, I like your process for cutting and shaping the sweep.

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 104 – Tiller and Sweep

Posted 10/24/11

 

[EdT]

Guy,the partitions shown above are on the lower deck, so I assume you are asking if they are like those on the platforms below. I used the same process for all the partitions but the doors get less plain at the higher decks. I genrally described the process in part 106, so I'm not sure what I can add to that, except to answer any specific questions. For the wall panels, check out part 47. The window mullions in the doors are made like small crosses slit from a wider strip that was notched on the mill, or the saw, I can't remember. Either way works with the right size blade. The crosses are then cut to fit into the window opening. Does this address your question?

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 107 Upper Deck Beams Continued

Posted 11/5/11

The work on the beams of the aft part of the upper deck continued. These beams are over the officers’ cabins on both sides so they were fitted with iron angled knees to provide more room in these already cramped spaces. The first picture shows this type of knee fitted right up against one of the partitions – or vice versa.

 

 

This picture was taken right after installing the bolts in the knee and touching up their heads with some sulfur solution. The picture also shows the ventilation scuttle openings – one to each of these cabins – cut through the deck clamps. The glue residue where the rider was removed still needs to be cleaned off.

 

The next picture shows the other side of this beam.

 

 

There will be no partitions installed on this side, which will have open framing on all decks. If the partition were installed on this side it would fit right between the iron hanging knee and the standard. Since this side will not be planked on the on the inside, the riders have been left in place. They were removed from the other side so the beams and the interior planking could be fit in. At least one side had to be removed to allow the beams to be inserted.

 

The next picture shows a wooden lodging knee being fitted to the beam in the above pictures.

 

 

There were some wood knees installed along with the iron, but I do not know why or the logic for where they were installed.

 

The next picture shows the rudder rope sheaves with their brackets installed beneath the beams and carlings just forward of the mizzenmast.

 

 

The purpose of the spool is to try and keep the excess length of rope out of the way until it can be rigged up.

 

The next picture shows an iron hanging knee fitted to a beam.

 

 

The knees are first made and positioned on the beam while it is in place so at least one bolt hole can be marked. It is then bolted to the beam with copper wire through bolts. The knees and bolts are then cleaned with acetone and treated with sulfur solution before installing using a cotton swab. I had been doing this treatment after installation, but found it easier to do it at this stage and then touch up the side bolts after. The plastic cup at the top contains a complete batch of sulfur solution. It works best when it is fresh and the amount in the cup is many times what is needed for one beam’s ironwork. It is applied with a cotton swab. The surrounding wood seems to return to its normal state whether the solution is washed off or left on. The solution neutralizes to a clear liquid.

 

All these beams forward of the tiller are supported in the center by pillars. The next picture shows the height of a pillar being measured.

 

 

The pillars are being mortised into the underside of the beams and in this case into the top of the head ledge of the hatch on the lower deck. The other pillar in the picture is let down into a mortise in the thicker central deck plank.

 

The next picture is an overhead view of the aft beams and the tiller sweep installation.

 

 

 

the carlings for the aftermost five beams have not been fitted. They will support half beams midway between the main beams. I still have a bit of research to do on these. Prior to taking this picture, the lower deck and the structure below the upper deck in this area was given a coat of finish while it is still accessible, since no further work will be done on this.

 

The last two pictures show some of the progress on the beams forward of this area.

 

 

 

Both these pictures give a pretty good idea of the amount of ironwork in this part of the ship. This side will be fully planked on the inside.

 

 

 

This side will not be planked. Carlings are being installed progressively with the beams. Ledges will be installed later.

 

Once the beams proceed to the end of the cabins the ends will be supported by Roberts plate knees. That will involve a new and interesting modeling process for me.

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 108 Upper Deck Beams, Continued

Posted 11/14/11

 

The upper deck beams continue to march forward – one beam, two filling pieces, four iron knees, 32 bolts, a pillar and four or so carlings at a time – plus some partitions. The first picture shows the first additional beam added since the last part.

 

 

The next picture shows the ironwork on the other side of this beam.

 

 

The hanging knee in this picture is canted slightly to get the two lower bolts into the next frame forward of the one holding the standard knee bolts. The boltholes on the lodging knee were drilled to go into a frame. This knee has a short horizontal leg due to the closeness of the next beam forward.

 

There are a lot of partitions on the aft end of this deck and they have been installed progressively with the beams. If these were installed before the beams it would be impossible to drive in the bolts or peen over the bolt heads on the knees. Drilling the holes and installing these bolts is a challenge even without the partitions. Most of the holes into the frames are being drilled with a Dremel tool with a right angle head attachment.

 

The next picture shows some of the partition work in progress.

 

 

Partitions and doors were prefabricated to fit before the beams were in place, then installed after the beams. This picture shows the pre-made double paneled doors to the ward room and one of the dividers between the officers’ cabins before being installed. The long wall with the officers’ cabin doors is not shown in this picture. It was made early on in one piece but could not be fit until all of the overhead beams were in.

 

The next picture shows that wall installed and also the slanted wall with double doors dividing off the ward room – of if you prefer the officers mess, or my preference, and Patrick O’Brien’s, the gun room.

 

 

The door hardware in this area was simply made using small ebony bits. This allowed all these very small pieces to be glued with Titebond rather than the messier CA - had blackened copper been used

 

The next picture is from a different angle and shows all the beams and partitions as currently installed.

 

 

The double, paneled gun room doors can be seen just above the right center of this picture. Just below the center on the centerline is the Captain’s pantry with one paneled door, a storage bin and some shelves.

 

Partitions are only being installed on the port side, which will be partially planked. The starboard side is all about structure.

 

The next picture is a closer view of one half of the Captain’s pantry.

 

 

The thread running along the centerline is being used to constantly check alignment - more on this below.

 

The next picture is a close up of the three cabin doors within the gun room area. The tiller rope and sheave can be seen to the left.

 

 

 

I have not included much on the need for alignment as the decks progress upward. I have shown wire and thread lines in some past photos. This alignment requires constant attention. The centerline is one important reference but the upper framing needs attention as well, as beams are tightly fit within the frames at each level. The next picture shows what I have been doing to keep the frames equidistant from the centerline on both sides.

 

 

 

These plywood templates were made from the top part of the frame patterns for every fifth station or so. Since they include a centerline it is easy to check that this line matches the center string line when the patterns are fit over the sides. As internal and external planking gets added the slots on each side need to be opened up so the template will fit. These are being used periodically when the beams or other structural parts are being fit up.

 

The area just completed has involved the most complex installation sequence so far – largely because of the problems getting the bolts in – and some preplanning was well worth it..

 

With the last of the beams over the officers’ cabins installed, most of the remaining knees will be of a different type. For the most part these will be Roberts plate knees. I am expecting to make these by photo-etching copper sheet. Perhaps some of that will be done by the next part.

 

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 109 Upper Deck Beam #17

Posted 11/17/11

 

 

Up to this point the beams from #29 forward to #17 were fitted with angled iron knees to leave the officers some room in their tiny cabins. Beam #17, the first to be clear this area is being modeled with Roberts style plate knees, one on each side of each beam end. The simple chocks used between these plate knees did not require compass timber and that was a key reason to move to iron. The next beam forward, #16, with its beam arms, will be the last to be installed, so after #17 the work will move to the bow area.

 

The Roberts type plate knees were made by photo-etching sheets of .005” copper. The third attempt at etching is shown in the next photo.

 

 

Photo-etching is, to say the least an interesting and intricate process. I think it will take some practice to get 100% yields, but this third attempt produced 12 out of 14 good knees. In the first attempt the holes came out too big so the size had to be reduced on the “artwork.” The entire photo resist was lost on one side on the second attempt due to poor laminating. I won’t go further into this process except to say there are a lot of steps and some nasty chemicals involved.

 

The next picture shows one of the chocks being pinned and glued to the beam.

 

 

With the beam in place the chock was held against the side and the pinhole drilled. It was then glued on as shown above. After this gluing step, two copper bolts were CA glued through the beam from the top to hold it together securely. The chocks were then tapered. They are somewhat narrower at the bottom and flush with the beam sides at the top.

 

The next picture shows the plate and all the bolting installed on one end.

 

 

In practice these plates were set into the wood, but I wasn’t up for that task. The bolts went all the way through both plates and the chock. The model bolts in the plate are really nails. A piece of wire like the one in the picture was forced into a tight hole with pliers, clipped off close to the surface and peened over with a hammer. The extended tabs at the end of the beam will be bent over to bolt into the filling pieces and frames. The black bolts through the chock into the frames are black fishing leader.

 

The next picture shows the whole beam assembly.

 

 

 

The next picture shows the assembly fit into place for the marking of the holes in the filling pieces.

 

 

The filling piece shown is loose and has not yet been cut to size. The next picture shows this connection, after blackening the knees and gluing the beam into place.

 

 

The bolts in the tabs can now be installed. The filling pieces will be dubbed back to the beam height later before installing the waterway.

 

The next picture shows the beam completely installed, with its pillar (not visible) and carlings.

 

 

 

The picture also shows the pump shafts, which need to be detailed and maybe installed before the upper deck framing is done in this area. The four square Cole pump casings have had their clamping brackets installed at this stage – ebony plates with long wire fastenings. The bent wire staples in the top maintain the distance between casings at the top of each pump. The lower deck structure, decking and partitions have been given a coat of finish up to this point.

 

The work will now move to the upper deck beams in the bow area so it can continue in a sequence from smaller to larger sized beams finishing up with the beam just forward of the main mast and its arms.

 

 

Ed

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Ed,

 

it's allways a pleasure to follow the build of your masterpiece. Many thanks for redoing your build log. It is a great help for me.

[dvm27]

Love those Robert's style plate knees, Ed. I've also found photo-etching to be a bit of the black arts, like blackening.

[EdT]

Thank you Christian and Greg,

 

Yes, photo-etching is something of an art form, but for me it doesn't come close to trying to make soldered brass stay black, I have finally surrendered and painted Naiads stack - after watching white powdery corroasion develop over a month or two - four times - with every washging idea I could come up with. With photo-etching, the metal is either there or not there.

 

Ed

[BANYAN]

Thanks for the feedback Ed, a bit more time needed to study your technique a bit closer and work out the jigs to create the faces.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 110 - Forward Upper Deck Beams

Posted 11/21/11

 

 

After installing the aft upper deck beams as far as midship, I moved to the beams in the bow so that beams are being installed smaller beams first. This facilitates the maneuvering of succeeding beams into place and also the installation of the lodging knees, which were always on the midship facing side of the beam.

 

The first piece to be made in the bow was the upper deck hook. This was cut and fit against the hawse timbers then removed so it’s assembly with beam #1, the ekeing pieces and the beam’s hanging knees, carlings and ledges could all be done on the bench. The first picture shows the finished assembly.

 

 

 

Beam #1 has wood hanging knees and angled iron lodging knees. The next picture shows the installed assembly.

 

 

You will notice in this picture that the forecastle clamp has been sawn through in four places because I forgot to cut the air gaps between hawse timbers before installing these clamps. This piece and the same piece on the port side will be replaced.

 

The next picture shows the iron lodging knee on the starboard side of beam #1 being bolted into place.

 

 

 

After marking and drilling undersized holes in the beam, the drawn copper wire is being forced to bottom in the hole with pliers. It will the be clipped off just above the surface and peened over with a hammer. The next picture is a scary closeup of the finished knee taken right after chemical treatment.

 

 

 

That’s a three-penny finishing nail at the bottom of the picture holding a copper guy wire. The picture also shows a black monofilament bolt that has gone astray and missed the beam. Isn’t magnification great?

 

In the next picture beam 2 is installed and beams 3 and 4 are being fit up.

 

 

 

The next picture shows the first two beams with their carlings and hammock battens installed.

 

 

These battens provide spaces for hammocks to be hung on the prescribed 14” centers. Hammocks would have been slung between battens on every other beam. The battens on the aft side of beam 2 will pair up with those on the fore side of beam 4. Most beams will have battens on both sides, but not those at the ends. These forward hammocks would probably have been in the sick bay. There will be about 250 hammock spaces on this deck. Everyone slept on this deck except the captain and the few junior officers with spaces on the platform below at the orlop level. Things on this deck were a bit tight to say the least.

 

The last picture shows the extent of upper deck beams installed so far.

 

 

 

Time to photo-etch some more plate knees.

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 111 - Upper Deck Beams – Riding Bitts

Posted 12/2/11

 

After the last post there were some questions about the hammock battens. The first picture shows how they were milled on a wide piece before being slit off on the circular saw.

 

 

This piece is about 6“ thick allowing for a 3” square batten with three inch blocks to offset it from the beam. A 3/16 inch square end mill was used and advanced ¼ inch after each pass. Two of these pieces were needed. The next picture shows how the sliced off battens were fastened.

 

 

 

I found that these were easier to glue on and clamp after the beams were installed. They are flush with the bottom of the beams and held with clamps after gluing.

 

After the first four forward beams were installed the riding bitts had to be addressed with the next set of beams. The first step was to install the forward bit pins against the aft side of beam 4 and the same beam on the deck below. The main issue with these is that they be equidistant from the centerline and vertical. The thread line seen in most of these pictures was used constantly. The next picture shows the forward pins and their standard knees installed.

 

 

The knees of these forward pins form the sides of the rabbet for the cross chocks that make up the mast partners. The carlings under these form the supports under these chocks. The rest of the mast partners assembly will be installed later.

 

The next picture shows a top view of this with Beam 5 installed.

 

 

 

Beam 5 has plain iron knees because of its proximity to the first ridersnotshown), which leave no room for the tabs on the plate knees. Beams 5, 6, and 7 have double pillars supporting their centers. These beams supported the galley stove and its heavy layer of refractory brick or stone, which was used to insulate the wood structure from the hot stove fireboxes. It was probably important that this structure be very rigid to keep the brickwork from breaking up as it flexed.

 

The next picture shows a beam being “jacked up” or “sprung” so it can be popped into place.

 

 

 

If the beams are cut to just fit between the frames, this bending is necessary on this deck because the tumblehome of the sides prevents the beam from fitting above its notch in the clamp. Having the beams fit tightly, apart from the aesthetics, is a good idea because it makes marking out the centerlines and carlings more accurate and helps maintain straight lines. This beam had the hammock battens installed on the bench, but with this heavy handling it is easy to break them – one of the reasons I later decided to wait for the beams to be installed before adding these..

 

The next picture shows beams 5 and 6 installed.

 

 

In this picture the wider carlings under the bit standards are also being installed along with each beam. I made these flush with the beam tops like the other carlings, In practice the bitt standards were let down 1 to 1 ¼” on the beams, which would require the carlings to be lower by that amount and the ledges to sit above the tops of the carlings by that amount. These .02” scores will be barely discernible on this deck so I took the simpler approach.

 

The next picture shows the carling under the fireplace – another interesting bit of construction.

 

 

This long 9” square carling is scored and let up about 2 “ on the underside of the beams. The space between the top of this and the undersides of the ledges was filled with fir filling pieces. In the picture the fillers and the ledges are installed in the forward two spaces. In the third space only the filler has been installed with the ledge still lying loose. The fourth space has no filling piece as yet.

 

Beam 8 is securely fastened to the aft bit pins with two bolts. It is also fitted with wood hanging and lodging knees. The beam was installed first with the ends fastened securely with its knees and bolts. The starboard bit pin was almost perfectly positioned, but its partner was leaning a bit to the center. The starboard pin was then glued and bolted to the beam. When this was secure the port pin was then forced slightly to the side to make it right, wedged in place at the beam score, glued, clamped and bolted. The deflection was slight but the small misalignment was very noticeable.

 

The next picture shows the aft bitt standards after installation.

 

 

 

These are bolted through the beams and through the wide carlings below. This picture also shows three pillars under the fireplace carling for additional support. This final structure should have no problem supporting my model stove, no matter what it is finally made of.

 

The last picture shows the overall model at this stage and the amount of upper deck structure remaining to be installed.

 

 

The work from this point going aft is pretty straightforward up to the last remaining beam with its two curved beam arms.

 

All of the remaining plate knees have been etched out. The first few were .005” thick, but all the subsequent ones are made from .01” copper. They do not look much different but they are a bit more resistant to handling damage when the beam assembly is being taken in and out..

 

Ed

[the learner]

Wow you are moving fast! Thanks for the write up on the doors, I will review your log to see how you have constructed the doors.

 

I like your Idea of photo etching the Roberts knees, perhaps the work is better sent out and it is just a mater of providing the artwork, but your way is more fun!

[rth385]

Ed,

Your intricate attention to detail is incredible.

Regards,

Russell

[Dida]

I am really impressed by this work.

[dgbot]

Beautiful work.  Where did you get those wood clamps, or did you make them yourself?

David B

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 112 - Upper Deck Beams – Hatchways

Posted 12/2/11

 

Work continued this week on the upper deck beam installation, which is now becoming routine – fit the beam, make and fit the wood knees or chocks, bolt on the iron knees, set the beam install the pillar, then the hammock battens and then the carlings. The first picture shows beam 9 installed, the first beam aft of the main bitt pins.

 

 

The next four beams, 10 to 13, are temporarily positioned with the filling pieces between them installed at the sides. The next picture shows beams 10 to 12 installed.

 

 

I have been installing the carlings and in some cases the ledges with the beams, partly to break up some of the monotony but also to allow some of the between deck structures to be installed, like the ladderway aft of the fore hatch shown in this picture.

 

The next picture shows beam13 installed and the next two laid in place.

 

 

Beam 13 has wooden hanging and lodging knees – a small change of pace. A further diversion this week was the installation of some of the coamings and head ledges for the hatchways as shown in the last two pictures.

 

 

These coamings and head ledges rise 13” above the deck at this level. To do that they need to be 16” high, considering that the deck planking is 3” thick. The coamings are rabbeted for the grating ledges and the corners are made with locked lap joints. The sides are bearded at the top 1” and the corners will be rounded above the level of the deck. The intermediate cross pieces are set in scores on the coamings. All these will be bolted to the beams.

 

The next picture shows the hatchways further aft.

 

 

The single large opening to the right is the aft hatch, which, like the fore and main hatches, goes all the way down into the hold. The double hatchway to the left will have a ladderway in the forward opening. The aft opening is a hatch only to the lower deck. The step for the capstan will cover the opening just ahead of this hatchway structure.

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 113 – The Last Upper Deck Beam

Posted 12/19/11

 

The last beam was the most complex and most interesting to install, but first two pictures on the lower deck – the last opportunity to put the little camera into the gap between beams.

 

 

Depth of field isn’t great, of course. This is looking aft on the lower deck, giving a nice view of the wing transom knee, sleepers and sternson knee. The rope is waiting to be threaded up through the wheel and back through the tiller sweep.

 

 

Port side looking forward. The small forest of pillars to the right, between the bitt pins, supports the fireplace.

 

Finally, the last beam.

 

 

This beam, number 16, is just aft of the main hatch and just forward of the main mast partners, so it is quite a distance from its two neighbors (Beam 15 is still out in this picture.) The beam is reinforced with two sets of beam arms just like its lower deck counterpart. The beam could not be prefabricated with its arms. The problem is illustrated in the picture. Getting this beam in even by itself required some deflection because of the tapering in of the sides. There was no way it could be set with even one of the arms attached – well, maybe one.

 

There are a variety of wood and iron knees used in this assembly and they will be described below. We do not know exactly how these were done on the actual Naiad, so the mix is speculative. Getting a workable sequence for fitting all these knees and assembling the beam in place was an interesting problem.

 

The first step was to make the beam arms and the tabled scarphs to the main beam. The picture below shows the basic pieces.

 

 

 

After cutting the basic shapes of the arms, the scarphs were marked out while the pieces were fit in place on the model – not from this drawing. The scarph tables were all cut manually. One of the steps is shown in the next picture.

 

 

 

The joint lines were first cut with a razor saw, then pared out with the chisel, then dressed with a file. I could have done these on the mill, but this way is easy and avoids set up on the mill

 

In the next picture, wood hanging knees are being glued to the ends of the beam.

 

 

 

The beam is pinned but not glued. It was then removed to level the tops of the knees and install the hanging knee bolts through the beam. It was then permanently glued in and its pillar installed. The lodging knees for this beam are iron and will be shown later.

 

The beam arms were then pinned in place so the mortises for the carlings could be marked out as shown in the next picture.

 

 

A long strip of carling stock is being used to mark the mortises and assure the overall line of carlings is straight. The mortises will then be chiseled out on the bench.

 

The next picture shows the wood lodging knees on the forward arms being glued to the arms.

 

 

The arms are only pinned in this picture. The hanging knees for these forward arms are iron.

 

The next picture shows an iron lodging knee for the main beam being installed.

 

 

The iron (copper) knee is clamped to the beam. The hole for the first bolt has been drilled and the bolt is being forced to the bottom of the hole with pliers in this picture. It will then be cut off above the surface of the knee and hammered in, expanding the head. The other bolts will then be installed including one into the frames. The fore and aft arm of this knee is short because there is a rider to be installed just forward of the beam.

 

The next picture shows an aft arm assembly about to be installed.

 

 

This arm (upside down) has two iron knees that have just been blackened after bolting. The wood is still wet from the sulfur solution being washed off.

 

The next picture shows a beam arm on the port side being glued in place.

 

 

 

These were done one at a time with their knees installed. With both arms permanently fixed, the bolts through the beam were installed through holes drilled earlier. Bolts were then also installed in all the iron knees. Holes were predrilled for these while the pieces were still removable.

 

The last picture shows the completed beam installation.

 

 

 

The outer tiers of carlings, except for one piece, have been installed in this picture. All the upper deck beams are now installed.

 

Time to take a Christmas break and ponder the next move.

 

Best wishes to all for the holidays!

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 114 –Upper Deck Main Partners

Posted 12/31/11

 

 

In the last post the central beam and beam arms were installed. The next step was to fit the main mast partners, the main hatchway carlings and hatchway details. The first picture shows this area.

 

 

 

The hatchway coamings and headledges for the main hatch and main companionway, including the steps, are installed in this picture. Also, the cross chocks of the partners are set into the rabbets in the large sized partner carlings, which are fitted but not glued. At this stage only the fore and aft chocks are glued to to the carlings to allow the assembly to be removed to the bench for detailing. The cross chocks around the pump casing have been cut to fit but are loose at this stage.

 

The next picture shows the assembly removed for further work.

 

 

In this picture the central cross chock and fillers on the sides of the openings have been glued in. The outline of the corner chocks has been marked out and one of these is set over its location so the rabbet lines for it can be marked. Rabbets were then let down and the cross chocks inserted. These are made in two parts, top and bottom, to avoid having to cut rabbets in these very small pieces.

 

The finished assembly is shown below.

 

 

The cross chock section just aft of the openings for the pump casings is still loose in this picture, to allow the assembly to fit over the casings. In the next picture the installation is complete.

 

 

 

The four Cole pump casings are now permanently glued on to pins in the well and all the sections of the cross chocks and the whole assembly is glued in. The two elm tree pump casings, for some reason are too short, so these will be replaced. The two pump carlings, outside of the partners, are also installed in this picture.

 

The next picture shows some preparatory work being done to get ready for the pump cisterns.

 

 

 

In this picture the cross piece of boxwood has been fitted around the pump casings. This will then be slit into two pieces that will then be edge glued to form the floors of the two cisterns.

 

The next picture shows the two pieces joined and fit over the casings.

 

 

 

The blank for the cistern floors has been made in one piece to help assure that the two cisterns are precisely aligned and not affected by misalignment of the four casings or due to differences in the cutouts. The next step will be to rip this piece down to the bottom width of the cisterns then separate it into the two separate floors. I do not expect the cisterns to be watertight.

 

The last picture shows the state of the upper deck on the last day before New Years eve 2011.

 

 

 

The thread on the centerline has been a big help in keeping things centered on this deck. All the upper deck carlings are installed at this stage. The long strips of Castello lying on the deck are blanks for the waterways. These will be milled and installed on both sides as was done on the lower deck. The inside planking of the port side can then begin.

 

Happy New Year everyone.

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 115 –Upper Deck Waterways, Spirketing

Posted 1/10/12

 

 

After the last posting, all of the remaining ledges of the upper deck were installed. The framing of the deck was then leveled out where needed and the filling pieces at the side were pared down level with the tops of the deck beams. The next step was to install the waterways. In the next picture stock is being shaped to make these.

 

 

 

The waterway is thicker under the first strake of spirketing, tapering down in a curve to the thickness of the deck planking. The machining of this shape was done in two steps. First the concave curve was cut with a round ended milling cutter. Then the second cut was made to level the end that would abut the deck planks. The simple jig in the picture was made to guide the pieces through the cutter.

 

The next picture shows one of the forward, curved pieces of waterway being fit.

 

 

 

The flat piece of Castello was shaped to fit the curve of the frames using a disk sander. For curved pieces like this I do not bother with card forms or spiling. The shape was roughly drawn on a rectangular piece of wood and then progressively sanded to shape until a tight fit was obtained. The width of the piece was the marked with a small compass, cut on the scroll saw, then sanded to shape. A different jig was used to machine these curved pieces.

 

The next picture shows the waterways installed.

 

 

 

 

This picture also shows the installation of all the ledges. On the starboard side, the joints are cut, but the actual ledges are left out for visibility into the lower decks on that side.

 

Next is another picture taken further aft.

 

 

 

The top riders were all removed before installing the waterways. The waterways will have to be cut out to permit these to be installed later. This seemed easier than trying to fit the waterways and the rest of the interior planking behind the riders.

 

Before moving to the spirketing, the port gunport linings had to be installed. The next picture shows a couple of these after the linings were faired down with 120-grit paper.

 

 

There is a bit of lens distortion here which makes the line of these last three ports appear humped. The outside of these port frames will be finish sanded later, since they will be left exposed. The notches in the frames below the ports are the openings for the lower deck scuttles.

 

The next picture shows the spirketing on the port side mostly installed.

 

 

This comes up to the tops of the port sills and its upper edge is dubbed off to be horizontal at the height of the linings. The large block is holding one of the guy wires that keep the hull in place. These were removed to work on this in that area, then replaced.

 

The next picture is a closer view of the aft sections of spirketing being installed on the starboard side.

 

 

The spirketing on the lower deck is installed with anchor stock configuration. This was spelled out specifically in the three contracts from the Naiad period that I am using. This was not specified in any of those for the upper deck, so these are being installed as straight planks. The pins are forced through slightly undersized hole using pliers to hold them in place when gluing. The tops of the planks were dubbed off using a Stanley number 93 plane with the stock held in a wide vise.

 

The last picture shows the run of spirketing on the port side, pinned and glued in place.

 

 

While these pictures were being taken, the curved section at the bow was being clamped to shape in place after boiling.

 

The next step will be to plank between the ports on the port side only. The top riders can then be reinstalled.

 

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 116 –Upper Deck – Quickwork

Posted 1/17/12

 

The first picture shows some of the last work on the upper deck spirketing installation at the bow.

 

 

 

The piece on the port side is being glued – held in place by pins. The piece on the starboard side was boiled and clamped to set the bend. In this picture it has dried and is ready to be unclamped, sanded and glued in place.

 

The next picture shows work on the stuff between the ports. This work proceeded concurrently.

 

 

This thinner planking is Castello, to give some contrast with the pear spirketing and the quarterdeck clamps. The three strakes are pinned in place for gluing. Only the port side will get this planking.

 

I’m trying to keep up on the outside of the hull. The next picture shows some work done concurrently with the inside work.

 

 

 

In this picture the upper deck lodging knee bolts have been installed in a long fair line on the outside of the frames. Most of the hanging knee bolts were installed earlier. Also, the holes for the spirketing bolts through the sills and the bolt holes for the gun tackle ironwork have been drilled on both sides of the ports – all the way through from the inside.

 

The next picture shows a test of one of the ringbolts on the inside.

 

 

The eyebolt has an inside diameter of 2” and ring 4 1/2'”. These will be inserted halfway through the hole and glued with CA. These are blackened copper. Monofilament will be used to simulate the outside of these bolts.

 

The next picture shows the first group of these fittings installed.

 

 

 

The sequence here was to install the treenails, fully sand the planking, fit and re-install the topriders, then install the ironwork. I am doing this one section at a time, working forward – to break up the monotony of treenailing. This picture also gives a good view of the two spirketing bolts through the sill.

 

The next picture shows the area of the upper deck finished so far.

 

 

 

And the next picture shows the work forward of this – the treenailing.

 

 

These have yet to be leveled off and sanded. In doing these I have to remember which holes will get bolts and leave out the nails. I’ve had to redrill a few so far. In this picture the waterway has been cut to receive the riders. Also note the step up from the end of the quarterdeck clamp to the string in the waist, just where the Qdeck ends.

 

A few more days work should see the end of the inboard planking on this deck.

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 117 –Upper Deck – Ironwork, Scuppers, Riders

Posted 1/23/12

 

 

This week all the inboard planking of the upper deck was completed on the port side. I haven’t made a decision on the stuff between the ports on the starboard side yet, so work continued on the port side. The first picture shows some ironwork on one of the ports.

 

 

The tackle eyebolt on the forward side of this port is not yet installed, nor is training eyebolt forward of the ringbolt, but the hole is ready for it. The two spirketing bolts through the through the sill can be seen.

 

The next picture shows some more of this in the area of the captain’s cabins.

 

 

 

There was no fancy side paneling in the cabin area but the inboard planking was supposed to be planed smooth. The carlings for the half beams and the half beams themselves are not installed yet.

 

The next picture shows the area at the forward end on the waist.

 

 

 

Some eyebolts are still missing. Two of the scuppers can be seen in this picture. The next picture shows more of this side.

 

 

All the top riders on the port side have been fit up to the planking and reinstalled. More of the scuppers are visible in this picture.

 

The next picture shows some of the scuppers on the external starboard side.

 

 

On each side there are several 4” scuppers for general deck drainage and two larger 5” scuppers – one for the pump discharge and one all the way forward to drain the manger. These were fashioned from copper tubing to simulate the lead flanges at each end of the pipe. They next picture shows the detail on the unplanked exterior port side.

 

 

The copper tubing was fit into square stock and then notched into scores between the frames. Inside and outside parts were made separately. Since the exposed port side has not been final sanded at this stage the scuppers have not been blackened yet.

 

The last picture shows current progress looking aft.

 

 

 

Ed

[Alex M]

Hi Ed,

 

thanks for re-posting images of your excellent build! Enjoying to follow!

 

Alex

[newbuilder101]

Yet another installment of beautiful precision! It looks terrific!

[Mcdood]

ED 

Stunning work as usual, looking foreword to the next installment.

 

Martin.

 

p.s. and a happy New Year to you also (Part 114) 

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 118 –Upper Deck – Hawse Holes, Decking

Posted 1/25/12

 

The hawse holes had bit pilot drilled undersize through the hawse timbers some time ago. It was now time to finish these so that area could be detailed inside on the upper deck. The holes needed to be 14 ½” inside diameter after the linings were installed. I decided to make the lining 1 ½” thick. The first picture shows a Castello tube being turned that will be used to make the lining insert.

 

 

The hole was drilled first - an undersized 7/32”. Apart from not having a 0.242” drill bit, a tube with a wall thickness of only 1 ½” (.025”) would probably not survive the turning process, so the hole will be enlarged with a file after the lining is safely glued into the hull. After drilling, the outside of the tube was turned to the final size of 17 ½”.

 

The next picture shows the installation of the tubes.

 

 

The outer tube has been glued into its hole after the hole was carefully enlarged to just fit the tube. The inner tube has been fitted. It will be marked, cut to size and glued in. The next picture shows a lining being enlarged to the ID of 14 ½” using a round file.

 

 

Diameter gauges were turned so the holes could be checked for size and roundness The next picture shows the completed holes on the starboard side.

 

 

The tubes were scored to represent a pieced lining. This picture also shows the through bolts around the bridle port. These include the bolts for the gun tackle and the two spirketing bolts through the sill.

 

The next picture shows the hawse hook being installed on the inside.

 

 

After quite a bit of deliberation I decided to stay with my original plan to omit the inboard planking on the starboard side, except for the structural parts – spirketing and clamps. There will be one piece installed just above the hawse hole to bed the upper deck breast hook, which will be installed shortly, allowing this area to be detailed..

 

The next picture shows some work on the outside of the hull that needed to be done before detailing the hawse holes on the port side.

 

 

The port side of the model will be unplanked to expose the framing, but in order to install the head structure some of the planking will be needed at the bow, because the head rails and cheeks fay onto the planking. In this picture the most forward upper piece of the wale has been installed and a section of the black strake is being clamped above it after boiling to set its curve. This area of planking will be extended to the top of the side. It needs to be installed before the hawse linings on this side. The inside hawse hole has been sized in this picture.

 

While this one-step-at-a-time bending-drying-gluing process was going on, work on the deck planking began, as shown in the next picture.

 

 

The deck planks are 3” thick Castello. They are about 10” wide and they taper down at the stern. The first strake inside of the waterway had to be notched to fit around the top riders. The next picture shows the amount of decking completed so far.

 

 

 

Another strake or two may be added on this side, then all taken the full length of the deck. Then there will be open space in as far as the binding strakes. Those will be installed and the remaining area planked to the centerline. The starboard side will be unplanked.

 

There is quite a bit of detailing to be done on this deck, but some will require the beams of the next level to be fitted; so making the quarterdeck and forecastle beams is now on the schedule.

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 119 –Upper Deck Details – Quarterdeck Beams

Posted 1/31/12

 

There are a lot of details to attend to on the upper deck. The first picture shows the gooseneck installed on top of the tiller.

 

 

This rides in the circular track, maintaining the height of the tiller and keeping the line in its track. In this picture the port deck planking has been brought out as far as the as yet uninstalled carlings for the half beams on the aftermost five beams.

 

The next picture shows the step of the capstan.

 

 

The black, square object in the center is the cup, or lower bearing for the capstan spindle. It was bored to fit the spindle. It is made of brass, blackened.

 

Installation of the starboard top riders is in progress as shown in the next picture.

 

 

 

 

The waterways had to be notched for these and the spirketing, the inside of the frames and the quarterdeck clamps all finish sanded before installing these. The areas between the ports on this side will not be planked.

 

In order to line the hawse holes and to finish the details on the inside, the outside planking in the bow area needed to be installed.

 

 

Although the port side will be left unplanked, the construction of the head structure rests on top of the planking so the most forward part of the hull is partially planked on this side. This is about the extent of this except for a few strakes to take it up to the top of the frames. The hawse holes have been sized but the linings are not installed yet.

 

The next picture shows the four half beams fit into place at the stern of the quarterdeck.

 

 

 

I don’t know the purpose of this different framing in this area. Perhaps the captains wanted more structure under their dining tables or desks. The carlings are glued in but the beams are still loose to facilitate tying off the tiller line after the wheel is installed.

 

A lot of the upper deck details require the quarterdeck and forecastle beams to be fit – for example, the upper deck bitts, the bowsprit step, the capstan, partitions, etc. Also, I expect to install the wheel on the qdeck and thread it up before completing the upper deck details.

 

So, the next step was to make all the beams for the qdeck and fcsle. Although these are smaller in section than the beams below, they are still in the range of 35 feet long, so I decided to make all but the shortest few as scarphed beams. The next picture shows one of the later steps in the process.

 

 

 

First the tables for the scarphs were cut in wide planks on the milling machine. I believe I described this earlier. They were then glued up using dark glue and tightly clamped. When dry, the piece was clamped in the routing jig as shown above. The making of this jig, which sets the round up of the beams, was described earlier. The same jig was used for all the beams, with the new correct round up being shaped for each set.

 

In the next picture the top curve has been routed and the piece is being marker with the beam depth.

 

 

The beam is then cut off on the scroll saw and the top of the next beam routed to the pattern. After sawing, the bottoms of all the beams were then sanded to the final depth using the thickness sander.

 

The next picture shows some of the beams.

 

 

The scarphs reverse at midship, so they need to shaped for the correct orientation. The next picture shows all 40 beams made, numbered, and laid on the hull.

 

 

Several extras of each type were also made – just in case. It took a couple days to make all these beams. Because the beams are narrower than the earlier beams the machining was slightly different. I used tables that were slightly less deep but the same width and number.

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 120 – Upper Deck Detailing Continued

Posted 1/31/12

 

After making the beams for the quarterdeck and forecastle, they were sized, fit temporarily in place and pinned to their clamps. As mentioned earlier, some of these beams are needed to complete the detailing of the upper deck. The first picture shows all these beams in place, except for those over the waist.

 

 

The next picture shows a closer view of the quarterdeck beams.

 

 

At this stage the beams are set on top of the clamps. No attempt has been made at this stage to score the clamps or set the beams to their final level.

 

The next picture shows the bow area on the upper deck.

 

 

The linings of both hawse holes have now been completed and the breast hooks above and below them have been installed and bolted. The cants on either side of the hawse holes and the mortises in the bolster below the holes have been added. The opposite unplanked side will remain as is.

 

It was finally time to detail the knightheads. This needs to be done to accurately construct the bowsprit step, which fits between the two decks. First the heads were trimmed to the correct height and their tops shaped. The next picture shows the first step in fitting the tricky bowsprit chock.

 

 

The top of the chock will be level with the top of the side. The upper horizontal cut for the chock joint is being done using a small razor saw. A triangular space was then cut out below this saw line from the point where the center line of the bowsprit fits against the knighthead, fore and aft. This point is lower on the aft side. The chock was then shaped by trial and error to fit into this joint, mostly using a disk sander. The hole to fit the bowsprit was then opened up at the correct angle using a round file followed by sandpaper on a dowel until the bowsprit gauge shown below just fit inside.

 

The next pictures show the completed work with the surrogate bowsprit gauge of the correct diameter in the hole.

 

 

 

The next picture shows this gauge still in place after the forecastle deck hooks on either side were installed..

 

 

The opening in the frames for the cathead on the starboard side has been cut out in this picture. The first two beams have been set up to help in fitting the catheads. A fair amount of drafting was required to correctly loft the two catheads. The first cathead prototype was then cut from the resulting patterns using scrap wood. The shape could then be finalized and the patterns refined. The final cathead timbers were then cut from those patterns. These were made from European boxwood. The detailing of their sheaves is shown in the next picture.

 

 

The sheaves were turned from ebony and pins are black monofilament. The end caps will be done later. The next picture shows the two catheads temporarily clamped in place.

 

 

These will get their final fitting and will be installed when the first two deck beams have been permanently fitted, but there is work to do before that, starting with the rest of the decking of the upper deck and its treenailing. The upper deck and between deck detailing will then proceed from fore to aft.

 

 

Ed