Washington 1776 by niwotwill - scale 1:48 - Row Galley - NRG plans #121

[niwotwill]

I have made model ships with kits and found that the kits take modeling liberties in their design. I build the Charles W. Morgan by Artesania Latina and liberties became evident when I looked at kit by Model Shipways and more so when I visited the Morgan at Mystic Seaport. While at Mystic Seaport I bought the original plans for Morgan’s deck furniture. i.e. hurricane house, rendering oven, crews head, boat shelter, rendering oven shelter and windless. I spent the next year whetting my apatite scratch building everything from deck up. To continue learning I decided to build the NRG’s plans for the 1776 Washington Row Galley last year. 

 

After studying, dreaming and planning I’ve finally started the build. So here if the first post or many to come. This project will be a long time to completion as I have not and will not make any project timeline. Last Christmas my daughters bought me the Model Shipways kit Syren. I’m working on this and it will be in conjunction with the Washington. 

 

This first thing I did was to build the model board and a couple of jigs. One for the bow support and another for frame setting. I’ll build more as needed with the build.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm going to build the skeleton structure out of boxwood and have not decided if I'm going to use other woods for color, but I have a lot of time before that decision. I bought 4X4X36 boxwood blanks for Cooks Woods to use for the model. They have a great website and excellent service. I resaved the blanks to 1" X 4" to make them more usable. I then ripped off sheets of 5/32" and 7/32" to mill down to 1/8" and 3/16" and said to myself "here we go"

 

Started with the keel as in the downloaded monograph 

My first scarf joint many to come hopefully I'll get better and quicker as I learn. I used Ed Tosti's method of coloring the glue to simulate the joint tar. It really makes an nice joint. 

Thanks Ed

 

 

Basic keel structure with 3 scarf joints completed now is the time to cut the rabbit. I used a scratch tool as described in Ed Tosti's " The Naiad Frigate" page 45. I used the back side of an old hacksaw blade to make my pattern. Light strokes of the scraper making the rabbit cut deeper with each stroke until it was 1/16" deep as per the plans. That done on both sided of the keel it was time to cut the frame floor recess. Measuring the plans it appeared to the be a basic room and space pattern with the frames being 1/4" and a 1/8" space so I planned on using the mill to cut the recesses, except during the planning process I realized it is not a standard room and space pattern. But instead a 1/4" recess with a 9/64" space making a pattern nearly impossible on the mill. I first thought I could cut the recesses using a staggered pattern meaning 9/16" equals .1406 so on the mill I could cut .140 on one and then .141 on another but on a trial piece the spaces still kept growing and with 41 recesses it could become out up to 3/32" an unacceptable amount. So I made a spread sheet with each dimension from the baseline (first recess). I lot of work but the result is the last recess is only .002 from the baseline after making the cuts from the baseline. 

 

 

 

This completed the basic keel with the ends needing to be cut to size and shape and the false keel added. The mounting holes need to be drilled to align with building board.

 

 

That brings this up to date. On to the Syren for awhile.

 

Stay well

Will  

Washington first post.docx

[Mike 41]

The Washington Row Galley Is a nice ship, looks like a good start.

Mike

[MEDDO]

Looks like a great start.  I do like this ship and will be following along

[JeffT]

Moving this build log to the scratch build forum, same date range.

[niwotwill]

Thanks Mike and Michael for the comments. Hope you stay with me as I think is going to be fantastic learning experience for me. And thanks Jeff for moving my log to scratch builders.

 

On further review of the frame plan view and section view of Stem parts I realized that I'd cut the rabbit incorrectly so I'll make another keel. (Good think I've got plenty of wood) I started cutting out the stem parts and now need to sand them to shape of the plans pattern. 

 

Just a question though! The plans do not indicate treenails in the scarf joints of the keel or pieces of the Stem and Stern deadwood, trying to be correct would the shipwrights of a 1776 Galley made in months taken the time to treenail or just nail the joints? Any help would be appreciated.

 

I'll make another post when I finish the new keel and stem.

 

Again thanks for the likes and comments

Stay well

 

Will  

[smotyka]

Very timely as I just received my plans in the mail yesterday.  I also like the mounting board with the t-tracks - thanks for the ideas! I will obviously follow with great interest.

[Mike 41]

20 hours ago, niwotwill said:

 

 

Just a question though! The plans do not indicate treenails in the scarf joints of the keel or pieces of the Stem and Stern deadwood, trying to be correct would the shipwrights of a 1776 Galley made in months taken the time to treenail or just nail the joints? Any help would be appreciated.

 

It is likely the shipwright would have used copper bolts in the keel, stem and stern, you can use copper wire or simulate them if you plan on showing the bolts.

Mike

 

 

 

[niwotwill]

Thanks Mike I was leaning towards bolts and copper wire is easy to straighten and I had planned to use liver of sulfur to blacken the bolts.

 

Will  

[niwotwill]

I took time out from the Syren to cut and mill new keel timber so I think I'll start cutting the scarfs tomorrow. Also cut out the patterns for the stem and stern deadwood pieces. Cut the shapes and sanded them down to the lines. Cut the scarfs in the cut water and stem. Glued the part 10 & 11

 and 7 & 8 together. Felt really good to actually be assembling something. YeeHaw 

 

Stern pieces ready to sand

 

Stem pieces ready to sand

 

Sanding curves on drum sander (finger is not as close as it appears)

f

 

 

Thats all for today, maybe more tomorrow.

 

 

Stay Well

Will  

[niwotwill]

Well oops!!!! while dry fitting part #8 to the keel I discovered that i'd made an error with the keel and had to make another keel. Actually I made two errors one I cut the stem scarf end incorrectly and the other was I cut the rabbit as a 45 degree "V". 

 

some photos of my boo-boo's

 

This one shows how I missed cutting the first frame relief

 

This one shows an end view of the rabbit (Kind of blurry but you get the idea)

 

Now to making new parts a keel and stem #7 & #8

I made the keel in three pieces as per the monograph and cut the rabbit on each section before making the scarfs. I made the scarf by cutting the rabbit and keel shapes on the back edge of an old backsaw blade. 

scrapping the rabbit

before scraping the rabbit shape I checked it against the drawing trying to prevent more boo-boo's. So when the pattern was correct a lightly scraped the keel piece to the required depth.

 

When all three pieces had rabbits it was time to make scarfs to join them together. (wonder of wonders the rabbits aligned) Now on to setting up the mill to cut the frame reliefs, always a tedious error procedure. To keep the reliefs correctly in place I made a spreadsheet that incremented .406 (1/4" frame width and 9/64" space to create the room and space)

 

Next I cut the stem and stern post parts. No excitement here.

 

When dry fitting the stem parts I realized that #7 and #8 scarf was not correct, so on the alcohol to get them apart. I spent 3 hours filing the joints until they align with drawing. I'm going to let it set aside for awhile and then check that I've actually got the scarf correct. Scarf joints on curved parts is the most challenging joint i've made to date. Note to self and all very small adjustments make a substantial difference.

 

Thanks to all  for the likes and comments it helps to keep me motivated.

 

Thats it for the post

Stay well and safe

 

Will 

 

 

 

[mtaylor]

Lovely work on the keel.  As for re-making parts.... the scrap bin is always hungry and constantly needs feeding.

[niwotwill]

I have finally made a keel, stem and stern post correctly. Yesterday I glued them together making the assemblies that match the drawing. I forgot to mention the copies of sheets 1 thru 10 were not to scale. Dumb me I never measured them. The total length of the keel was .135 shorter than the original and you can guess what happened. Note to self always measure and measure again always. So I measured the scale on the original and it is within 1/64" of the dimensions noted. I took the original to an engineering copy center (Mesa Blueprint, Mesa, AZ great people and made 3 copies while I waited) and had perfect copies made so I could work from. More wood to the hungry scrap box. 

Finished it up and Saturday I assembled the pieces after checking the fit with dry fitting. Glued the stem and stern pieces together and set aside to dry.

 

I decided to add copper bolts to the keel scarf joints after doing the the stems bolts that looked so nice. So I drilled a pattern of .018 diameter holes thru the keel in the scarfs and pushed .019 diameter copper wire into the holes after dipping the wire in CA glue. I then snipped off the wire with side cutters and filed them flush to the keel surface. I then used a razor blade to scrape the CA residue and will blacken the copper with liver of sulfur after everything dries.

 

 

You see the small clamp on vice that I modifies by filing the top of the jaws flat and parallel to use in paring scarf joints or any flat surface. I put tape on the jaw faces so parts won't get damaged.

 

With all this done it was time to drill the holes for the .093 brass rod to locate the keel assembly to the building board. I have been obsessing about drilling the hole in both the keel and building board since I don't have a drill press the would handle items as large as a building board. But with a little ingenuity and measuring measuring and more measuring it got done and low and behold the keel fits.

 

So this is where I stopped next on the frames.

 

I have to rip some wood and mill it to .125 for the frames, not very exciting but must be done.

 

Stay Safe and Well

Will 

[niwotwill]

I finally took some time out from other models to work on the Washington. Patterns for frames 0, A, B, C, D, E, F have been cut and frame 0 was glued to a piece of timber. Cut all the pieces and fit them together with just the junction points finish sanded. Using a modified Ed Tosti pinning method to assemble the frames. First take the glued patterns and drill a hole in each spot where the pattern had a dot. I drilled a .026 hole the created a snug fit to a #9 silk sewing straight pin. Then dry fitting the parts with the pins as alignment registration. When all fit you take the parts apart and glue them with the previously darkened Titebond glue. The darkened glue makes a very nice line at the joints simulating the tar substance used in 1776. (To darken the glue I use raw umber artist pigment power mixed into the glue. Empty an 8 fl oz bottle of titebond and mix in 2 teaspoons of pigment stirring until completely mixed and the color of chocolate milk. It'll darken as it drys) All the done and the first frame has been raised. Yippee. Now on the the next six.

 

Drilling alignment holes will have copper wire placed after assembled

 

 

Dry fitting parts after drilling and scroll saw

 

 

First frame raised yipee

 

 

 

Now back to the scroll saw for more sawdust and parts to assemble. I hope making frames gets quicker as I progress.

 

I'll get back to the Syren for awhile and then make more frames when I get tired of the Syren.

 

Stay Well and Safe

 

Will   

 

 

[Mike 41]

Hi Will, your frames are looking particularly good. Using the bolt holes to align the frames works well.  The frames seem to go a little faster when you see the hull taking shape.

Mike

[niwotwill]

Thanks Mike for the words of encouragement. This is my first scratch and I'm learning how to use my new tools especially the scroll saw, but you are right it's getting faster and not so much going into the scrape bin.

 

Just a brief update more to let all know I am still here working on frames in my spare time. Today I stepped "G" and cut and getting ready to assemble "H", "I" and "J" so tomorrow I'll be ready to step "H" since I can do one a day waiting for glue to dry.

 

A picture of the current status

 

 

I just realized this is the status up to "F". I don't know if I mentioned that I'm using 22 AWG bare copper wire and then blacken them with liver of sulfur which does not stain the wood. You can see the joints with the colored glue showing nicely to simulate the "goo" they used to seal the open ends of the frame pieces. I'm using Ed Tosti's method of using raw umber pigment powder mixed into Titebond II.

 

More in a coupe of days

Stay Well and Safe

Will 

[Matt D]

The darkened glue worked really well.  Your joints looks great!

[niwotwill]

Still working on installing frames. Frame O just set tomorrow I'll set frame P leaving frames Q and R to go. This is my first scratch build and truly a learning experience so I'm following the book from NRG. The order of frames is the forward full frames and then the rear frames followed by the rear half frames and the transom and stern. Next is setting the forward half frames and cant frames.

I'm making the drawings for the aft frames having completed 1 through 4 and I've built 1 & 2 where I start setting aft frames as I go along.

 

That's a quick update more to come soon

 

Frame "O" being set

 

Stay well and Stay safe

Will  

[PaavoOso]

I love your great beginning of Washington, I especially was curious about the way I will soon be scarfing the keel joints as you have. Yes, I will be following and learning from you. I have not built a model in 12 years. I am jumping onboard to give it a try. I cannot wait to get this started. Best wishes. 

[niwotwill]

Thanks for the kind words PaavoOso, grab a seat and lets go for a build. I've been working on another model and have just finished the after frame patterns (#1 through #17). Frame 1 & 2 are built and ready to be set. I try to get a group of frames built so that I won't waste  a batch of 'liver of sulfur' when I blacken the copper nails.

 

Again thanks for following along

Stay well and stay safe

Will 

[WalrusGuy]

Just found this log! Didn't know you were working on a POF build alongside the Syren. I'll follow along! It's looking really nice so far! 

[PaavoOso]

Wow! Your progress is phenomenal. I am requiring a scroll saw and a drum sander to seriously get moving on my Washington. I really and beginning from scratch. Yes, I love watching your progress. Keep up this great effort. Stay safe and be well, sir. 

[niwotwill]

4 MONTHS LATER

 

Major problems have risen their ugly head!! This is the reason for the long delay between posts I have not given up. I got all the lettered frames made using the modified Ed Tosti method and I started putting the stiffening blocks and port sills  between the frames to give rigidity to the assembly when the problems were discovered. I'll try to explain the issues hopefully making it clear to all and to most of all to me.

First a picture of the Washingtons current state

 

The problems

1: I failed to use the Tosti method exactly as he describes. My thinking was to simplify the process by not assembling the frame on top of the      patterns.

2: Thinking that I didn't have to worry about the top of the frames as I could bring them to the correct height after standing.

3: Not being accurate when cutting the gun and sweep port reliefs.

4: Not realizing the the waterline marking must be exact both on the frame and the gantry

How to fix:

I realized that my woodworking skills were not up to the level to make a scratch model so I found the series of David Antscherl models by Model Shipways and built them to improve my skills.

Lowell Grand Banks Dory, Norwegian Sailing Pram, and Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack were built and I must say I learned many valuable skills, tips and hints from them.

All three in front of the Washingtons present state.

 

What did I learn from all of this:

1: The old rule of measure twice cut once is now look at the plans twice and assemble once.

2: If not good enough make another

3. Verify the part is like the print by visually aligning them.

4. Stand the frame to meet the marked water lines.

5. Finish each frame before starting another i.e. install blocks and gun and sweep port sills so verification of correctness can be done.

6. Take my time it is not a race.

Now I need to take the Washington out to the yard and remove all the frames trying to save the keel assembly and then start over.

 

Stay Well and Stay Safe

Will 

[Blackreed]

Very nice collection. Obviously your heart is in the right place.

[niwotwill]

Deconstruction complete without damaging the keel assembly. Now start build frames using the Tosti method.

 

 

Start again tomorrow

 

Stay Well and Stay Safe

Will