USF Confederacy by cdrusn89 - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1/64

[Bossman]

Gary, good move on the sheaves. I went per instructions and like yours better. 

[cdrusn89]

Thanks Bossman.

I am trying to decide whether or not to try and darken the "slot" with a pencil (I think paint would be too dark) or some of the "weathering" powder they sell for use on model railroads. I can probably wait until the bulwark is planked and see what they look like then.

[WalrusGuy]

The sheaves look real good! 

 

I plan on building the Confederacy in the near future, and your log will definitely come in handy. Can't wait to see what's next!! 

[cdrusn89]

Thanks WalrusGuy.

 

I have the Syren "on the shelf" here but am steering clear of square riggers (in fact most all rigging) for awhile yet. My fingers were "plumb tuckered out" from rigging Niagara.

[cdrusn89]

I finished fabing the other three sheaves and got the outboard halves mounted on the outer side of the bulwarks per the plans.

 

I checked the instructions and NOW it is time to plank the hull above the wales.

 

So here are the three sheaves on the port side.

 

Now to carefully read the section on planking and review the Chuck Passaro videos from the Winchelsea

 

[cdrusn89]

With the sheaves done it is time to address the "wales and above planking". The first step (according to the instructions) is planking the lower counter but before I start that I decided to establish the sheer line (per instructions). Here are the two sides with the batten in the final position, although I did not do much adjustment. The only place where I think things went off was at bulkhead G where my batten and the mark on the bulkhead were off by about 3mm on each side (batten was below the reference mark). Looking at the pictures of the prototype (bow on view) my battens seem to be in the right location. I was unable to determine (from the plans) where the wales planks should meet the stem. The framing plan does not show the wales and sheet one has so much other detail at the bow that I can't find a common reference point to measure from (or to for that matter).

 

Anyway, here is the model with the batten in place.

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2021 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

To plank the lower counter the instructions suggest mounting the model upside down. With my cobbled together mounting system this turned out to not be as easy as I might have liked.

 

I cut a spare piece of 2 X 4 long enough to span all three masts. I put this on the deck and noted that the main mast area had a space 6-7mm tall while the two ends were on the deck. I marked the areas that needed to be removed to get the 2 X 4 to sit flush on the deck (more or less) and used the belt sander to remove the material. I drilled access holes in the 2 X 4 and pilot holes for #8 X 2" wood screws and secured the 2 X 4 to the deck after locating and drilling pilot holes in the bulkhead former (or reinforcing pieces).

 

Here is the hull mounted upside down so we are almost ready to plank the lower counter. All I need to do now is make the Swiss Pear planks and decided if/how to simulate the treenails.

[cdrusn89]

With the start of planking imminent it is time to decide what material to use. As I have a good deal of Swiss Pear that I have acquired from the Rare Woods folks in Maine I have decided to use this, at least for the wales and exterior of the bulwarks.

 

I put a "test strip" together (and included some holly which I am considering for the planking below the wales) and used four different MinWax fillers to see what looked the best for the treenails.

 

Here is what the six strips look like after the treenails and one coat of Wipe-on-Poly.

The four putties are (from the left on the left set of planks) Natural Pine, Early American, Maple and Golden Oak.

 

The Pear on the right does not have any treenails but does have the plank edges (both edges) darkened with a carpenters pencil.

 

The two sample of holly (with and without the simulated caulk) have treenails with Elmer's wood filler, Deluxe Materials Model Lite White filler and the MinWax Natural Pine (from left to right)

 

I am going to use the Swiss Pear for the wales and above with the Oak filler. The wood is a good bit lighter than it looks in the photos.

 

Here is a closer look at the three Swiss Pear side

 

I am going to do a more extensive test on the holly and add boxwood and yellow cedar as candidates for the lower planking.

 

Although I will probably not need it until doing the lower planking I put together a jig for tapering and otherwise "adjusting" the planks.

I glued two 1" X 16" boards 1/8" apart to hold a plank (figuring there will no spieling of the 5/32" planks) while marking the width at the bulkhead stations which are marked on the base board. I took the bulkhead locations from the batten used to locate the sheer line rather than the plans. There is probably very little difference except at the bow where the curved distance on the real hull is significantly more than shown on the 2-D plans. I set the jig on edge to make taking a picture easier and here it is:

 

 

 

[cdrusn89]

I am still fussing around with the lower counter. Having some difficulty getting the first piece attached satisfactorily and in the correct location.

 

While waiting for glue to dry I built a plank bending jig using half of a short piece of 4" plastic sewer pipe. Here are a bunch of pieces on the jig drying. I can get about a dozen pieces at a time and by varying where the clamping bar is located can adjust the amount of curve.

 

We will see how it works shortly - assuming I can get the lower counter straightened out.

Edited January 16, 2021 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

After some struggle I got the lower counter planked and the port doors in place.

 

After a a 220 sanding and a wipe down with thinner here is what it looks like. I am on the fence about the treenails. Given the location it is unlikely anyone would even notice if I put them in - so maybe this is a good place to "experiment" to see if they actually add to the appearance. I am going to add them but think I am going to be more judicious when applying the filler. When I created the test strips I noticed that there were times where the filler got to places where it was difficult to remove. Plus if I do it now I can put apply the Wipe-on-Poly now and hopefully provide some level of protection through the rest of the planking.

[cdrusn89]

I added the treenails to the lower counter. I did not add them as close together as the hull drawings shows - just on the stern frames that were part of the kit. I do not know if the stern framing is a close approximation of the actual framing or just an analog for the kit but used it to locate the treenails nonetheless.

 

Here is a picture after I filled the holes. By the way I took a "gob" of the Minwax "Golden Oak (910)" in a small mixing cup and added three drops of paint thinner, mixed it up and used a flat Xacto blade that I had ground down to be just less than the 1/8" width of a plank to apply it to the treenails. The paint thinner made the putty less viscous (or is it more viscous? I forget which way that goes) anyway it made it easier to get the putty into the small holes. The narrow "spatula" made it easier to NOT get putty in the crack between planks - which is hard to get out.

 

Here is the counter after I sanded the putty down and wiped it with paint thinner. After the thinner evaporates the wood will look like it does in the photo above until I get some WoP on which may wait until I get the upper planking completed.

Having decided to wait on further efforts on the counter I returned the model to the vertical and added the Top Strake on both sides. Here is the stbd side - the 2 X 4 is the "strongback" that I use when I invert the hull on the build board. Since it is not in the way (yet) I will leave it on for now.

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

For the top and black strakes I used the kit provided basswood since they will be covered by additional strakes which will be Swiss pear. Once they were installed the instructions call for installation of five additional strakes of 1/8 X 1/16 material. So I decided to do one side rather than alternating from side to side in order to see how things were going to work out.

 

To get the outlines for the sweep ports I used a 7/32 X 7/32 block to draw the box. After the first two rows were installed I started to run in to notching out for the sweep ports so I decided to replicate these blocks and use them to help define the sweep ports. I made one for each sweep port on the stbd side and pinned them to the hull where the markings showed they would be. For the ports aft of the ballast port the bottom of the sweep port came very close to hitting the top of the second strake so I went ahead and adjusted them so the bottom is at the top of the second strake. I do not think this involved moving any one port more than 1/32" of an inch but we will have to wait a bit to see how this looks. Forward of the ballast port the sweep port bottom is just above the top of the second strake except for the two most forward where the bottom moves back down again until at the most forward sweep port it is just at the top of the second strake. I am guessing my sheer line and the prototype model's are not in exactly the same place.

 

I decided to try and cut all the planking that fits around the sweep ports before gluing any of them in place. The sweep ports kind of mess up the joint staggering of the planking but I will have to reestablish that once the planking clears the sweep ports. I decided to use a three step stagger for the planking (the first planking row goes from the stem to bulkhead E, the second row goes from the stem to Bulkhead D and the third from the stem to bulkhead F and then every three bulkheads until the stern where a two bulkhead run is used from 8 to ZZ). I decided to use the three step because going with a four stagger would mean going from the stem to bulkhead C which is almost 7 inches or about 37 feet at scale. The above all assumes that planking joints will occur only at the model bulkheads. The plans (sheet one) show a different stagger planking schema but have plank joints mostly NOT on the bulkheads so I decided to ignore it.

 

Here is what the hull looks like with all of the first four rows above the black strake in place (but only the bottom two rows are glued). Unlike the prototype I have to taper the planks at the bow to make everything fit - another difference in my sheer line. The blue tape is holding the planks in place where they want to fall off every time I touch something.

 

The plan going forward is to start at the stern and glue the planks in place after removing the sweep port block and rechecking (and adjusting) the port shape and corners.

Edited January 20, 2021 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

After what seemed like "forever" I got the five rows of 1/8" X 1/16" and three rows of 5/32" X 1/16" planking above the black strake installed. These enclose the sweep ports and my use of "place holders" for the sweep port openings seems to have been successful although I noticed more variation is the size of the ports than I would have liked. For the port side I am considering (at least) trying to simulate the port openings with a shape blade cut to the desired 7/32" size (ballast port will be done as on the stbd side).

 

I did get the port lid for the after most port installed. Unfortunately I will have top wait until the planks are sanded and WoP allied to see how things "really" look. I got more glue mon the planks than I should have but am hoping that will disappear with sanding and since I am not planning on using any stain on the Swiss pear that there will be "no harm". Hope springs eternal.

 

Anyway here is the stbd side with the first sweep port cover installed and the glue smears and difference in planking color for all to see.

 

 

 

 

 

The mark on the sweep door is an arrow pointing up. I had to keep track of how the cover fit in the port to avoid going crazy.

 

Next step is to get the sweep port covers all installed and then move to the port side and apply the lessons learned.

Edited January 22, 2021 by cdrusn89

[Bossman]

Looks very nice Gary. Once sanded and finished she will look great. 

[cdrusn89]

Thanks Bossman. That is certainly my hope.

 

Did you alternate sides or do one to the top of the bulwarks and then the other?

Edited January 22, 2021 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

Sweep port covers on stbd side completed.

 

Working the post side planking around the sweep ports and upper wales planking. Will work the gun port planking after both sides are complete to upper wales.

Edited January 23, 2021 by cdrusn89

[Bossman]

Gary, I did the wales and blackstrake on both sides. After that I would do 2 or 3 planks on each side. 

[cdrusn89]

While rereading the instructions for completing the exterior bulwark planking I noticed that I completed the sweep port doors incorrectly. The instructions say to use a single piece of 1/4" X 1/16" to fashion the door. I pieced together two 1/8 X 1/16 pieces of the hull planking to make the sweep port doors. It will be awhile (until I get the rest of the bulwarks planked) until I get a good idea of how this looks. Hopefully I did a good enough job matching the seam lines so it does not actually draw attention to the sweep port doors. I am not sure they should be a focal point on the hull.

 

Anyway except for one sweep port door I have the port side completed to the same point at the starboard. Ten rows of planking 5 of 1/8" and 5 of 5/32".

 

Plan is to "keep going" to get the lower wales and bulwarks completed alternating from side to side following Bossman's example.

Edited January 24, 2021 by cdrusn89

[Bossman]

Gary, this just came back to me as to “why” I alternated port and starboard a few planks at the time. It helped me make sure gunports and the stern areas were where they should be. On the sweep ports. The horseshoe hinge covers most of it and those ports on the Confederacy “could” have been made in two pieces. No one can prove you incorrect. 
Mark 

[cdrusn89]

Thanks Mark.

[cdrusn89]

After experiencing a good deal of difficulty getting two bulwark planks to line up vertically for the sweep ports I decided I needed to try something else for the gun ports.

 

So I thought that if I could use the disk sander to get the edges of 3-4 planks straight and at the correct angle based on the port geometry I might be able to come closer to the desired appearance.

 

So I started by milling some additional 1/8" X 1/16" Swiss pear planks being careful to keep all the planks from a given blank together (eventually I used colored pencils to color the end of each blank so I could tell which planks came from a particular blank).  That was fine as far as it went but I noticed that while cutting out the planks a certain amount of scaring was occurring on what would be the face of the plank. Because of the configuration of the blanks I have I was thickness sanding them to 1/8" thick then cutting off 1/16" "slices" to form the planks. Having the micrometer adjustment on the Byrnes table saw came in really handy for getting the planks close to 1/16" thick. Next time I will make them a bit thicker - see below.

 

So with the new planks all from the same blank I edge glued four of them together to form what will become the planking between the gun ports. Here is one of the edge glued "super planks".

Next time I will make the super plank thicker than the required 1/16" and use the fine sandpaper in the thickness sander to get it to 1/16" with a "cleaner" finish than I get with the table saw, even using a 100 tooth blade.

 

I decided to start at the stern to avoid the curved section at the bow which may require a different solution.

 

First I needed to define the bottom of the gun port so I carefully cut and sanded the piece below which forms the bottom of three gun ports. The after most port bottom is formed by the top of the last 5/32" plank in the upper wales.

 

It is not glued in yet. It takes a certain amount of patience and a good set of fine files and sharp Xacto blades to keep all three port opening where they belong. I will admit it took me three tries to get all three of them in acceptable shape on a single piece of planking.

 

I cut a piece of the super plank and carefully sanded one end flat (90 degrees) then measured and incrementally using the disk sander with 320 grit paper sanded the edge so it was parallel to the port side (the picture shows a super plank five planks wide - I have since moved to four wide although in many cases three wide would be enough).

 

Here is the super plank placed aft of and abutting the bottom piece.

Now as they say the "tricky part". With the forward edge defined, now use the disk sander to get the aft edge parallel to and the correct length to fit the next port aft (which is the after most port). Fortunately the disk sander can take off (with a little practice) a very small amount (I estimate .010") at a time. So here is the super plank now forming the bulwark between the two after most gun ports.

 

You can see the very small amount that was removed from the top wales plank to accommodate the gun port rabbet, although I will be the first to admit that 1/64" is pretty small and mine are probably closer to 1/32". Another super plank is cut and sanded (although now the after end is not critical since it can extend aft of bulkhead JJ and be trimmed flush later.

 

I did have to fashion the analog of the bottom piece for the top to finish off the after most port but I believe that the rabbet here is not as critical since the gun port cover will be attached here and viewing the top of the gun port rabbet would be quite a chore should someone decide it was important.

 

So here is the "finished" after most gun port planking. Hopefully the rest (until we get to the forward most or two) will follow in the same fashion and I will get better at carving the notches for the upper and lower pieces. At least the sides are straight (for three planks anyway) and hopefully parallel (more or less) to the port sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

I got eight of the stbd side gun ports framed in without additional "drama".

Here they are:

 

 

 

However I have run into an issue that I am not sure how to solve.

 

According to the instructions, the eighth plank up from the uppers wales (the sixth 1/8" plank) should extend to the stern frame (instead of stopping at Bulkhead J J) to form the top of the quarter gallery opening. It further states that this plank should "flow nicely onto the small stern piece ZZ".

 

Sounds pretty straightforward.

 

Here is what my quarter gallery area looks like:

 

 

As I count it there are seven planks (2 X 5/32" and 5 X 1/8") now in place above the wales. The piece ZZ referred to in the instructions is visible on the stern frame.

 

If I place another plank on the bulwark it looks like this:

It appears I am probably two planks short of hitting the ZZ piece with this "eighth" plank.

 

I looked at the drawing to see if I somehow had misplaced ZZ.

The drawing shows the bottom of ZZ to be about 22mm below the top of the stern frame.

 

The ZZ on the starboard side appears to be no more than 1/2 a mm above where it should be per the drawing, i.e. 21.5 mm below the top of the stern frame.

The eight planks (2 5/32" and 6 1/8") should be 1 1/16" tall. So I measured the planking thinking (since I milled it myself) that maybe I was off on the plank widths (although I considered this unlikely since I used the thickness sander to set the plank width and I have great confidence in the Byrnes thickness sander's ability to reliably deliver the set thickness).

 

So I measured the height of the planking

And got the required 1 1/16".

 

I am at a loss for how to proceed from here. Options (at least to me) include:

     1. Add an extension to the ZZ piece to intersect the eighth plank.

     2. Add a eighth and ninth plank to the bulwark terminating as the ones below and extend the tenth to piece ZZ

     3. ??

 

I am proceeding with planking the gun ports moving forward (and then the port side) while I try and decide what to do about this problem.

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by cdrusn89

[Bossman]

Gary, I am away from the shipyard for a few days so can’t look at plans or my ship. Your bottom plank looks correct. It seems I had a similarly quandary. If you check where the quarter gallery pieces go that form the opening, that will be your guide. If the two that form the opening for the window have a plank to attach to, your good to go. I’m going from memory here so take this with a grain of salt,

Mark

[Bossman]

Gary, it looks as though you only have 5 planks above the upper wales if my judgement is right. The upper wales are just below the gunports. Does this pic help?

 

[cdrusn89]

After carefully rereading the instructions and looking at the below picture I think the issue was mine.

 

If I carefully count the rows of planking in the below picture, which I copied from page 37 of the instructions I count 10 rows of planking starting with the first row that does not extend to the stern.

 

That is what I will have if I keep going .

 

Sorry for the mistake and thanks for the quick responses.

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

Now that yesterday's "scare" over the number of planks for the quarter galleys has been put to bed as a failure to read the instructions and count to 10-, I finished off the stbd side planking to the tops of the gun ports. So here are the 14 starboard side gun ports.

 

I am going to move to the port side and get it completed to this point before I add additional planking above the gun ports.

 

 

 

 

 

[cdrusn89]

Port side complete to top of gun ports  (and I added the missing sweep port door at the bow) and the first 1/8" plank to reach the stern frame has been added. Working on the port side to complete the planking above the wales.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by cdrusn89

[Pogy647]

What a fine tutorial on building and rigging these guns! Thanks!

[cdrusn89]

You are welcome Pogy

 

I have looked at many build logs and added tools and techniques that I have found there to my "toolbox" so I do not claim anything in my build log as "original".

[cdrusn89]

So I have continued planking the port side to the top of the bulwak and around the quarterdeck gun ports.

 

The instructions say that the 15th plank above the wales should form the top of the quarterdeck bulwarks. That is where I would have stopped but it was not tall enough at least at the forward ports to get the 10mm height at the gun ports. So I added an additional plank above the first three gun ports.

 

Here is what it looks like.

Clearly some trimming is going to be required. Here is what it looks like from the other side to get a feel for how far above the lintels the planks extend.

The instructions say that another 1/16" lintel strip should be added if the 15th plank needs support above the single lintel that is already there. That is the case here as the two after ports have 15 planks. However, the three forward ports have 16 planks because 15 will  not clear the existing single lintel. I am considering my options. Clearly I will  not have a single plank that defines the top of the quarterdeck bulwarks. There will be partial planks at the top somewhere. This also makes the step at the quarterdeck 17mm high instead of the 13mm that is shown in the plans.

 

I am  moving on to planking the stbd side and will see how things work out on that side before deciding what to do here. The worst thing would be to have the sides different heights.

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by cdrusn89