Le Coureur 1776 by captain_hook - CAF - Scale 1:48

[captain_hook]

Thank you, Brian. Some more replacements have slowed me down but I managed to complete more frames ... frames, just frames. Have the impression that I have done nothing else for months.
 

 

 

But there are only 10 ones left.. Time to see a man about a dog .. wait, we‘re locked down. Ok, let‘s bring the dog to the man 🤗.

 

 

 

Stay tuned and save.

 

Andreas

[captain_hook]

Thank you for all the likes. Still nothing more to show than frames but I‘m approaching the bow. There are only 5 frames left to assemble, frame 1 and 2 are just single pieces. As I come closer to the bow every new frame needs more tapering than the one before. But the laser-engraved lines makes tapering rather easy. 

 

There is another assembled frame waiting for me to be cleaned and tapered. Another view from opposite direction. 

So maybe I am able to finish the last ones next weekend. Stay tuned and save.

 

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by captain_hook

[captain_hook]

Almost there. One concern about the kit: Almost every cherry sheet that contain the frame parts seems to be from a different wood source. So the completed frames vary in colour, grain pattern and hardness. Most sheets were very clean and of good quality while a few had some very ugly black wood defects that were to be seen after removing the laser char. So I had to make several replacements. But the cherry wood will eventually darken over time and that might compensate the colour differences. 

 

The last frames require quite a lot of tapering and  I will do them tomorrow. The frames 1 and 2 are just single futtocks but they have to be tapered from several angles to fit the keel and planking run. I will eventually show them in detail later.
 

 

Stay tuned and save.

 

Andreas 

 

[captain_hook]

Today frame no. 4 has been assembled. It is the smallest full frame and required a lot of tapering. It looks like a baby-frame compared to a midship frame. 
 

 

So there is only one multi-part frame left. But I have to repair a frame after that because I did slightly too much tapering 🤔. And some jig-parts have to be modified so all frames fit nicely into the keel. Anyway only 3 frames until I reach the bow. 
 

 

Stay tuned .. and save. 
 

Andreas 

[captain_hook]

I did the last multi-part frame today, No. 3. It is actually tapered on almost all heads, so I checked the plan multiple times to get it into the correct shape. As all the other frames it is just dry-fitted into the jig. Next thing will be to disassemble the jig and correct all vertical plywood parts so all frames that interfere with the jig can be aligned properly on the keel. As the cant frames are to be attached after installing the keelson I will do them later. Stepstone reached .. jippie.

 

 

Stay tuned .. and save.

 

Andreas 

 

[WalrusGuy]

Very nice and clean! 🙂

[Kevin]

lovely work, she looks great

[Kevin]

wrt to the billets, have you discussed it with Tom at CAF

[gjdale]

Must be a relief to have reached this stage! She’s looking great.

[Gus M]

impressive work and a new thread to follow carefully to learn and enjoy.

Congratulations @captain_hook and thanks for sharing

[captain_hook]

Thank you all for the nice words and the likes. I have discussed all problems with Tom. But beside some misplaced tapering lines and the rather tight fit into the building jig no more building issues have been occurred so far.

[captain_hook]

Finally found the time to correct the jig. The side-parts A1 - 7 have sawtooth pattern cut out to match the related frames but I had some difficulties to fit the frames in. So I deconstructed the jig (it wasn’t glued) and corrected all side parts basically by sanding off about 2 millimeters of substance. 
 

 

As the position of the frames is determined by the horizontal jig and the keel anyway changing the side-parts doesn‘t affect the geometry of the hull.

 

 

Now all frames are aligned properly but still only dry-fitted. I have to enlarge some frame-slots to fit in the keelson next. Then I will be able to show something new instead of frames all the time.

 

 

Stay tuned .. and save.

 

Andreas

 

 

[captain_hook]

The keelson is build up from 4 segments. The slots have to be cleaned and checked first before installation, so that the frames will fit into them later.

 

 

Test-fit on the plan..

 

 

... and on the frames. Still nothing is glued yet.

 

 

I will make some final adjustments next weekend. Stay tuned and save.

 

Andreas

[yvesvidal]

Amazing work on a beautiful kit. I admire your patience at removing all traces of  burnt wood, on the frames.

 

Yves

[captain_hook]

Thank you very much Yves, this took most of the building time so far. The wood is rather soft and removing the laser char with electric tools is difficult because too much substance can easily be taken off. But I take my time. Only the last frames 38 - 40 and 1 - 2 have to be done, these are just single pieces added to the keel and counter. And then everything can be glued in place. I am heavily occupied by my self employment these days and this is slowing me down a bit. 

Edited April 19, 2021 by captain_hook

[captain_hook]

Frame 38 and 39 proved to be more time-consuming than expected. Frame 38 is made of two segments and then has to be tapered to fit the counter.

 

 

Still dry-fitted I have to squeeze some scrapwood into the jig to make it stay in place. Frame 39 is just a single peace that has to be tapered. Frame 40 is still missing.

 

 

Stay tuned and save..

 

Andreas

 

Edited April 24, 2021 by captain_hook

[captain_hook]

Thank you for all the likes. Frame no. 40 required a little surgery. The plan shows the frame on top of the lower transom ..

 

 

but the middle transom has no cutouts for the frame.

 

 

So I again had to deconstruct the jig and sanded just a little off the middle transom.

 

 

At last the frame needed some tapering. Test-fit passed 🤗.

 

Now I have to repeat that on the port side. 😰 

 

[captain_hook]

As the jig was temporarily deconstructed I was able to take a sneak peek on the side ...

 

 

 

 

[captain_hook]

Today I finished all the counter-frames and glued them in place. The jig had to be modified for the frames to match the plan,

 

 

Now all frames are separated by equal space (about 8 mm) like shown on the plan. Just some final sanding before the inner planking will be started.

 

 

Next weekend I will start to glue all frames onto the keel starting with the stern frames .. 

 

Stay tuned and save.

 

Andreas

 

 

[bdgiantman2]

Well, sonuvagun, I am seeing a ship! She's looking good, sir. Great progress and thank you for sharing your progress. I am enjoying this build.

 

Brian

[captain_hook]

Thank you Brian. Today I finally glued all frames in place. Bad luck - it has been raining all the time with humidity growing every hour. The white glue took about an hour for every step to dry but at least that helped me correcting the frames until I was satisfied with the result. 
 

I started midships and then worked my way up to stern. I disassembled the left-side panels of the jig to have a better view and left all frames in place so I was able to align the one to be glued onto the keel with the other ones.

 

 

Approaching the stern ...

 

 

There are several curves created by the lower, middle and upper futtocks to check the correct alignment.

 

 

After installing the rear ones I continued my way from midship to bow ..

 

 

So all frames except the cant ones are now glued onto the keel.

 

 

I will add the keelson and cant frames next weekend. Stay tuned and save..

 

Andreas

[yvesvidal]

Major milestone and a great achievement.

 

Yves

[James H]

That looks just beautiful. Very clean. 

[Kevin]

that last photo is playing games with my eyes, lovely work

[captain_hook]

Like this one?

 

 

[yvesvidal]

Spectacular!!!

 

Yves

[captain_hook]

Thank you guys for the nice comments! Installation of the keelson was more time-consuming than expected. It is made of four segments. I first glued the stern part in - followed by the next part until the keelson was build up. I recommend dry-fitting each part several times until a nice fit is secured. Unfortunately it is difficult to catch with my camera .. 

 

 

 

 

The last step of the first box will be the cant frames.

 

Stay tuned and save..

 

Andreas

[captain_hook]

The last frames are just single pieces glued onto the side of the keel.
 

 

Frame no. 2 (cant frame) requires some tapering on almost all sides. 
 

 

 

The other side as well.

 

 

I will show no. 1 as well but have to recover from second covid vaccination first.

 

Stay tuned and save..

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by captain_hook

[captain_hook]

No. 1 is the tricky one. You have to determine first which side has to be attached to the keel and then taper them using the engraved lines as a guide.

 

 

These are the sides to be glued on later.

 

 

The rear tapering differs from the other ones. Each side has to be tapered to the center. Here are some pictures to get an idea.

 

 

 

Here you can see the tapering from both sides goes straight to the center.

 

 

Tomorrow I will give them a final sanding and then glue all of them in place.

 

Stay tuned and save.

 

Andreas

 

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by captain_hook

[captain_hook]

The cant frames are just glued onto the keel. But their position and tilt differ from frame 1 to 3. I thought about using different scrap wood parts to ensure correct alignment but the better solution turned out to be another jig. So I used the frames plan, scanned the segment and drew a jig with Corel. Printed that on adhesive paper and made a jig out of 1,5mm plywood.

 

 

Test fit for frames - passed. For better view and handling I removed the side door and the side panel, they‘re only fixed by screws.
 

 

 

Hope that will secure equal position of all frames when they are glued in ... in the next hour.