Albatros by Rach10199 - Mantua - 1:40

[Rach10199]

No dotted bearding line but I can transfer the solid line shown here:

 

[GuntherMT]

If that's what they are using as the bearding line, then it will be a fairly steep rabbet directly below the bulwarks.  Can you show us the stern?  if the line continues to just follow the bulkheads then I'm not sure it's really a bearding line at all and they are just leaving the modeler to wing it.

[Keithbrad80]

Hi Rachel,

 

so the rabbet isn’t a physical piece, instead a it’s a method of cutting a “grove” into the keel. This is done because your planks have width, when the planks meet the keel the best look is one where the planks sit flush against the keel instead of a lip at the bottom. the angle of the rabbet is determined by the angle in which the planks meet the keel. Basically you cut the rabbet is if you were going to plank one more strake (horizontal band of planks) at the garboard (very bottom planks). It’s an easy thing to forget to do but it really makes a huge difference. All of @GuntherMT advise is good advise! If you have a small chisel you could try to cut the rabbet with that. 

[Rach10199]

3 minutes ago, GuntherMT said:

Can you show us the stern?

The last pic shows the ship in a more completed phase.

 

[Keithbrad80]

1 minute ago, Rach10199 said:

The last pic shows the ship in a more completed phase.

 

I’m not sure how to quote a single picture but the second photo IMO shows the bearding line, not a dashed line but the line that follows the bottom of your bulk heads. Basically from the bottom of your bulkheads to the bottom of your false keel gets tapered, down to what ever the thickness of the planks your using. 

[Rach10199]

7 minutes ago, Keithbrad80 said:

so the rabbet isn’t a physical piece

This is why I need you guys 🤣😊

[Keithbrad80]

This line here I think might be your bearding line. 

[Rach10199]

1 minute ago, Keithbrad80 said:

Basically from the bottom of your bulkheads to the bottom of your false keel gets tapered, down to what ever the thickness of the planks your using. 

Incredibly helpful Bradley, thank you! 👍 See, and here I thought I'd done enough research lol.

[Rach10199]

Just now, Keithbrad80 said:

This line here I think might be your bearding line. 

Agreed

[GuntherMT]

Rachel, based on those pictures, they are leaving it pretty much up to you to figure it out, but it looks like the curved line at the bottom of the bulkheads is where you should start the rabbet, and it should end (be at full depth) where the line is shown in that last picture, which is defining the 'keel'.  

 

I am horrible at drawing, but I made a horrible drawing to try to show this.

 

In the above drawing the green line is the bearding line, where the rabbet starts, and the red line is the edge of the keel, as shown in the final picture in your post above.  The rabbet would be at full plank thickness where it hits the edge of the keel (red line) and smoothly flow up to the edges of the bulkheads at the green line (my green line doesn't touch my bulkheads because I'm terrible at drawing).  

 

So along the bottom where the bulkheads angle steeply or at nearly a 90 degree angle into the false keel, the rabbet will simply be a squared off "U" or modified "V" shape, while at the bow and stern you would can cut the full depth rabbet at the red line and then remove wood at a shallow angle up to the green line so that the line of planks smoothly crosses that area.

 

I hope that makes sense?

[Rach10199]

6 minutes ago, GuntherMT said:

I hope that makes sense?

It  makes sense.  I would like to see a video of someone chiseling away at it (I've not tried this) to get a sense of the technique. 

 

And your horrible drawing is just fine haha, it shows what it needs to show👍 Thank you for taking the time.

[GuntherMT]

It's really hard to show rabbet work in photo's, but hopefully this will better show what I'm talking about.

 

 

In the above photo, my model has a different wood for a keel, but the rest is the same.  The bearding line is the pencil line you see which pretty much follows the bottom of the bulkheads.  You will have to define the actual line of the keel for your model based upon the plan drawings (I would transfer that line to the false keel to work from).

 

In the photo, the rabbet is at the depth of both layers of planking combined where it touches the keel, but makes a shallow transition up to the bearding line at the bottom of the bulkheads so that when the planks are placed there is no hard transition, they just bend smoothly along the angle until the butt-ends hit the keel (or the edge of the planks for the bottom strake).

[GuntherMT]

8 minutes ago, Rach10199 said:

It  makes sense.  I would like to see a video of someone chiseling away at it (I've not tried this) to get a sense of the technique. 

 

And your horrible drawing is just fine haha, it shows what it needs to show👍 Thank you for taking the time.

 

I'm sure everyone has different techniques, I was just winging it.  It was easier on my model because the keel wood is much harder than the false keel, so I didn't need to worry much about going past it.

 

For you, since you will be cutting into the same piece, you first want to make what is called a 'stop cut', which is simply a vertical cut into the wood, along the line of the edge of the keel.  Then you will use a very sharp chisel or hobby knife and take off very thin slices of wood working into the stop-cut (which functions to 'stop your cut').

Don't try to make the stop-cut full depth the first time, work in small increments.

I used a combination of a chisel (or chisels) a small X-acto knife (used the curved blades for this) and sandpaper.  

 

If you have a good small V chisel or gouge you might start by cutting the rabbet along the bottom where you don't need to worry about making the shallow angle, and then work on the ends.

 

Edit: Use scrap wood from the parts sheet the keel or bulkheads came out of to practice!

Edited January 12, 2021 by GuntherMT

[Rach10199]

5 minutes ago, GuntherMT said:

they just bend smoothly along the angle until the butt-ends hit the keel (or the edge of the planks for the bottom strake).

I understand exactly what you're describing. I'm going to have to up my skills with this kit. I'm disappointed the instructions aren't more clear.😕

[Keithbrad80]

Hi Rachel,

 

Last piece of information from me on this topic. Here are two illustrations that do a good job at showing the cut for a rabbet. @GuntherMT illustration is a really good way to imagine the bearding line of the entire hull and giving you an idea of what to cut. Hopefully this gives a clear picture of the cut. 

[Rach10199]

Great illustrations! I guess I know what I will be doing while I wait for my walnut planks to arrive lol

[Rach10199]

6 minutes ago, Keithbrad80 said:

Here are two illustrations

Where can I find the rest of this?

[Gregory]

If you can't easily remove the stem, keel and sternpost pieces ( ... considering creating the rabbet is easier done with those pieces out of the picture )

you might consider covering them with masking tape while you do your trimming.

 

After trimming with chisel or whatever, you can fine tune with course sanding paper..

[Rach10199]

Thanks  for the tip Gregory! 😄

[Rach10199]

25 minutes ago, GuntherMT said:

Edit: Use scrap wood from the parts sheet the keel or bulkheads came out of to practice!

Yes!!

[Gregory]

21 minutes ago, Rach10199 said:

Where can I find the rest of this?

That looks like the instructions you find in the Model Shipways kits like this one.

 

Armed Virginia sloop

 

A lot of those Model Shipways kits have downloadable instructions.

 

The instructions by Chuck for Syren and Confederacy are like tutorials for model ship building..

 

[Rach10199]

9 minutes ago, Gregory said:

That looks like the instructions you find in the Model Shipways kits like this one.

 

Armed Virginia sloop

 

A lot of those Model Shipways kits have downloadable instructions.

 

The instructions by Chuck for Syren and Confederacy are like tutorials for model ship building..

 

Excellent! Thank you 😄

[Rach10199]

I've removed the flimsy balsa planks and MUCH attention was repaid to fairing the hull more on the advice of  @GuntherMT (thank you!) It's almost where I want it to be so the sanding continues..

 

[GuntherMT]

Looking good!

[Keithbrad80]

That looks great! 
 

Bradley

[Rach10199]

It's been a few days and I'm patiently waiting for my walnut planking strips to arrive 🙄. In the meantime, the keel clamp I ordered did arrive so I made a base for it as it came w/o one.

 

I also put together the little life boat that came with my kit. I glued all of the layers together and applied a sealer to the whole thing after sanding the hull. I then applied a coat of white acrylic,  sanded, more acrylic,  sanded a tiny bit more but not much then more acrylic.  After it dried I applied a coat of polyurethane semi-gloss.  Honestly this little boat was the best part of the kit so far! I think it turned out pretty well, though I could've paid more attention to the rudder. I'll probably take a blade to it to make some defining lines.

[Jeddahbill]

Well done!  The boat looks very nice!

cheers,

Bill

[Rach10199]

I've made a plank bending jig from pegboard. I glued 3 layers together and added wooden dowel pins.

Now that my walnut planks have arrived I can focus my attention back on planking the hull. I find this step to be incredibly intimidating 😳 Wish me luck!

[Keithbrad80]

Planking can be a daunting task if going in unprepared. If you haven’t, check some of the tutorials on the site, they should prove very useful! 
 

Your plank bending jig is a cool idea, I haven’t thought of using peg board for bending planks, so nice work!

 

Bradley

[Keithbrad80]

Hello Rach10199,

 

Hows the build going? It’s been a few weeks so your last update, hope all is well. 
 

Bradley