Clipper d'Argenteuil by G.L. - scale 1/15 - POF - SMALL

[G.L.]

The closer I get to the bow and the stern, the greater becomes the slope of the frames. To my pleasant surprise, I can bend the veneer strips nicely along the template without breaking them. This probably wouldn't have been possible with the stiffer ebony.

 

The frame production continues steadily.

 

This week all frames are made.

 

 

Thank you very much for reading this log, for your likes and for all your interesting reactions.

 

Till next week!

[G.L.]

3. Keel, stem and rudderpost

 

Before placing the frames definitively, the keelson has to be made.
The keelson is made of ebony. To make the slot for the centre board I lay the keelson on the saw table with the saw blade fully turned down.

Then I turn up the running saw slowly until the desired length of slot is reached.

The ends of the slots still have to be cleaned up. I do it with the fret saw.
The keelson is ready to be placed

The keelson attached on the building board. The frames involved are removed in advance.

The keel is made of mahogany. The slot for the centre board is made as described above.

Cleaning up the ends of the centre board slot.

Gluing the dead wood.

 

fitting the keel on the keelson.

Getting ready to glue the frames on the kelson: the involved frames are removed from their templates. I label them to make the puzzle afterward easier.

 

I reattach now the frames on their templates and glue them on the keelson.

As the some frames now run over the slot of the centre board, the middle pieces have to be cut to give space for the keel.

 

The other frames go through the keel. Marking and sawing the slots for them.

 

 

Fitting the keel

When the rudderpost and the stem are glued on the keel, it can be glued into position.

 

Thank you very much for reading this log, for your likes and for all your interesting reactions.

 

Till next week!

[ward]

very nice work

[Ekis]

59 minutes ago, ward said:

very nice work

Indeed !!

[G.L.]

On 4/17/2021 at 7:42 PM, ward said:

very nice work

 

On 4/17/2021 at 8:42 PM, Ekis said:

Indeed !!

Thanks Ward and Ekis.

Edited April 25, 2021 by G.L.

[G.L.]

4. Horn timbers
I now remove the frames behind the rudder post.

The horn timbers are made of ebony and they have to be glued at each side of the helm port.
Fitting them.

The frames will be incorporated into the horn timbers. Sawing the slots for the frames.

 

Gluing the horn timbers into place. I use two spacer blocks to keep them parallel.

The after frames can now also be glued definitively into place.

I am now also gluing the cant frames.

 

[G.L.]

5. Transom

The transom of the clipper is bent, therefore it will be laminated with three layers of veneer. I make first the mold to laminate.

The three veneer layers. The inner layer is stained in black.

Here they are glued.

The next day I take them out of  their mold.

 

This is the shape of the transom.

The transom is sawn out.
The top and the bottom sides must be sanded diagonally. One on the inside, the other on the outside.

Gluing the transom into position.

 

 

Thank you very much for reading this log, for your likes and for all your encouraging reactions.

 

Till next week!

Edited April 25, 2021 by G.L.

[wefalck]

The transom looks a rather complicated piece ... good Luck !

[Baker]

Nice work on this challenging model.

Proficiat 👍

[G.L.]

On 4/25/2021 at 11:33 AM, wefalck said:

The transom looks a rather complicated piece ... good Luck !

Indeed. I just hope it will connect well with the deck.

 

On 4/25/2021 at 3:52 PM, Backer said:

Nice work on this challenging model.

Proficiat 👍

Thanks Patrick.

[G.L.]

6. The wales
Before placing the wales, I glue at regular distances a small support to the frames at the correct height.

The wales are made of ebony to contrast with the mahogany hull. To give the stiff ebony somewhat the round shape of the hull, I pre-bend the wales over the heat of a paint burner.

Gluing the port wale. Starboard wale lays ready in front of the model.

My method to keep the wales into place while the glue is drying

Next day, the supports can be removed. It is now the turn of the starboard wale.

 

Below the wales comes a mahogany ornamental bumper edge.

 

Thank you very much for reading this log, for your likes and for all your encouraging reactions.

 

Till next week!

[Wintergreen]

Great progress GL!

Bumper edge, or rubbing strake I presume.

This clipper will look splendid when it is planked and varnished. Ebony and mahogany - yummy to the eye 😉 

Obviously there was no risk with the hull being deformed while gluing only one wale at a time since it is so well fastened to the building board.

 

Keep it up!

[G.L.]

On 5/2/2021 at 5:33 PM, Wintergreen said:

Great progress GL!

Bumper edge, or rubbing strake I presume.

This clipper will look splendid when it is planked and varnished. Ebony and mahogany - yummy to the eye 😉 

Obviously there was no risk with the hull being deformed while gluing only one wale at a time since it is so well fastened to the building board.

 

Keep it up!

Well Hakan, the hull is not deformed, but I had a different incident😒.

 

When I removed the clamps and supports which had to keep the starboard wale in place, the starboard side of the transom and the after frame cracked. The force of the ebony wale pressing on the transom was probably too great.

So, no progress to report this week.
I carefully remove the remnants of the frame and the transom. Fortunately this succeeds without causing further damage.

I re-laminate the frame ...

... and the transom.

Forgot to make a picture of the replaced pieces. Instead of that another picture of a painting of clippers d'Argenteuil by Gustave Caillebotte.

I hope I can report some progress again next week.

Thank you very much for reading this log, for your likes and for your reactions.

 

Till next week!

[G.L.]

7. Planking the hull

The inside of the hull is black and the outside natural mahogany color. Mr Bruno Orsel uses planks made of a layer of ebony veneer, glued on a layer of mahogany veneer. I don't have ebony veneer so I make black veneer myself by staining mahogany veneer black. I glue two blades (black and natural) on each other. I let the glue dry between two glass plates to obtain a thin (± 1.2 mm thick) plywood sheet to cut the strakes of.

 

Of this sheet I can cut the planks one side black and one natural mahogany.

I start the planking at the bottom side with the garboards. Gluing the port garboard.

 

The next is the starboard garboard.

Between the garboard and the wale come 18 strakes. To determine their shape, I measure every five frames the frame length and divide that by 18.

 

Thank you very much for reading this log and for your likes.

 

Till next week!

[Wintergreen]

I guess the laminated plank stock is thin enough to take the bending without too much fuzz.

Otherwise I would be hesitant to use laminated wood, since it will be stiffer than solid.

 

Can't wait to see the inside when planking is finished 😉 

[noel_colledge]

Hi GL

 

I am intrigued. 

 

Can I ask what made you go down the route of laminating the planking rather than just double planking to get the same effect?

 

From my experience Mahogany can be very brittle when trying to form as it is without the added issues of a glue layer holding it back

 

Best regards

 

Noel

[G.L.]

On 5/18/2021 at 8:45 AM, Wintergreen said:

I guess the laminated plank stock is thin enough to take the bending without too much fuzz.

Otherwise I would be hesitant to use laminated wood, since it will be stiffer than solid.

 

Can't wait to see the inside when planking is finished 😉 

I don't think bending will be a big problem, the strakes will be only 8mm wide at their widest point.

 

On 5/18/2021 at 9:23 AM, noel_colledge said:

Hi GL

 

I am intrigued. 

 

Can I ask what made you go down the route of laminating the planking rather than just double planking to get the same effect?

 

From my experience Mahogany can be very brittle when trying to form as it is without the added issues of a glue layer holding it back

 

Best regards

 

Noel

I laminate the planks because Mr. Orsel used this method to build his model. He used mahogany veneer on the outside and ebony veneer on the inside to have neat black planking on the inside without having to paint. I don't have ebony veneer, so I use black-stained mahogany veneer for the inside.  Mahogany veneer is indeed brittle, but if you moisten it beforehand, you can cut long narrow strips.

[G.L.]

The first plank is cut. It is very straight, narrow at the ends and a little wider in the middle.

Gluing the first strakes at both sides. The thin planks bend easily.

 

The port side of the model will be left open. This plank will be the last on that side for the time being.
And that is it for this week

 

 

Thank you very much for reading this log, for your likes and for your reactions.

 

Till next week!

[vaddoc]

Great progress GL, you ve done a ton of work! This is a very nice and different approach, your choice of wood is also interesting. I ve never used ebony but I have used mahogany. Beautiful but difficult wood to work with and after a few (10) years of exposure to light, the colour has changed from red to brown.

I am really very interested to see how your planking will come out and what challenges may appear, also how much spilling your hull will need. How long is the hull and how thick your planks?

 

Regards

Vaddoc

 

[G.L.]

On 5/22/2021 at 8:37 PM, vaddoc said:

Great progress GL, you ve done a ton of work! This is a very nice and different approach, your choice of wood is also interesting. I ve never used ebony but I have used mahogany. Beautiful but difficult wood to work with and after a few (10) years of exposure to light, the colour has changed from red to brown.

I am really very interested to see how your planking will come out and what challenges may appear, also how much spilling your hull will need. How long is the hull and how thick your planks?

 

Regards

Vaddoc

 

Thank you very much, Vaddoc.
At the moment I have no difficulties working with mahogany. Ebony, on the other hand, is very hard and it is difficult to bend. When sawing and sanding it produces very fine black dust that also seems to be quite toxic (see posts post 26, 27, 28).
The hull is 54 cm long and the planking is ±1.2 mm thick.

[mtaylor]

I've found that with those "problem" woods, having a shop vac very close to the work area helps collecting the dust before it blows about the room and the rest of the place.   Even hanging wetted towels in the area helps a lot.

 

As for bending, try using thin strips and then laminating them together in the shape of the curves.   Some ebony bends easier than others but it's still a headache.

[G.L.]

The planking is continuing. There is not much different comment to give other than I have to be more and more inventive to clamp the planks. Rubber bands come in very handy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you very much for reading this log, for your likes and for your encouraging and inspiring comments.

 

Till next week!

[vaddoc]

This is lightning fast progress GL! The planking seems to be going very well. Are your planks straight strips sanded more narrow near the edges or have you done any spilling?

[jlefever]

Looks like it will finish up nicely with lots of warm woodwork.

 

Jim

[yvesvidal]

What a great project !!! I wonder how I could have missed it....

Fantastic progress on a truly lovely boat.

 

Yves

[G.L.]

On 5/30/2021 at 10:53 PM, vaddoc said:

This is lightning fast progress GL! The planking seems to be going very well. Are your planks straight strips sanded more narrow near the edges or have you done any spilling?

My plank job is a lot easier than yours in your fishermen's launch and your yawl longboat. The hull is straight throughout and the planking does not run over the dead wood. My planks are also less than one and a half mm thick, so they are very easy to press against each other without having to use all kinds of difficult bending techniques.

To cut the planks I use on my table saw a tool copied from Mr Bruno Orsel's construction log on the French forum 'Marine & Modélisme d'Arsenal'.

It consists of a fixed and a sliding part. The fixed part has a metal spring. A (curtain) rail is integrated in the sliding part. Wooden clamps can be slided over this rail and can be secured with a wing nut. The clamps hold a long brass bar (squared shaped 2mm x 2mm).


How does it work now?
I mark the spacings of the frames where I measured the strake subdivision (needs to be redone for each strake as they vary slightly in length) . On these marks I fix the brass bar with the aid of a caliper at a distance equal to the relevant strake width from the edge of the slide (see inset).

I now place the plank to be sawn in the slide against the brass bar ...

...and slide it through the saw.



The spring pushes the plank tight against the brass bar and my plank is cut nicely curved into shape.

 

Not easy to explain this clearly. I hope that the pictures are more or less self explaining.

Edited June 5, 2021 by G.L.

[G.L.]

On 5/30/2021 at 11:42 PM, jlefever said:

Looks like it will finish up nicely with lots of warm woodwork.

 

Jim

 

On 6/2/2021 at 5:28 PM, yvesvidal said:

What a great project !!! I wonder how I could have missed it....

Fantastic progress on a truly lovely boat.

 

Yves

Jim and Yves, thank you very much for your encouraging comments!

[wefalck]

G.L., that's a clever gadget Bruno Orsel came up with, to kind of having a adjustable spline as a ruler. Also the sping in this case is better than heaving a 'feather board' or a roller-bearing there, as some people use. Have to put this into my folder of modelling techniques.

 

And, she begins to look like boat, rather than the carcass of a dead animal

 

[G.L.]

Still busy with planking. The hull is slowly revealing its elegant lines. To say it in Wefalck's words: she begins to look like boat, rather than the carcass of a dead animal

 

 

Time to reevaluate and recalculate the strake shapes.

 

Thank you very much for reading this log, for your likes and for your encouraging and inspiring comments.

 

Till next week!

[Baker]

On 6/5/2021 at 11:51 AM, G.L. said:

Not easy to explain this clearly. I hope that the pictures are more or less self explaining.

It took a while for my poor mind to understand all this 😉
Ingenious system, a nice tool