28 foot American cutter by druxey - FINISHED - 1:48 scale

[druxey]

Bruce: Unfortunately, that is not the way gratings were actually made. If both longitudinal and cross-members were half-jointed together, they would fall apart when sliced into two pieces as you suggest.

 

Real gratings had full-depth cross-members and half-depth longitudinals. Only the cross battens were scored (grooved). In the case of this atypical grating, it is the longitudinals that are scored.

 

Eberhard: That might be an alternative approach. Glue two longitudinal blanks to a carrier sheet at the appropriate angles and groove them first, then cut strips off them and assemble.

 

Thanks for your suggestions!

[bruce d]

23 minutes ago, druxey said:

Bruce: Unfortunately, that is not the way gratings were actually made. If both longitudinal and cross-members were half-jointed together, they would fall apart when sliced into two pieces as you suggest.

 

I did not mention the glue. All joints would be glued before cutting apart.

Ignore if still off the mark 🤐

[druxey]

I now have a workable method for the grating! The photo shows this. I could not mount the grating blank on top of the slide as there is no clearance under the saw. So the grating is mounted on a squared wood block to the correct height that I manually traverse, then advance the longitudinal feed 1.1mm. Repeat.....

 

[druxey]

Rarely has such a small part taken so long to make. However, it was finally done  (pic before cleaning it up), refined and then installed.

 

The white 'background' is actually Foamcore board with a cut-out to act as a kind of girdle, cinching the hull in to the designed beam. I've found that carvel hull boats always tend to spread a bit, whereas clinker boats do not. In this instance, the spread was four scale inches. The hull will stay in this until the thwarts and their standards (inverted knees) are installed. This will stabilize the hull shape. 

 

[shipman]

Well done!

It's easy when you know how.

Big smile 😎

[Bob Cleek]

Cue flashing "APPLAUSE" sign!

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Bob Cleek

[BANYAN]

Persistence pays off; nice work.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[allanyed]

The use of high quality, very sharp chisels shows through very clearly!!!

Allan

[druxey]

So, onward again. Next are the stern sheets (seats). Here is an interesting departure from the published plans. The card pattern has a distinctly different outline when fitted to the model. I checked immediately whether the riser height that supports the thwarts was too low. It it is on spec. If the lines plan is true (and it faired out perfectly)  then the plan of the stern sheets must be wrong. This, I suspect has to be the case, so will continue using my pattern shape. Beneath the stern sheets is a low partial bulkhead and two supporting knees. These are not shown other than in section on the profile but are seen in the photograph, post #203. (The knee is only just visible to the right of the anti-hogging post added by the museum.) These photos are as good as a time machine! Thank you again, Eberhard.

 

Thanks for dropping by, and remember to sign on for the Trafalgar project!

[lraymo]

Really enjoy watching your work!  It's so precise!

[druxey]

The stern sheets have been made and installed. These were made in two halves to make fitting them easier. The scores for the frames were under-beveled considerably to fit. There will be small turned pillars under the thwarts. Six will need to be made.

 

[Maury S]

Beautiful!

Maury

[druxey]

Thanks for looking in and the compliments.

 

Moving on, the thwarts are in and the hull now fixed to within an inch of spec'd beam. A little miniature metalwork produced the clasp for the mast. It was fabricated from brass, silver soldered and then chemically darkened rather than blackened. I felt black would have been a little too much contrast to the wood color.

 

[AON]

looking more and more like life size

[druxey]

Moving on, all the standards (inverted knees) have been added to the thwarts and the model removed from the 'girdle'. As the standards are so small, I've found it easier to install them oversize and then reduce them to final dimension when firmly glued in. You can see some 'as installed' ones and other standards finished. To shape them, I use micro chisels and a custom sandpaper stick.

 

Next are the pillars under the thwarts. To turn such thin pieces, it is necessary to support them. I cut down a piece of brass tube and fixed in in the tailstock so that the stock can revolve freely in it. Notches mark the main dimensions of the baluster so that I can replicate the turning.

 

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by druxey

[AON]

Excellent photo of the brass tube support.... it answered all my questions.  Even the ones I didn't know I had yet!

[shipman]

Love the novel if not unique method turning the supports within the brass tube.

[KeithAug]

Beautiful detail druxey. Wish I had a good watchmakers lathe.

[druxey]

Um,  wish I could take credit for the technique, but I saw this some time ago on MSW: another benefit of belonging to this wonderful forum!

[BANYAN]

Couldn't agree more Druxey, very nice work BTW.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[michael mott]

Druxey, thanks for directing me to your build during our chat this afternoon. The planking at .015"thick really is a wonderful bit of modelbuilding. I think I wore out the like button on my laptop this evening. you have given me a number of clues for proceeding on my model of Skipjack, and I am going to switch wood for the frames.

The photographs really give the impression that this is a much larger model that it is, and having seen it in your hands puts it all into perspective. now that I am caught up I can follow along, with your beautiful work and tutorial.

 

Michael

 

[Maury S]

Druxey,

Quote

chemically darkened rather than blackened

Would you kindly explain the difference and how you deal with same.

Maury

[druxey]

Maury: The are chemicals specifically for 'antiquing' brass and copper. These create a brown rather than black patina. There are other chemicals that give different color finishes. For example:

 

https://jaxchemical.com/product-category/colorants/

[druxey]

Spent the morning trimming and installing the turned stanchions under the thwarts and making miscellaneous hardware: ringbolts, eyebolts and hooks that are located along the inwale. All the standards above the thwarts have also been shaved down to their final shapes. The photos show how thin the outer planking is!

 

Next up will be the short toptimbers that support the wash strake.

 

[Keith Black]

 David, great photos. Such a pretty little thing, really an amazing piece of workmanship. 

[michael mott]

Translucent planking! very impressive.

 

Michael

[druxey]

Well, I thought I was progressing well with the stub toptimbers. I'd completed the port side when I realized that I'd beveled them the wrong way: instead of the outer surfaces being almost vertical, they flared outward. A session of  water (isopropanol would have been too aggressive and loosened planking) followed by 'tooth-pulling' - and teeth grinding! - ensued. I've now begun a second batch of correct toptimbers. They have an almost comma-shaped profile and are tedious to make and fit.

 

[wefalck]

I was about to commend you for your embarrasingly steady progress ... sorry to hear about the set-back - makes you human

 

[Thistle17]

Your religous adherence to faithful reproduction is astounding! I need to go to confession.

Joe

[Don Case]

On 5/17/2021 at 2:58 PM, druxey said:

Well, the past three days have been quite challenging. I realized that I needed to add other structures at the bow before adding the inwales.

First was a small fore deck. The plans did not show the plank layout, but one of Eberhard's photos helpfully did. The deck is supported by several narrow beams.

 

Next was the challenge: a massive breasthook in three parts. The two arms are over 5' 0" long and it has a separate cross-chock. The port arm went easily and fitted around the toptimbers nicely. However, the starboard one took six attempts before I finally got an acceptable one. As the cross-chock was let down over the arms I made this in two layers. 

 

Now finally on to the inwales!

 

I've been wondering about that huge breasthook since you posted this. Would it be to strengthen the bow for a swivel gun or something?