HMS Euryalus 1803 by rlb - 1:48 scale

[rlb]

I am embarking on a new build.   I had thought to not start another until I finished Oneida, but progress is going slow on her, and I am not getting any younger!  Since Oneida is getting near the rigging stage, perhaps going back and forth between hull work on Euryalus, and rigging on Oneida, will keep my interest up in both.

 

I am building a proper layout board, and this is the extent of my progress to date!   It's not finished, and the framing guide is not fastened down yet.

 

 

 

 

It is based on Ed Tosti's Naiad building board, but bigger, as his was for a similar sized ship, but at 1:60 scale.  I understand why the smaller scale.  When I saw the Euryalus plans which are drawn at 1:48, I was quite surprised at the size.  However, I quite like the idea of always building at the same scale, so as my Oneida is 1:48, so also will be my Euryalus.

 

 

 

As I mentioned, I am rigging Oneida, but I have no plans to rig Euryalus.  I would have no place to put it.

 

I have one issue, as I begin.   Volume 1 of Euryalus is now sold out, and out of print at Seawatch books.  I have purchased a new Vol. 2, so I have a complete set of the second volume drawings, but I am missing some drawings from Volume 1.  I am wondering if anyone out there, who owns Volume 1 would allow me to copy the ones I am missing--I believe the ones I need are #6 Body; Bow Pieces; Rudder; Cross Section, and #13 Beam Patterns; Stern Timbers.  Or, if you own Volume 1 (with all the drawings) and do not think you want to keep it.....

 

If the book was still in print I would, of course, purchase it and support the authors, Allan Yedlinsky and Wayne Kempson; and Seawatch books.  Allan and Wayne have been very helpful to me in getting off the ground (off the ways?).  I just need to get copies of those missing drawings!  PM me if you can help.

 

Ron

 

 

[Koopyetz]

Hello Ron

 

Glad to see you engaged with a new build. Look forward to her progress.

 

Regards

 

 

[rlb]

Work continues--

 

I have fastened the layout plan to the baseboard, though I had some issues when I sprayed a matte protective finish over it.  The protective spray seemed to weaken the spray adhesive underneath, and in the high humidity of recent days I have some bubbles in some areas.   I don't think it is a problem, but I am considering taking the plan off, re-copying it on heavier paper, and trying again.

 

I built two clamp squares (a sliding gantry will also be built), and cut out the 6 keel pieces.  They are slightly oversized—especially the foremost which will receive the boxing joint. The keel alignment pieces are adjustable and can be snugged up when the keel is finished to its final width--

 

 

 

 

I cut the keel scarf edges with a razor saw--

 

 

 

And after cutting the long angle roughly on a bandsaw, worked to smooth and true it with a chisel and files--

 

 

 

The scarf between 6 and 5 is ready to be glued, but that won't happen until the rest are also ready--

 

 

 

I have also made a few "Tosti" clamps (of the simpler "basic" variety), which I plan to use to clamp the keel pieces together when they are ready--

 

 

 

 

Ron

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by rlb

[Ebomba]

Just great to see another build by you, but please continue with Oneida, one of my all time favorite builds,

happy to see you are still using hand tools to a great extent , what woods do you plan on using? Good Luck with it I know it will be great build

 

Best

 

Ed

[rlb]

Thanks, Ed.  I will continue work on Oneida.  It would be unacceptable to abandon her at this point!  

 

I plan to use Swiss Pear for the framing.  The stock I have is a light shade--not as dark as most I see.  Hopefully this will not cause problems down the road (when I run out and have to restock).  Castello Boxwood for hull planking and carvings, and maybe Holly for deck planking.  I'm not sure, will have to see how it looks.  Black will be "ebonized" pear, as I did on Oneida.  I'm very happy with the way that looks.

 

Still using hand tools, though I have also become a Byrne's customer!

 

Right now this is taking shape in my living room.  This is one advantage to being single!--

 

 

 

 

I don't have a place for it in my regular workshop.  I'm running up and down the stairs (my workshop is upstairs) constantly.  Eventually I'm going to have to fit it in my workshop somehow.   Ah, that's why I should finish Oneida sooner rather than later.

 

I have the gantry mostly complete, have installed a sternpost support, have trued two more of the keel scarfs, and worked on the boxing joint a bit.--

 

 

 

The last three keel pieces lie true, and you can see I have work to do on the forward two scarfs.--

 

 

 

Ron

[Koopyetz]

Ron

 

I’m curious how many pieces will make up a full frame.

 

thanks

 

Rick

 

 

[allanyed]

Ron,  running up and down the stairs is good exercise, plus running away from anyone else in the house because they are after you due to the sawdust and wood chips you are creating could make it like a cross country race!   

I am looking forward to following this build.

Allan

Edited June 10, 2021 by allanyed

[rlb]

Rick, generally, counting the chocks, either 9 or 11 pieces.  They form a pair together, though they need to be built and installed separately.

 

Allan, the sawdust and chips are pretty well relegated to the workshop (at least so far), but the exercise point is well taken!

 

After dry fitting, and adjusting each scarf to make sure the overall length is correct, I have glued the keel pieces together except for the formost.  Still working on the boxing joint and scarf for that one.   The keel height dimension (is that the sided or molded dimension?--I should know that) has been sanded to the final 15".  The width is still 16-17".   The false keel pieces have been cut out and dry fit.  They will be glued one at a time to the keel.--

 

 

 

 

 

Both the foremost keel piece and false keel piece are being left a little long until final shaping of the boxing joint and scarf, then they will be trimmed to length and glued.  Then the assembled keel width will be sanded to the final 15" dimension.

 

Sorry for the poor photos-a mixture of poor light, and different color light sources causing white balance issues.  

 

Ron

Edited June 11, 2021 by rlb

[druxey]

If the light balance is a little off, the joinery certainly isn't!

[rlb]

Thanks, druxey.  The bar is high, and I am trying!

 

The false keel is glued, one piece at a time.  I am using pigmented glue in the joints, and the first few times were a mess, but I am getting better at judging how much glue needs to be used, and how to keep it relatively clean. --

 

 

 

 

The final false keel piece glued.--

 

 

 

The basic keel assembly is glued.  It hasn't been tapered yet at the bow or stern, nor scarf bolts installed, or rabbet cut.  I have cut out the stem and apron pieces, and am getting ready to cut the stern deadwood.--

 

 

 

The boxing joint is done, I mistakenly didn't angle it as the scarfs are, but as it won't be seen, that's okay.--

 

 

 

Ron

Edited June 12, 2021 by rlb

[druxey]

Looking very nice, Ron.

[rlb]

I've worked on the stem scarfs.  

 

Here are the three stem pieces test fit together against the drawing--

 

 

 

 

And a look at the joints--

 

 

 

These are just being test fit, and the shadow on the first (upper) joint is due to the upper stem piece being wider than the rest, to allow for the stem taper.

 

In this photo, the scarf between the lower and middle stem has been glued, and paper shims are being used to (hopefully) maintain the alignment as the scarf between the middle and upper stem is glued--

 

 

 

 

Now I can test fit the stem to the boxing joint and get a rough look at what needs to be refined.  There is a lean to starboard that will need to be corrected as the joint is made--

 

 

 

 

 

I have to say, that tree trunk is distracting!!

 

 

Ron

[druxey]

Problem fixed!

 

 

Or you could simply have cropped the image yourself!

[rlb]

Ha! Well done, druxey!  I'm going to send all my photos to you for editing!

 

Ron

Edited June 19, 2021 by rlb

[Koopyetz]

13 hours ago, druxey said:

Problem fixed!

 

 

Or you could simply have cropped the image yourself!

Don't throw the tree away, Ron might need it for his build.

[rlb]

I have spent a lot of time on the boxing joint.  It is dry fit here.  The stem is now centered side-to-side, and reaches the forward point as it should--

 

 

 

 

A close-up shows that there is some final tidying up of the upper curve to do, as it reaches the aft end of the joint--

 

 

 

Here it is after that final shaping has been done--

 

 

 

 

There are still many pieces to be shaped and fit before the boxing joint can be glued.  The next piece will be the tricky lower apron, and here it is roughly cut out, and and held in place against the stem and keel to test its initial fit--

 

 

 

I  have also marked and drilled the holes for the keel scarf bolts, and lightly marked the rabbet line--

 

 

 

Ron

Edited June 22, 2021 by rlb

[rlb]

I came downstairs this morning, and the sunlight was peeping through a curtained window--

 

 

 

I had placed the Scale Captain there last night!

 

Ron

[druxey]

No need to PhotoShop that picture! 

 

Nice clean work on the boxing joint.

[Koopyetz]

Ron

 

First rate work!

 

Nice carving of the Captain too.

[Ebomba]

Ron ,excellent work as always, really great workmanship, but send that guy back to Oneida to oversee the finish

 

Best,

Ed

[Trussben]

Hey Ron,

 

I just spotted your new build log, very nice subject you chose. I was thinking about building her after Pegasus but I changed my mind and decided on something french for a change. I will watch this log with interest and your doing great so far.

[rlb]

Thanks Ben, and all, for comments and likes!

 

Here is the stem, sitting in place--

 

 

 

The three stem pieces are glued, but not the boxing joint.

 

I've been shaping the two apron pieces.  Here is the lower apron sitting in place--

 

 

 

And the upper apron added--

 

 

 

The stem and apron pieces are held together here just by finger pressure--

 

 

 

I'm reading between TFFM, the Naiad book, and of course, the Euryalus book, for fabrication techniques and instructions, and importantly, the order to proceed.  They all are a little different from each other in that respect (that, or my reading comprehension is very poor).  I.E. when to glue certain joints, when to taper the keel and stem, when to cut the keel and stem rabbets, etc.   I'm delaying gluing any of the stem for now, and planning whether this is also the best time to cut and shape the bow pieces.  

 

Ron 

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by rlb

[druxey]

You'll find that different authors have different preferences. Choose your poison! You are master shipwright in your own yard.

[hamilton]

Hi Ron

 

Your Oneida log has always been one of my favourites here, so I'm thrilled to see you embarking on Euryalus!! It's already looking great - I'll be following this build with interest! Thanks for sharing

hamilton

[rlb]

Thanks hamilton.   Druxey, yes, and it's interesting to see different ways to skin a cat.  (Not literally.)

 

Ron    

[rlb]

I have chosen my poison.  It is a mixture of the TFFM, Naiad, and Euryalus poisons; we'll see if it does me in.

 

The order of immediate business will be thus:

 

1) Taper the keel fore and aft

2) Glue the upper apron on the stem

3) Trim and angle the top of the stem

4) Taper the stem

5) Glue the boxing joint, attaching the stem (minus the lower apron)

6) Make the bollard timbers

7) Using the bollard timbers, verify and cut the bearding line in the lower apron

😎 Glue the lower apron on  [sorry "8" then ")" gives me "😎" and I can't seem to get rid of it]

9) Make and glue the sternpost, inner sternpost, and deadwood

10) Make and glue the rising wood

11) Cut the keel and stem rabbet 

 

The Knee of the Head can be assembled at any time, but it will not be permanently attached until after the hawse timber work is done.

 

At this time I have done #1 (keel tapering), #2 (upper apron glued), and #3 (stem end angle).

 

I am most of the way through #4 (tapering the stem)

 

 

 

 

On the paper pattern of the Lower Apron, about an inch away from the end, I have marked the end of the bearding line with a pencil (it didn't print on my pattern).  Forward of that line, the Lower Apron will match the width of the stem, and aft it will be wider, and shaped to make the bearding line "step". 

 

 

 

 

 

I still have a bit of sanding to get the taper to the right thickness around the middle of the stem.  To help judge the taper, I held the stem over the end view of it on the plans.  Panic.  On the drawing the upper end of the stem is wider (by about 1.5 inches) than my stem.   How did I get this wrong?!!!!   I went back and checked the Euryalus text, and the Naiad text and Naiad drawings (since up to now, sided dimensions have been identical).   The Euryalus text calls for the stem to be 20" at the upper end, which is what I have.   So there seems to be a discrepancy here.    Naiad also calls for 20".   I think I am okay then, and this will just make the bollard timbers each .75 inches wider at the top, to compensate (at least as they are shown on the drawings, which show the stem head at about 21.5 inches).   They'll actually be closer in width to the rest of the hawse timbers in that case.  Panic relieved, unless someone points out an error in my analysis of this.

 

I've also cut out some future work, though I'm not quite ready for these yet--according to my poison plan.

 

 

 

Ron

 

 

Edited July 6, 2021 by rlb

[druxey]

If I may suggest making but not attaching tehe knee of the head until after planking the bow. The 'nose' will get in the way of clamping or securing the hooding ends of the planks.

 

Lovely work so far!

[rlb]

Thanks, druxey.  Your suggestion makes great sense, and I will follow it.

 

Ron

Edited July 8, 2021 by rlb

[rlb]

I completed #5 (glue the boxing joint), and I'm not sure how this happened, but it was not glued precisely correctly.  The upper end of the stem was not quite far enough forward.  I'm mystified by this, as it was good when I glued and clamped it.   Wishing not to start off on the wrong foot, I made the decision to re-glue it.  For the first time (and not the last, be assured), the isopropyl alcohol comes out--

 

 

 

With the tinted glue, this is not a pretty sight--

 

 

 

In cleaning up the residue, I kind of massacred the joint.  This is a shame, as it will be visible.  After re-gluing, the boxing joint doesn't look bad, but the first attempt looked almost perfect, though it was unfortunately "off" somehow.  The re-glued stem positioning looks good though, and this is probably more important than the boxing joint LOOKING perfect; but it better not somehow change again overnight!!

 

Here is the newly glued stem, and the blanks for the bollard timbers cut out.  The paper pattern is on the underside of the bollard timbers, but the picture was better showing the wood side--

 

 

 

Ron

 

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by rlb

[PRS]

I like those little wooden clamps. Did you make them?