USF Confederacy 1778 by WalrusGuy - Model Shipways - 1:64

[Wahka_est]

Hi

 

How is it going with planking? 
 

Vahur

hobbymill.eu

[WalrusGuy]

On 9/16/2021 at 11:09 AM, desalgu said:

Your planking is looking awesome to me!  Planking around gun ports looks very clean and neat.  You could certainly give me a lesson or two!

 

I agree with all the comments above about small differences between the two sides.  It would take strips of wood cut to extremely close tolerances to get both sides the same.  Only way to have a chance of doing that is to cut your own.  But I don't think it will matter for reasons pointed out above.

 

 

Thanks so much David! 

 

2 hours ago, Wahka_est said:

Hi

 

How is it going with planking? 
 

Vahur

hobbymill.eu

Hi Vahur, many thanks for checking in! I got a bit busy with school/work so I took a bit of a break from the ship. I got a bit of time again so will continue. I'll post once I finish planking above the wales which is halfway done from my last post 😁

[WalrusGuy]

I finished planking one side to the top, so thought I'd share some progress photos together with the messy worktable 😁

 

 

Planking near the bow towards the top of the beak bulkhead required some twisting of the planks. So here was my workaround for that. I soaked some strips in water then used clamps and some wood to twist them:

 

It made it easier to glue without holding the planks for a long time for the glue to set:

I had to deviate from the instructions here and needed to add one more strip before the one that extends to the end of the ship. This was needed for a more natural fit and I saw others did the same in their logs. 

I cut the lintels (for the top row gun ports) before planking till the top since it made it easier to paint the gun ports without planks coming on the way.

 

Once I finish planking the other side, I'll take better photos with a cleaner table!

Edited October 1, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[hamilton]

Looks really nice! Your planking is so clean! At first I thought the twisted wood strips were some kind of cat's cradle automaton - which would be pretty cool to see if you can work one up once you're done this! Have fun!! Wish I could build like that! I'll keep practicing!

hamilton

[WalrusGuy]

16 hours ago, hamilton said:

Looks really nice! Your planking is so clean! At first I thought the twisted wood strips were some kind of cat's cradle automaton - which would be pretty cool to see if you can work one up once you're done this! Have fun!! Wish I could build like that! I'll keep practicing!

hamilton

Thank you, Hamilton! Yup it does look a bit crazy looking. I'll look into how to make cradle automaton, looks complex 😄

[No Idea]

Beautiful work and what a great idea for twisting planks - I'm stealing that one.

[WalrusGuy]

12 hours ago, No Idea said:

Beautiful work and what a great idea for twisting planks - I'm stealing that one.

Thanks Mark! 😁 

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks again everyone for the likes and comments!

 

I finished planking both sides of the ship till the top. Here are a couple of pictures to mark this milestone of the build:

I'll next start working on the first layer of main wales, then the sweep ports. I am thinking I should then start treenailing since it will be easier to sand before I install the 2nd layer of the main and channel wales.

[michael mott]

Very Nice looking work there, It pay to take your time and as you can see the rewards are worth it.

 

Michael

[Gahm]

Excellent planking job! This will be a magnificent model!

 

Thomas 

[WalrusGuy]

On 10/7/2021 at 1:56 PM, michael mott said:

Very Nice looking work there, It pay to take your time and as you can see the rewards are worth it.

 

Michael

 

On 10/8/2021 at 5:44 AM, Gahm said:

Excellent planking job! This will be a magnificent model!

 

Thomas 

Thank you Michael and Thomas! 🙂 

[WalrusGuy]

The first layer of main wales have now been planked. I also finished gluing in all the sweep port lids and ballast port lids. Here are some pics of where I am at right now:

I will next start working on treenailing the planks before starting to plank beneath the wales (something I am very nervous about!!! 😅)

[abelson]

Fine work. Clean and crisp.

[hamilton]

Looks great! Very clean planking job so far

hamilton

[WalrusGuy]

On 10/16/2021 at 3:45 PM, abelson said:

Fine work. Clean and crisp.

 

23 hours ago, hamilton said:

Looks great! Very clean planking job so far

hamilton

Thank you for the nice words, Steven and Hamilton! 

[WalrusGuy]

I finished treenailing the stern area. This time I went down to the 2nd smallest hole in the Byrnes drawplate. This way the treenails entered the hole more easily. 

I will apply the tung oil after all the planking and treenailing is done. When I apply the oil the treenails will show better.

 

I also marked all the locations of the treenails on the starboard side of the ship:

[Gahm]

That is quite an impressive model - and a lot of treenails! 😉

 

Thomas

[WalrusGuy]

6 hours ago, Gahm said:

That is quite an impressive model - and a lot of treenails! 😉

 

Thomas

Yes many many treenails! I had to take a breather after marking them on one side 😄

 

Oh and speaking of a break, for those interested, I have set up a build log of the HMS Pickle model which I am building using yellow cedar. I plan to switch back and forth between the Confed build and the smaller schooner. This would serve as a nice break between the long modelling sessions of the Confed build: 

 

[Nirvana]

How many tree nails are there?

[WalrusGuy]

2 minutes ago, Nirvana said:

How many tree nails are there?

Too afraid too even begin counting!!!

[WalrusGuy]

Finally finished marking out the treenails on the other side of the hull. Here are some pictures before some major hole drilling!

And I started drilling a small section. I found it easier to drill the holes with the model on my lap while sitting on a sofa rather than on the workbench 

 

[BobG]

Looks fantastic! Treenailing is one of the most tedious and boring steps in model ship building but worth it in the end. Nice job!

[WalrusGuy]

23 hours ago, BobG said:

Looks fantastic! Treenailing is one of the most tedious and boring steps in model ship building but worth it in the end. Nice job!

Thank you Bob! 

[datadiscovery]

Been watching your build for a while. What a treat! You're doing beautiful work. I admire your skill and perseverance. How deep are you drilling those treenail holes?  Pete

[WalrusGuy]

10 hours ago, datadiscovery said:

Been watching your build for a while. What a treat! You're doing beautiful work. I admire your skill and perseverance. How deep are you drilling those treenail holes?  Pete

Hi Pete, thanks so much for the nice words! Really appreciate it 🙂

 

I am drilling them about half way through the planks (so about 1/32" deep give or take). 

 

I have placed the drill bit like this so that the chuck can act as a stopper:

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[WalrusGuy]

Finished drilling all the holes on the starboard side! So I am halfway now 😀

[No Idea]

That is such nice work and in scale too........Your patience and skill is to be admired as thats a lot of treenails and it looks simply awesome!

[datadiscovery]

Letting just the little end of the bit stick out is a great idea. Wish I'd thought of it. Hope you don't mind if I steal it from you when I start my treenailing.

Pete

[allanyed]

I have never been thrilled with the look of treenails at scales smaller than 1:48, but after seeing your work, I am reconsidering this as my current project is 1:64.  Sorry if I missed it if you already mentioned it, but what material are you using for the treenails?   I cannot think of any wood that goes through the smallest holes in the Byrnes plate without problems other than bamboo, at least based on my own experience.    

 

Allan

[WalrusGuy]

On 10/22/2021 at 2:31 PM, No Idea said:

That is such nice work and in scale too........Your patience and skill is to be admired as thats a lot of treenails and it looks simply awesome!

 

On 10/23/2021 at 11:37 PM, datadiscovery said:

Letting just the little end of the bit stick out is a great idea. Wish I'd thought of it. Hope you don't mind if I steal it from you when I start my treenailing.

Pete

Thank you for the nice comments! And I don't mind at all 😁 

 

51 minutes ago, allanyed said:

I have never been thrilled with the look of treenails at scales smaller than 1:48, but after seeing your work, I am reconsidering this as my current project is 1:64.  Sorry if I missed it if you already mentioned it, but what material are you using for the treenails?   I cannot think of any wood that goes through the smallest holes in the Byrnes plate without problems other than bamboo, at least based on my own experience.    

 

Allan

Yes I'm using bamboo, but I've seen that some brands of bamboo skewers don't have a nice finish (they have more of dots or speckles when sanded smooth). You can see this in Mike's post here: 

From his post he also drew boxwood till the 2nd hole on the drawplate. 

 

So I tried a couple brands of bamboo skewers before settling on the no name brand from SuperStore

 

I go all the way through to the second smallest hole on the drawplate. This is the only size that fits nice with the smallest drill bit I have (0.3 mm). The smallest one is too loose and the 3rd smallest is too tight.