HM Cutter Alert by Thukydides - Vanguard Models - 1:64 - first build

[Peanut6]

Thukydides, I've been reading your build log because the Alert is a possible choice for my second build  and I'm looking to see what I would be getting into.  I think you're doing a fantastic job. I especially appreciate your explanation in fabricating the drop plank.  It gave me a major "Aha" moment.  I could never wrap my head around that technique, it just didn't make any sense to me.  But when you mentioned the recalculation from 7 planks to 6 planks at the bow, the megawatt light bulb in my pea brain clicked on and everything made perfect sense.  Now I just need to understand the method you used for the gradual increase of plank width at the stern.  I see the photo and read your description but the two aren't meshing at the moment.  I hope when you finish up the 2nd planking and show a nice close up of the stern (hint, hint, hint) I can see the end result and understand how the method you used works.

[Thukydides]

Minor Update, the planking on one side is done.

 

Thank you to everyone for the likes and the encouragement.

 

@glbarlow So with the benefit of hindsight I should have made the garboard thinner put in three strakes where above I had two. I had lots of room at the stem, but less room at the first two bulkhead lines. This also resulted in the wider second strake than I wanted at midships. Not a huge deal as this will all be sanded and filled and painted white below the water line.

 

@Peanut6 If you are talking about how I gradually widened the planks at the stern (which I discussed in log 11). You can see a good picture of the results of this in log 12 (second last picture). Just in case you were talking about something else, as requested see below:

 

Normally when you use the planing fan you need to make sure your tick strip is parallel to the main line on the fan. All I did to get a gradual increase was to rotate the tick strip which results in the distribution of ticks going from small to large. How I determined how much to rotate was based on using the previous plank to determine the first mark. Then I rotated the strip till that mark lined up with the first plank fan line. I hope this helps clarify it more for you.

[jpalmer1970]

Great work Thukydides. I've still got 6 planks left to add each side in my second planking so you have moved ahead of where I am now. I look forward to following in your footsteps.

[Peanut6]

I must be dense or too old to see the obvious, I see the rotated tick strip in the earlier photo and I see the planks getting gradually wider in the photo above.  I'm just not getting the connection, even with the worded explanation.  I think the only way it is going to get thru to me would be to identify a plank in the above photo and the corresponding marks on the rotated tick strip in the earlier photo.  I'm sure it is another example of a very simple and logical solution to a complicated problem our forefathers came up with that some of us modern people can't quite grasp.  We don't give our ancestors the due credit and respect they deserve for their ingenuity and resourcefulness, IMHO.   

[Thukydides]

3 hours ago, Peanut6 said:

I think the only way it is going to get thru to me would be to identify a plank in the above photo and the corresponding marks on the rotated tick strip in the earlier photo. 

As requested see below with the planks colour coded.

 

notice how the white mark is further away from the main plank fan line. It is closer to the narrow end of the fan. I positioned it by making the white mark the same width as the previous plank (that plank is unmarked).

 

I also had to make sure that the widest tick (the red one) didn't exceed the width of the provided strips.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Thukydides

[Thukydides]

On 10/22/2021 at 7:57 PM, jpalmer1970 said:

Great work Thukydides. I've still got 6 planks left to add each side in my second planking so you have moved ahead of where I am now. I look forward to following in your footsteps.

EG learning from my mistakes :).

[Peanut6]

Thudydides,  that was exactly what I needed and couldn't be more clear to me now.  Thank you so much for your patience and extra time, it is greatly appreciated.

[Thukydides]

Another minor update, I will discuss some of the things I regret/wish I had known before I started more in my next full log, but the second planking is done.

 

 

I think I am more pleased with this side than the other one. I did a better job of managing the taper on the last band to make it more smoothly transition to the garboard.

 

Next up lots of sanding.

[BobG]

Wonderful planking!

[jpalmer1970]

That looks great 👍

[Blue Ensign]

A very nice job, well done. 👍

 

B.E.

[Thukydides]

Log #13: Planking Retrospective

With the second planking complete, I figured I would dedicate a log to some of the things I learned through this process.

One of my goals with this log is to document the challenges of doing a first wooden ship build so those who come after me can hopefully learn from my mistakes.

I have most of the sanding done except for a few minor issues I need to clean up / fill below the water line. Now that it is sanded I am somewhat pleased with the results, but I am also aware that it could have turned out so much better if I had just taken a little more time (particularly in the early stages).

So here is a list of things that I wish I had known or did know, but never took to heart:

1. Early mistakes cause later troubles - Take your time, no really take your time. Early errors, especially on planking, will cause issues later. More time will be spent correcting errors at the front end will end up saving time overall and produce much better results.
    
2. Treat every plank as an individual project - Now this piece of advice is not for everyone, but if you want to have a really good result, the best way is to treat each plank as its own project to carefully fit into place. Take the time to get the bends right and bend it in as many directions as you can. It should sit flush without any effort. If you have to force it into place, the result will never be as good. I saw many other people on MSW say this, but I didn’t realize how true it is until I started to slow down. Better to start over on a plank than to have to deal with the consequences of one that didn’t fit properly.
    
3. Check the width / thickness of the planks - When I started the second planking, I sorted the planks by colour, but I didn’t check the dimensions. Even with the excellent standards that Chris has put in place on the Alert kit, there is still variation in plank dimensions. I found that the width varied between 3.8 and 4.1mm while the thickness could range from 0.8 to 1.1mm. Now these differences may not seem like a lot, but they can have a significant impact on the planking. I would have had much better results if I had sorted my planks by dimension first.
    
4. In the end you have to learn by trying - In the end no matter how much you read, there are still minor adjustments that you need to learn by actually doing the work. I am very thankful that the members of MSW convinced me to start small as it is much better to learn these lessons on a smaller build than on the ship you have always dreamed of making.

 

Speaking of mistakes, as I was trying to fit the stern transom pattern I accidentally snapped it in two.

I had been thinking about rebuilding this part of the model more in line with the drawings in the Goodwin book so I guess the decision has been made for me. More on this in my next log...
 

[Thukydides]

Log #14: Building the Transom

Since I broke the stern transom, I decided to go ahead and rebuild it from scratch. Doing this allows me to (1) align things a bit more with Goodwin and (2) try and fix whatever errors I previously made at the stern.

The attaching of the transom is one area of the manual I wish there had been more pictures (the manual only has diagrams of this). The reason I snapped the transom was in my efforts to see how it was meant to fit. The instructions seemed to indicate I should have the lip, but then I have trouble seeing how I could avoid an ugly edge showing. In addition, things were not lining up completely (likely due to previous errors on my part).

 

So I decided to remove the lip and attach a new transom right on the back. This would also allow me to plank the stern counter and cover up any edges with the counter rail.

 

To construct the transome I first bent two wider (and thicker) planks that I had to replicate the curve on the bottom of the original transom. The reason for bending them together was to ensure that they fitted together properly.

I then used the old transom to trace the pattern onto the planks making sure to leave some extra room at the bottom where originally the transom would have rested on the lip.

Then I carefully cut it out using a razor saw and my craft knife. I glue it in place with some difficulty (I almost glued my thumb to the counter) and filed the edges to get everything to line up properly. 

And this is how it looked in the end.

I still need to adjust the curve on the top of it a bit, but that I can do by carefully filing it down. Next I need to finish the last plank of the counter to cover up the bottom edge of the transom. Then I can work on planking the inner bulworks and adding the side pieces to the transom.

[ccoyle]

I think your planking job produced an absolutely terrific result.

[CiscoH]

Really really great planking job.  As a complete and utter novice I appreciate you showing every step, and a retrospective on what you would have done different is very helpful.  please keep up the detailed posts

[Thukydides]

Log #15: Building the Transom Part II

Thanks @ccoyle and @CiscoH for the encouragement and everyone else for the likes.

 

I am continuing my departure from the instructions to finish up the transom. Though it is not in some senses ideal to be doing this now, the structure of it could have implications for the planking of the inside of the bulwarks and so I decided that I needed to make some decisions about what it will look like.

 

As a minor note, I used titebond and clamps for all my work on this post with the exception of the last plank on the counter. Much of my recent work I had been using CA, but I wanted to allow myself time to adjust the position of the various pieces and the speed of CA was not necessary.

 

The process began with finishing the planking of the counter.

Then I added the counter rail. I used part 51 just as it was intended for this purpose. I also at this point added the tuck rails.

This is the point where I ran into some issues. The Goodwin book appears (at least to my eye) to be inconsistent with regards to the transom. The thickness of it and the dimensions do not seem to line up depending on the angle I am looking at. After many attempts to try and reconcile the various angles I gave up and decided to go with a combination of my best guess and what the kit displayed the inner bulwarks as.

 

From the various angles it appeared that there was a beam running along the transom framing the gun ports so I constructed this out of some pearwood stock using the lower transom rail as a template. The look I am going for is that the transom frame is planked on the outside, but is exposed on the inside. This is somewhat similar to the kit arrangement, I am just adding some horizontal beams as well.

Then I used pieces 54 and 55 to make the vertical beams. These just needed to be shortened a bit to ensure they lined up right. In addition, I made two more beams for the outer edges of the counter frame out of the gap between the two copies of part 56. This was just the right size, but had one issue. The grain ran perpendicular to the pieces which made them significantly weaker. Since the side counter timbers would run along side these and provide structural support, I did not judge this to be a significant problem. However as you will see later, I did end up snapping one of them off when I attached the railing.

 

For the transom beam, I just used part 52 cut into sections to fit between the vertical beams. This is what it looked like when I was finished.

I considered stopping at this point to make the painting easier, but I was concerned that the whole transom area was not strong enough. In addition, constructing the side counter without having the transom finished might prove difficult. So in the end I decided that given that I have a lot more confidence in my painting skills than my woodworking ones, I would err on the side of making the construction easier.

 

To add a railing on top of the transom I took a leftover piece of 3mm pear strip and edge bent it to give the required shape. Then holding it against the beams I carefully marked where the holes needed to go. Then I used a pin vice to drill holes and my craft knife to carefully shape these to the correct size.

Since the vertical beams are at an angle, I needed to bend the rail into a “U” shape to get it onto the transom. This is the point where I broke one of the outside beams. I then glued and clamped the rail in place and re-attached the beam.

In the interests of keeping this post relatively short, I will defer the work on the side counter timbers and the tafferal to part III.
 

[jpalmer1970]

This looks great Thukydides. The transom does seem to be a very tricky area of the build. Even if the counter is positioned at the correct height, the transom does seem to need a little more area at the base to bring the bottoms of the ports above the deck planking level. I think my counter is too low anyway so I will need to fill a gap at the bottom of the transom. Your scratch built transom is looking great and I look forward to seeing the next steps.

[Thukydides]

@jpalmer1970 yes the transom is a tricky part and unfortunately there are not a lot of pictures of that area in the manual (mostly diagrams). And if you bring it up too high you leave to much of a gap between it and the counter which is hard to cover up with the counter rail. I assume that my problem originated from earlier in the build when I was less aware of the potential implications of my mistakes.

 

Despite my rebuild I still made the gun ports too low and had to add thin pieces on the bottom of them to raise them. If you look closely at the first picture on the previous post you can see it. Though the fact you didn't notice gives me some comfort...

[jpalmer1970]

No I didn't see the extra pieces, and they will be even less noticeable once everything is painted. You can always call them 'port linings' if anyone does quibble about them 😀

[Thukydides]

Log #16: Building the Transom Part III

In this final log on the construction of the transom I worked on the side counter timbers and the tafferal.

 

The tafferal was one of those things that in theory seemed simple, but in practice gave me tonnes of trouble. After carefully filing the vertical transom beams to the correct height and angle, I glued part 53 on top of them. However, I could not get this to stay in place properly and I spent a whole evening trying to attach it properly. In the end I managed to use clips and wood glue to get it in place. It remained pretty fragile at first, but once I got the side counter timbers in place it became much more stable.

For the side counter timbers I used the ones (part 75) provided by the kit as a template. I needed to make them thicker to ensure that they covered the sides of my now thicker transom. To do this I started by placing them on a thicker piece of pearwood planking I had (same stuff I used for the wales) and marked out the shape. I then roughly cut out the shape and clamped and glued the pieces together.

After they had dried I carefully trimmed them down using a combination of craft knife, file and sandpaper until all the excess from the added piece was removed. This left me with what will look like one solid piece once I paint them. You may notice that I left the added bits a little longer than the original piece. The reason for this will become clearer in later pictures, but it was to ensure that I had enough material to properly cover up the entire side of the transom.

They were then glued to the sides of the transom and further minor adjustments using files and sandpaper were done to ensure the fit.

I then used part 76 to form the remainder of the side counter timbers. This was a finicky time consuming task involving significant heat and moisture to get the correct bend. I also had to constantly check and remove more material from the end of the wales to ensure everything lined up.

I ended up with some significant charring (due to the iron) on these pieces, but since they will be painted black  I am not too worried.

I also didn’t have quite enough length on the pieces running along the side of the transom so I used a tiny bit of sawdust and wood glue to fill the small indent right by the counter. You can see where I did this in the picture below. It looks like there is a gap, but really it is filled in with my homemade filler.

And with that the transom is pretty much complete and is much stronger than it was after part one.

I may take a bit of a break from the ship for a little as I have some other hobby projects that I want to get back to. When I do return to the project I will begin work on the inner bulworks and the deck.
 

Edited November 19, 2021 by Thukydides

[glbarlow]

Don’t be gone too long, you’re doing great with your problem solving and building.

[jpalmer1970]

It is looking very good - some ingenious work constructing the transom there.

[tomebe]

Just finished and got up to date on your build log. Just a fantastic build of HMS alert, which I've started as well. Thukeydides thanks so much for sharing all this great info with us. So useful for a newbie like myself.

Tom

[Thukydides]

5 hours ago, tomebe said:

Just finished and got up to date on your build log. Just a fantastic build of HMS alert, which I've started as well. Thukeydides thanks so much for sharing all this great info with us. So useful for a newbie like myself.

Tom

I am glad you are enjoying it. You should also start a build log :).

[Thukydides]

Log #17: The Margin Planks

My break was a bit longer than planned due to the other projects taking longer than I expected (I ended up painting a figure for a competition so was at it for over a month), other responsibilities and then finally Christmas.

 

But now back to the Alert.

 

I have been struggling with how to plank the inner hull, as there are not many good angles of this in the build logs I have been reading or the instructions. I want to avoid any planks ending in a point so I guess I need to taper them. Any suggestions here would be appreciated.

 

In the meantime I decided to defer the question while I worked on the margin planks. To make them I used a piece of boxwood sheet I had and used the template of the false deck to mark the outer edge of the curve. I then used a compass to mark an equal distance from that edge.

 

I then cut them out using a coping saw. This was much harder in practice than I had anticipated. Because of the significant bend needed at the bow, part of the margin planks end up with cross grain. I ended up breaking them by mistake twice, though fortunately I was able to get two useable ones.

 

I did also try bending a straight boxwood plank after I broke the first two, but the necessary bend at the bow was two extreme for me to manage even using my wife’s clothes steamer.

 

I am of two minds whether I should glue them in place before planking the inner hull. On the one hand being able to remove them would make the painting easier, but on the other hand the fit will probably be better if I glue them in place first. Any suggestions here would be welcome.

[CiscoH]

i just decided to stall on adding my margin planks on my AVS so i cant help with that question.

Great SpaceWolf though!

Edited January 6, 2022 by CiscoH

[jpalmer1970]

Hi Thukydides,

 

Great painting! I planked the inner bulwarks and painted them before installing my margin planks. The bulwarks may need a bit of a paint touch up when the deck is finally finished but that will hopefully be easier than painting the whole lot later. I am also considering adding a line of spirketting too if I can source some suitable wood.

 

 

[Thukydides]

5 hours ago, jpalmer1970 said:

Hi Thukydides,

 

Great painting! I planked the inner bulwarks and painted them before installing my margin planks. The bulwarks may need a bit of a paint touch up when the deck is finally finished but that will hopefully be easier than painting the whole lot later. I am also considering adding a line of spirketting too if I can source some suitable wood.

 

 

So did you leave a gap at the bottom of your bulwarks to slide the margin plank into or did you just butt the margin plank up against the bulwarks?

 

Also how did you handle the planking of the inner bulwarks, are you able to share a picture of them?

Edited January 6, 2022 by Thukydides

[jpalmer1970]

Hi,

 

I planked the whole bulwarks and then butted the margin plank up against them. I was able to bend a couple of the boxwood strips to use as the margin planks.

[tomganc]

Wow great build. I admire your planking skills. Neat and symmetrical - perfect.

I can't wait for more updates...

 

Regards

Tom