HMS Winchelsea 1764 by glbarlow - FINISHED - 1:48

[glbarlow]

An Upright Hull at Last

 

Thought I’d share a few photos of my Winchelsea hull upright.

 

I thought about what would be easier to do now than later in the build, following the always good practice of reading ahead.

I drilled out the rudder port. To line it up I cut out a copy of the counter frieze and loosely taped it to the counter (I’ll get a better fit, only concerned about the rudder port) after cutting out the black area representing the port, drew a pencil line, drilled a hole, and worked my way out with a #11 blade and sanding sticks. I pulled out the rudder pieces from Chapter 5 and held the two parts together that pass through the port (the dark line shown in the photo is the rudder) to confirm the hole was big enough. I stopped well short of the black line, I’ll adjust later as needed. The still unassembled rudder went back in the bag.

I used the jig from Chapter 10 to determine the height of the stern frames and cut them down about 1/8th higher than the jig to allow for future adjustments. Why not paint them black, as they eventually must be, while I’m at it. I will admit I broke one during the hull planking, fortunately it was a clean break and easily glued back together. I waited until the planking was complete, it has bothered me looking at it all that time. Now it’s fixed.

Finally I painted the stem. It was always going to be black, I’d rather deal with occasional touch up and get it done now while it’s relatively easy to do.

With that the hull is prepped and ready for the next steps, the transom, upper counter, and quarter galleries - can’t wait.  Once again, excuse the rushed iPhone photos with their work light glare.

 

As always thank you for stopping by with your likes and your comments. I really appreciate it.

[garyshipwright]

Looking good Glenn. You planking job is outstanding and really look's good. Gary

[westwood]

 

You handled the planking nicely Glenn,

I like it a lot.

[LCdr Dave]

Beautiful work! As a newbie to wooden ship building, thank you for the reminder of how much time it can take to get planks to fit. I need that reminder that because it takes time isn’t just because I don’t know what I’m doing…

Cheers,

Dave

[glbarlow]

3 hours ago, LCdr Dave said:

it takes time isn’t just because I don’t know what I’m doing…

Thanks for the comment. I think it takes time because we know what we’re doing😊

[glbarlow]

14 hours ago, garyshipwright said:

planking job is outstanding

Thank you. It’s such an important part of the model. 

 

6 hours ago, westwood said:

handled the planking nicely

Thanks. Just trying to do well with all that wonderful AYC. 

[FrankWouts]

Simply beautiful Glenn! You're a master in planking indeed!

And I'll have to take some holiday to catch up with you now! LOL

Frank.

[glbarlow]

3 hours ago, FrankWouts said:

Simply beautiful

Thanks Frank, I appreciate your saying so. 

[Thistle17]

One word describes your work....elegant!

 

Joe

[glbarlow]

19 minutes ago, Thistle17 said:

One word describes your work

I could think of a few others, but thank you very much. 

[scrubbyj427]

Off to a very fine start Glenn. Now for the fun parts.

[glbarlow]

The Beginning of a Transom

 

Normally I dread building out the transom on a model, it seems to me commercial manufactures just throw whatever on the back of the ship and move on.  Not the case with Winchelsea just as it wasn’t with Cheerful. This is much more complex, much more fun, and will look great if I can pull it off. It much more complex, oh wait I said that already.

The first step, adding the transom itself, was a bit anti-climatic, so much so I forgot to take any photos. I had this part when I was building out the stern frames, I also had the windows - I spent a long time back then making sure I had the right fit and alignment of the frames to properly fit the windows. I marked the transom accordingly and put it away until now.  Of course I rechecked all those measurements before I glued it on.

 

I pre-painted the transom Cerulean Blue (I later painted the area between the windows, just didn't have a photo) knowing I’d be touching it up a lot - I didn’t want paint on the inside of the window frames, it was easier for me to make that happen now. I also widened the two ports to match the fillers and painted it the same Crimson red the deck area will be and the cannon ports are now. I like this RED color.

With that done I added the three 7/32 planks for the upper counter. I felt a little guilty not including pencil marks between planks, but this soon will be covered by the ships name frieze. Looking at it and the lower counter really demonstrates the difference a little #2 pencil can make. I did have to make adjustments to get the fit I wanted, once again proving I was far from perfect building out the frame no matter how careful I was at the time. Good news, it’s wood. The adjustments weren’t difficult to make, just took some time. I left room for additional sanding once I get to that point of adding the frieze and molding.

I guess I should have faired more of the stern frames way back when, I had very little room to fit in the quarter gallery stern window piece. All I needed was enough to fit the frame properly, so with lots and lots of sand, test, sand, test I got the fit. I faired the frames at the time to match a cut-out from the plans, still the variance here is only about 1-2mm, so I guess I should have faired the upper frames a little more. In my defense my focus at the time was not under-sizing the lower counter to match the plan template, which it does so…

This was fun. I elected to use my jeweler’s saw to cut the upper counter excess to fit. I had made the counter extra long knowing it would be easier to cut with this saw.  I just stayed well outside the line and sanded it to the line after cutting.

I’ll have to admit to being a bit skeptical about the bending properties of a 1/64th strip of wood - sure Chuck can do it, but could I.  It turned out deceptively easy to bend, though it took me more than the required nine pieces (I’m not saying how many) to get a fit I liked.  Once complete it looks exceptionally nice, a perfect design to finish off the top of the transom.

Per the monograph I painted the top of the rail and stern frames black where it eventually will meet up with the side railings and left outside of that bright.  I added the frames, windows and back fillers, sanded it flush and added a coat of WOP.

 

I elected to fill the seam on the outside edge and paint it blue. Though it is covered by a carving and won’t show much I didn’t like the seam and I thought the blue would highlight the carving. Time will tell.

 

I could have mixed a little white into my flat black paint for the stern view of the galley windows, but where is the fun in that, instead I brushed on a little white weathering powder from my Doc O’Brien set. The frames are centered, just a trick of shadows and lighting making it appear a bit off. I also checked with the other windows in place to make sure it had a consistent look. I did not sand the window frames, at all, way to fragile for me.  I did though lightly brush on a coat of WOP. Frankly I think the light laser char gives them more depth and character. 

The transom looks a little beat-up at this point, there is a lot of molding and carving to add in addition to the upper and lower counter friezes. It’s prepped for when that time comes. Until then I turn my attention to the fascinating challenge of building the two galleries, did I mention its all very complex.

 

Thanks as always for your likes and comments and for stopping by to take a look.

Edited August 1, 2022 by glbarlow

[Gregory]

Great work on the transom, but my eyes are still drawn to the flow of the planking into the counter.  Just awesome..

[Dave_E]

20 minutes ago, Gregory said:

Great work on the transom, but my eyes are still drawn to the flow of the planking into the counter.  Just awesome..

Second that! 👍

[Knocklouder]

Wow some day maybe mine might look like that, but not today lol Very nice work I just had to say ,   Outstanding  

[Edwardkenway]

Very nice start on the transom Glenn, I  can tell you're already enjoying chapter three, and you still got the really fun part to go😁.

[Chuck]

Looks nice...one thing I do recommend is that the blue paint on the stern transom shouldnt be used at full brilliance or saturation.  Its too bright and blue....Before you add anything else I do recommend that the blue paint there be toned down with just the smallest amount of white mixed in to it to lighten it up.   Iamof course suggesting some white mixed with the blue on your pallet before you paint.   Just a smidgeon....it helps a lot.

 

Chuck

[glbarlow]

15 minutes ago, Chuck said:

blue paint there be toned down

Thanks Chuck, I’ll do that. It’s Winsor Newton from the tube thinned with water. I’ll add a little white to the paint jar.  

Edited August 1, 2022 by glbarlow

[glbarlow]

16 hours ago, Gregory said:

flow of the planking into the counter. 

It does look pretty cool😊

 

15 hours ago, Knocklouder said:

nice work

Thank you

 

16 hours ago, Dave_E said:

Second that!

Thanks Dave

 

56 minutes ago, Edwardkenway said:

you still got the really fun part to go😁.

It’s all really fun, sometimes I get to do it over again for even more fun😂

[glbarlow]

Following Chuck’s recommendation I re-painted the transom. I added a bit of Winsor & Newton Titanium White to the pure Cerulean Blue that was there before.

 

 

The difference is subtle yet significant. It much more closely matches the shade of the friezes that will be added soon. So thanks Chuck, it is a definite improvement, on top of it matching it’s just a nicer color overall. 

[Rustyj]

Everything is looking really nice Glenn. You and I must fair alike.

Your quarter gallery stern window piece fit pretty much just like mine! 

 

[glbarlow]

13 hours ago, Rustyj said:

gallery stern window piece fit pretty much just like mine!

Thanks Rusty, your log is a frequent reference for me and always fun to see your take on steps of the build.  

[glbarlow]

Mini-me makes his first appearance on Winchelsea after supervising Cheerful’s build.  His first reaction:

”These facilities are pretty tight, but it’s better than the open air head on Cheerful.”
 

I’m plugging away on the galleries (and beating up the wales while I’m at it), a better post when I finish them. Lots of family distractions at the moment. 

Edited August 9, 2022 by glbarlow

[Edwardkenway]

Mini Glenn does have that slightly peeved look on viewing the facilities 😉

 

As ever, crisp and clean work, looking really good. 

[bdgiantman2]

The mini-me imitators are hilarious and thriving well. 

[glbarlow]

2 hours ago, bdgiantman2 said:

The mini-me imitators are hilarious and thriving well. 

Imitators?

[bdgiantman2]

First it was Mr. Passaro, now there's at least three others since who have had mini's of themselves inspecting the ship models.

[SteveL]

Glenn

Backing up a bit, I don’t see laser cut pieces for the bow fairing caps. Just wanted to make sure I am not overlooking something.

Thanks

Steve

[glbarlow]

12 minutes ago, SteveL said:

laser cut pieces for the bow fairing caps

Not sure what you’re referring to, do you mean in the framing before planking?

[SteveL]

47 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

Not sure what you’re referring to, do you mean in the framing before planking?

When preparing to do inboard fairing (down to 3/16), you use 1/16 x 3/16 strips at the quarter deck and waist. The bow, of course has a significant curve and it would be difficult to bend the 1/16 x 3/16 strips. I could fabricate these pieces but I thought maybe I had overlooked laser cut pieces. I guess I’m just surprised, considering all the excellent parts Chuck has provided.