HMS Winchelsea 1764 by Steve20 - 1:48

[Steve20]

Years ago, I built the Unicorn and Endeavour kits, and my efforts were very amateurish to say the least. Anyway, I now have the time to build ship models again and whilst looking for another kit, I luckily came across this project. Although I’ve always wanted to do a scratch-build (I previously even bought raw timber for it), I know it to be well beyond my capability. However, thanks to Chuck putting together the Winchelsea build and sharing it, I can now make the attempt.

For me this is as much about learning from the build process as the finished product, so although I was tempted to buy Chucks Chapter One kit, I bought some sheets of ¼” Birch Ply instead. I’ve also been buying the necessary tools and at present I’ve nearly finished the bulkheads.

[Steve20]

[Gregory]

Great start!

[Matt D]

Looking good, Steve!  Welcome to the Winchelsea Club!  This project is amazing and there are several excellent build logs to learn from.  Be sure to read a lot of them so you can avoid repeating mistakes.  It's much better to make your own mistakes than to copy others! 

 

Is this true Baltic Birch or is it the 1/4" birch from Home Depot or Lowes?  I used the stuff from HD and it was fine.  It's really just the outer veneer that's birch.  The inner layers are pretty soft and easy to work.  But my first attempt was Baltic Birch and it was like I made it out of sheets of granite - absolutely rock hard and impossible to work on.  Thankfully, I had other problems and had to start over.  Lastly, the Chapter 1 set from Chuck is the laser cut AYC or cherry pieces, not the bulkheads.  So you may want to buy that.

[Chuck]

Great start.....Remember to have fun with the project.  Thank You for starting a log.   

 

Chuck

[Steve20]

I bought the birch from a reputable model shop, Matt, so I assume it to be true Baltic. However, when I did the dry-fit I found some distortion on the forward bulkhead former which is out about 1.5mm over its length. I check for straightness before use, but this was the first piece I cut so I don’t know whether I missed it or if the the distortion developed later.

[Steve20]

[Steve20]

I am cutting another piece but am concerned about this so I will stiffen it longitudinally on the upper edge. I've just prepared two 12 mm x 5mm strips for this and am cutting the bulkheads to suit.

[Steve20]

Missed your comment earlier, Chuck. I really appreciate what you've done here with the Winchelsea. Thanks.

Edited November 20, 2021 by Steve20

[FrankWouts]

Looking good Steve!

You earn 100 points extra from me when scroll sawing your own keel and bulkheads…I cowardly bought the laser cutted stuff from Chuck and it is spot on, I couldn’t beat that in a thousand years with my sawing talents…But then ofcourse now I again miss some practice. So I’m already thinking of after this first one in Alaskan Yellow Cedar, build a Cherry version, both wood colors are so beautiful!

Perhaps you can correct that very small bend in your keel when gluing the bulkheads? Or are you afraid risking good precise made bulkheads on the bent keel?

Anyway, very warm welcome and I’ll be following your build log as well!

Frank.

Edited November 20, 2021 by FrankWouts

[Chuck]

That small bend shouldnt be a big deal at all.   But perhaps you should try and cut another if you are up to it.  But if the next one bends like that I wouldnt worry about it too much.

 

[glbarlow]

Welcome to the group.  The build board Chuck recommends will likely straighten a bend that slight. To emphasize Matt’s point, chapter one parts are the stem, keel, stern, ports, etc., not the bulkheads. 
 

 

[Steve20]

I did straighten the bent keel by installing two stiffeners alongside it but then I thought it better not to start the build with stress in it so I've cut another piece. I'll put a pic up after I've put everything back together.

[Steve20]

In the mean time, I would really appreciate some advice on the following: I've got some Castello Boxwood (Brazilian Lemonwood), Pear and Sycamore, which I bought several years ago and can now finally put to use. I thought I would use the Pear for the Winchelsea hull and the Sycamore for the decks and possibly items to be painted.

 

However, I'm not quite sure how I should cut the timber. I've read posts on the subject and from these it seems that I should saw the wood in such a way that I end up with the edge of the timber becoming the face of the cut planking.

 

i.e as the Sycamore is 1 1/4" thick then I might just get four 1/4" wide planks from it, each of which I would then cut to 3/64" thickness.

 

I have, though, come across a few conflicting opinions on this. So before I do the irreversible, I'd be very grateful if someone could confirm the above.

[Steve20]

[Chuck]

You should post another topic in the wood forum.  You will no doubt get lots of tips from the usual suspects.   Probably more info than you could ever want.

 

 

[Steve20]

[Steve20]

Thanks for the tips Chuck/Frank/Glenn, maybe I shouldn't have been so bothered about this. What I did initially was to cut in a couple of stiffeners and this did cure the problem then I decided to cut a new piece anyway. So what I have now is in the pic below.

 

To be honest I'm happy with the stiffeners. They only took an hour or two to make and install, and they really firm up the bulkheads as well. Not being from the kit my bulkheads lack the same accuracy and it may be a while before I get to placement of the temporary battens and port sills.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Steve20

[Steve20]

[Stuntflyer]

Hi Steve,

 

That’s interesting what you did with those stiffeners.

 

Mike

[Steve20]

By making the bulkheads a tight fit with the stiffeners, Mike, they lock the false keel into a straight position and will prevent any future longitudinal distortion. Chuck certainly knew what he was doing when he split the false keel into three parts as I have more than one piece of Birch ply that's warping. 

 

I will also put stiffeners on the midships section. It doesn't take long to do. I cut the bulkhead slots on a bandsaw, sit several of these next to each other on a dummy piece of ply (same as you would sit them on the false keel), then put them in a vice and get a tight, uniform, fit by using a wood file.

 

I should add that the pieces that sit together should all be from locations where the deck sheer is fairly similar. If fact what 

I do is to angle the dummy ply slightly to represent the sheer.

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by Steve20

[Steve20]

Matt/Glenn, I stand corrected: the bulkheads are not Chapter One. However, I plan to cut the stem, keel pieces etc. myself using some timber I've got (see sample pieces in pics, above).

 

In response to a post I put in the Building, Framing, Planking section (thanks Chuck) I've received some excellent advice from Bob Creek and Jaager on how to do this.  They've given me a lot of very useful information which I will need to read again to properly take it all in.

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/30532-planking-edge-cut-or-face-cut/

Edited November 22, 2021 by Steve20

[FrankWouts]

That is looking so straight and clean Steve, simply wonderful work!

 

[Steve20]

Thanks, Frank, but there's a lot that's not so wonderful and in the pic above these parts are not visible.

I've still got a lot of tidying-up to do, particularly on the stern section.

It's a good job you never saw my first attempts - you'd be appalled.

Edited November 22, 2021 by Steve20

[Steve20]

I’m back here after some time and am again making progress. I’ve cut the Castello and Pear into billets between 16”and 23” long, and as I’m going to use the Pear for Winchelsea, I’ve used Chucks materials lists for a take-off of the strips and sheets required and milled these in advance. Because the sycamore doesn’t work or look as good as the other wood, I’ve left this to one side for now.

Edited February 12, 2023 by Steve20

[Steve20]

Castello cut into 16” to 23” billets each with at least two square sides.

[Steve20]

Some Pear strips: I’ve three boxes of these plus the sheets and remaining billets.

[Steve20]

Stem pieces are made.

[Steve20]

A dry fit shows I need some more sanding.

[Steve20]

Soon be ready for final sanding and the wipe on poly.