Rattlesnake by Ed Ku20 - Model Shipways - 1:64

[javajohn]

Hi Ed,

 

I've been away from modeling for a year, but I'm back. I just caught up on your posts. I'm impressed and inspired by your skill. I'm really enjoying reading your progress! 

 

 

[alde]

She's looking really nice. Thanks for sharing your build. 

[Ed Ku20]

1 hour ago, javajohn said:

Hi Ed,

 

I've been away from modeling for a year, but I'm back. I just caught up on your posts. I'm impressed and inspired by your skill. I'm really enjoying reading your progress! 

 

 

Hi John,

Great to hear that you're back!  Hope the move went great and the new shipyard is spacious!  Thanks for your kind words.  I am really enjoying my Rattlesnake build.  It's been challenging.  I'm taking it slow and focusing on one step at a time.  So far, so good.  Can't wait to see your future progress.

[Ed Ku20]

1 hour ago, alde said:

She's looking really nice. Thanks for sharing your build. 

Thanks for looking in Al.  Appreciate your interest and kind words.

[Ed Ku20]

Head Rails (Part 2)

 

I just completed construction of the “head rails”.  That’s the term I’m using to include all of the stuff at the ship’s stem.  In “Part 1” I completed 5 steps.  Part 2 consists of the steps listed below starting with #6.

 

I started with the Cross Timbers.   These turned out to be extremely difficult to make well (as did pretty much everything here).  I redid several of them multiple times.  Each one needs to be custom fit for its position.  There are multiple angles to sand and fit.  The disk sander I picked up at Menard’s recently made this work a lot easier!  I’m a little disappointed with some of the results, but I hope my mistakes are not too noticeable.  Here are the construction steps I followed.

 

6.       Cross Timbers – there are supposed to be five per side.  Because of size restrictions on my stem, I decided to only install 4.  Some of this is dictated by the need to leave the hole in the stem for the gammoning rope clear.  I found that the kit supplied 1/16” thick by ½” wide stripwood was stronger than my store bought 1/16” sheetwood.  I cut them from this.  Each one has to be custom fit.  They run vertically.  Four of them start at the inside of the Main Head Rail and curve “in” and “down” to the Upper Wale Cheek Rails.  There is a fifth piece that runs from the top of the hawse board to the main head rail.  The Middle Rail runs horizontally on the outboard side of the cross timbers from the hawse board to near the top of the stem.

 

As with the rails in part 1, I started by making a cardboard cutout of the shape for each one.  This was done by trial & error since there is nothing in the plans to trace from.  The drawings they do show are incomplete.  I transferred this shape to the 1/16” stripwood, cut it out and used the disk sander & Dremel drum sander to finish it.  Where the timber sits underneath the grating it has to be shorter and more curved.  Sorry, I don’t have very many pics of this step.

 

The first batch of cross timbers ready for painting and gluing

 

I completed the slats and the last cross timbers at the same time to make sure everything would fit.  Here are the last pair of cross timbers and one of the end slats after painting.

 

7.       The "Seats of Ease” – There are two toilet seats glued to a base with holes in it.  They have a triangular shape.  The base is fit between the slat grating and the hull.  I’ve seen build logs showing a three-sided bottom with a seat glued on top.  I decided to make mine by cutting a triangular shaped corner from a 3/32” thick piece of stripwood.  I drilled a hole in the center of each one to make it look like a toilet!  The hole extends through the base.

 

Cardboard cutout to get the fit for the base and slat gratings

 

The “Seats of Ease” are glued to the base.  A slot is cutout to fit around the base for the bowsprit

 

The assembly after painting and gluing in place.  Note the unpainted crossbeam for the slats

 

8.       Slat Gratings in front of the “Seats of Ease” -- A 1/16” square cross beam is set at 90-degrees to the Head Rails.  The area between the beam and the base board is filled with a grating that is split down the middle to accommodate the gammoning rope.  I made the grating slats with 1/32” x 1/16” stripwood.  Each slat must be fitted individually. 

 

Way back at the beginning of my Rattlesnake build I broke off the stem.  (See my post #88) I was able to get it back together with advice from some of you!  But there is a barely noticeable listing to port in the stem.  This reared its ugly head when installing the slats.  The port side is shorter than starboard.  Therefore, the port side is 1 slat short compared to starboard!  Oops!  Don’t errors with printing postage stamps, coins or baseball cards make them more valuable?  Oh well, too late now!!

 

The 2 center slats are installed with the gap in the middle for the gammoning rope

 

One more slat left to install

 

9.       Middle Rail – runs horizontally on the outboard side of the cross timbers.  I made another cardboard cutout to check the size and fit.  Once satisfied, I cut them out using 1/16” sheetwood.  There needs to be an upward curve as it nears the end of the stem.  Some sanding was needed to get the forward end to bend inward.

 

After applying a coat of satin poly, I took pics from all sides of the finished Head Rails.  I logged 80 hours and 40+ calendar days on this step.  I’m glad to have it completed!!  I hope you like the final result.

 

I have a question for all you Rattlesnake builders.  The blueprint plans show hand rails that seem to run from end to end on the main head rail.  Did you install these?  What materials are used?  How is it attached to the rails?

 

Here’s wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas!

Thanks,

Ed

[Ed Ku20]

The Anchors

 

As I started to work on the kit supplied Britannia metal anchor shank and flukes, I noticed that one of the shanks had a serious crack near the flukes’ end.  I sent a request to Model Expo for a replacement around mid-December.  I requested an update last week and they said they are waiting for production to make some new ones.  So, in the meanwhile, I made both stocks and completed the assembly of the one good anchor.  When the replacement arrives, it won’t take much to paint and assemble it.

 

I cleaned up the metal on the good anchor and painted it with Testors flat black enamel.  I took measurements from the plans but the actual kit anchor is a little smaller.  So, I made the stock a little smaller too.  A single piece of stripwood was cut to size.  The real anchor is made from 2-pieces that are bolted and strapped together.  After shaping the stocks, I made a shallow cut around the longitudinal center to simulate two pieces of wood fastened together.  Minwax Dark Walnut stain was applied.  I carefully cut the center hole for the end of the shank to get a snug fit.  Here is a pic at this stage.

 

I drilled holes in the sides of the wooden stock and inserted pieces of annealed steel wire to simulate bolts.

 

I read about a number of methods for making the four bands around the stocks.  I bought some car detailing tape in various super-small millimeter widths for my Bluenose build.  The 1.0 MM size seemed just right.  My only concern was the tape is blue and the bands are black.  I tried covering the tape with permanent black marker.  The tape is really smooth and shiny, so I wasn’t sure if it would hold the marker ink.  Fortunately, it worked very well!  I’m happy with the results.  I think I will use this method on the mast bands later.

 

The blue tape and steel wire along with the one assembled anchor

 

The metal shank ring is made from black annealed steel wire with a ¼” O.D.  A couple of final pics after applying a couple of coats of wipe-on poly.

 

I started working on the ship’s longboat.  After reading the complaints and seeing the kit boat, I decided to buy the Model Expo kit for the “Typical Ship’s Boat”.  This is like building a whole separate model!  I will share my progress with my next post.

 

Happy New Year!

Ed

[Ed Ku20]

Building the Ship’s Longboat (Part 1)

 

I read about everyone’s struggles to make the kit provided “bread & butter” style ship’s boat.  Early on in my research for building the Rattlesnake, I came across the build log by JSGerson.  He purchased a Model Shipways kit for a “Typical Ship’s Boat” that is a Plank-on-Frame construction (aka POF).  There are several sizes.  I bought the MS0108 at 4-3/4” long.  This is the same one that Jon Gerson built for his Rattlesnake.  I would like to thank and credit him for posting his log for building this small kit!  If I had to build it just from the MS plans, it would have been much harder.  I created my own summary of steps from a compilation of various sources, as I am building this kit right now.

 

The kit itself is pretty simple.  One sheet of laser cut parts, some stripwood and a sheet of wood for creating a jig to plank the hull.  Unfortunately, the photos on the instructions are of such poor quality they are of little to no help.  But for $8.99, it’s hard to complain!  So, let’s get started. 

 

Here is the kit after I took it out of the bag.  Ignore the # in the top corner.  I bought MS0108 later when I decided MS0107 was too small.  All the instructions are the same!

 

1.       ASSEMBLING THE KEEL

 

·         Remove the laser cut parts and clean off the laser char.  I used Weld Bond to glue the Transom & Bow bulkheads to the Keel.

 

·         Draw a centerline from top to bottom on each rib forming jig piece.  Use this for aligning on the base board.

·         Measure & cut 1/16” square stripwood on both sides of the keel.  Cut the pieces so you are leaving a space at each of the notches in the keel.  The strips must be flush with the inside edge of the keel.

 

·         The strips at the bow need to be pre-curved to follow the shape of the bow.  After looking at pictures, I decided to error on the side of leaving a generous amount of keel at the bow stem, i.e. I installed the strip further away from the edge of the stem.

o   Use a strip of cardstock to get the length.  Soak the wood and bend to the initial shape with the curling iron.  Taking a tip from Mr. Gerson, I found a pre-cut piece of scrap wood with the right curve and pinned the wet strip against it until it dried.  Glue the pieces to both sides at the bow.

 

Pre-shaping the 1/16” square stripwood for the stem

 

2.       THE MAIN RIBS USING THE RIB FORMING JIG

 

·         I again used cardboard stock to measure the length of stripwood required for the rib to go around the jig.

 

·         Everyone has trouble bending the 1/16” square stripwood around the jig.  Mr. Gerson said he should have laminated thinner pieces together.  Also, the tabs at the slots easily break off if you try to force the wood.  I used stick pins to hold the jig down on a cork board over wax paper to protect it from the glue.  The tabs were braced with short straight pins.  I used the 3/32 x 1/32” stock stripwood provided in this kit to make the ribs.  The gaps in the keel are exactly 3/32” wide.  Using two strips for each rib forming jig, one was laminated over the other to provide the 1/16” thick ribs.

 

Here are two pics of the first rib glued at the tabbed slot.  A 1/16” gap is required at the top of the jig.  A 1/16" square piece of wood did the job.  Rib #1 was really trying to buckle in the top left corner and needed some extra tough discipline! (Pic #2)

 

·         After soaking and bending with a curling iron, I glued the 1^st layer only at the ends of the “rib” to the rib former jig slots.  This is the only place they are allowed to be glued!  The 1/32” thick wood was easier to bend and I had no trouble with breakage.  However, it was difficult to get a smooth curve without the wood buckling.  It’s a very tight bend for such a short piece of wood!  You have to be patient (not my strongest gift!) and use multiple sessions of soaking in water and using the curling iron.

 

Here is one of the ribs after soaking and bending it in the curling iron.  If I went too fast the wood split!

 

·         Once the glue dries, the next 1/32” layer can be glued over the first one.  I learned that the outside layer needs to be considerably longer than the first (a good 5/32”).  Once it’s preformed, test fit it and allow it to dry.  It requires several pins and shims to hold it in place.  After drying, apply a thin layer of Gorilla Glue inside the 2^nd layer of stripwood.  Do not get any glue on the rib former.  Re-pin the wood in position until the glue dries.

 

The two 1/32” thick pieces are now laminated together for rib #3

 

Finally, the keel assembly and the ribs in their jigs are completed.  Each rib will be cut from the jig after planking.

 

3.       MAKING THE HULL BUILDING JIG

 

·         A 3” x 6” x 3/16” baseboard is provided in the kit to support the hull during planking.

·         Start with the baseboard and draw the centerline and crosslines according to the instructions.  The instructions are not very clear about the position of the crosslines.  They say they are about 1" apart.  It seemed to me that their placement is very critical to aligning the ribs with the slots in the keel.  I spent a lot of time getting them aligned after I completed the next step.

·         Cut the provided 1/8” stripwood into 8 equal pieces (about 2” each).  These are glued to the bottom of the rib jigs for support.  I clamped them with clothespins.  I found that the clothespins caused the outside edges of the 1/8” strips to angle downward.  However, only after removing the clamps some hours later!  I recovered from this by touching the bottom up on the disc sander to flatten and even out the surface.

 

The 1/8” square strips are glued to the bottom of the rib forming jigs

 

Test aligning one of the rib assemblies on the hull building jig

 

·         Glue the above assemblies precisely to the baseboard on the centerline and crosslines.  Mr. Gerson also glued a couple of 1/8” strips to the baseboard to hold the keel in place at the bow & stern.  This seemed like a good idea to me.  I just used some scrap wood.

 

Gluing everything down on the hull building jig base

 

At this point, the hull frame is ready for planking.

 

Once I finish the planking, I will provide Part 2!  Hope this is helpful to anyone that is considering how to do the ship’s longboat for their Rattlesnake.

 

Thanks for looking in!

Ed