Medway Longboat 1742 by bartley - 1:24 scale

[bartley]

I am starting another of Chuck's builds today and am excited as I have never used this method of construction before.

 

The first task is to construct the keel.  There are two versions - one with scarf joints and the other with lap joints I am going to build both but hope to use the one with the lap joints.  Here are the laser cut sheets involved:

 

The Scarph version is quite simple:

 

The lap joint version is more challenging.  I started by paring away the joint with a sharp blade and then once close the required depth I finished it off with one of these sanding blocks which have sandpaper on the top only and not on the sides

 

and the two joints assembled:

 

 

The two versions are shown here:

 

The lengths were identical so I concluded that the lap joints were OK.  The parts for the notched keel pieces are nicely etched on the following sheet

 

Bolts for the lap joints are simulated with black monofilament:

 

These are then trimmed flush with the surface. 

 

After a coat of poly the completed keel looks like this:

 

 

John

 

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by bartley

[Diver]

5 hours ago, bartley said:

I am starting another of Chuck's builds today and am excited as I have never used this method of construction before.

 

The first task is to construct the keel.  There are two versions - one with scarf joints and the other with lap joints I am going to build both but hope to use the one with the lap joints.  Here are the laser cut sheets involved:

 

The Scarph version is quite simple:

 

The lap joint version is more challenging.  I started by paring away the joint with a sharp blade and then once close the required depth I finished it off with one of these sanding blocks which have sandpaper on the top only and not on the sides

 

The two versions are shown here:

 

The lengths were identical so I concluded that the lap joints ere OK.  The parts for the notched Keel pieces are nicely etched on the following sheet

 

Bolts for the lap joints are simulated with black monofilament:

 

After trimming these off the completed keel looks like this:

 

 

John

 

The Medway is my first build, and an enjoyable one at that.  Are you going to install the simulated bolts on the port side as well?  

[Ryland Craze]

Nice start.  It is good to see another Medway Longboat being built. Also, do not forget to install the simulated bolts on the keel at the stern.

[bartley]

9 hours ago, Ryland Craze said:

Nice start.  It is good to see another Medway Longboat being built. Also, do not forget to install the simulated bolts on the keel at the stern.

Thanks, Ryland.  Yes I have done the bolts fore and aft and both  port and starboard.  I didn't take the right final picture really.

 

John

Edited June 2, 2023 by bartley

[Chuck]

Excellent start...enjoy the project!!!   Its so good to see another get started.

[bartley]

7 hours ago, Chuck said:

Excellent start...enjoy the project!!!   Its so good to see another get started.

Thanks, Chuck.

 

It never ceases to amaze me how well designed your models are.  I have just dry fitted all the frames.  Not only to they fit perfectly in the slots but every single one is dead vertical.  I checked with my square!!

 

I hope I can maintain this perfection when I finally glue them'

 

John

[Chuck]

Thank you for saying…Enjoy the project.

[glbarlow]

Nice to see you back at it again. 

[bartley]

On 6/3/2023 at 10:19 PM, glbarlow said:

Nice to see you back at it again. 

Thanks Glenn,

 

Yes, my other hobbies took up some time plus a commissioned non- ship model.   This looks like and interesting model.  I have never built an upside-down model like this.  Fairing could be a challenge as the frames are only 1/16" wide!

 

Regards,

 

John

[bartley]

The transom and installation of the frames:

 

The transom needs to be installed perpendicular to the keel.  There is a slot cut into the frame so the "vertical" alignment  is accounted for but to ensure it was perpendicular ro the keel I made this simple jigand clamped the trasome otself to this:

Time to install the frames there are two types - two in the bow ( G & H)and three in the stern ( 10 , 11& 12) are flat one piece frames.  These are installed onto the baseboard first and the keel dry fitted to these.

 

 

The remaining frames are "double" with a floor piece glued to each frame

 

These frames are the each dry-fitted to the keel and the alignment checked.  Each was found to be perpendicular to the baseboard with no adjustment needed

 

John

 

 

[bartley]

Frames Attached and Fairing Begins:

 

The frames are now glued in place

 

I then commenced with fairing the frames.  These frames are very delicate (1/16") compared to ships that I have builtin the past so I was a bit tentative.  You can see from this photo that I added some balsa blocks between the frames  as a safety measure:

 

However, when I showed this photo to Chuck he advised that I had a way to go and that I needed to keep going until the laser char was removed.  So here is where I am at now:

 

 

John

 

 

[Chuck]

Looking very good!!

[bartley]

Lining Out the Hull

 

Perhaps not strictly necessary here but it is an good to practice this important part of the planking exercise.  I have started at the stern and here is what it looks like so far:

The distortion in the photograph makes it look as if the  planks deviate amidships.  They are in fact quite parallel at this point.  I also found that some of my tick-marks were a bit out so I will adjust them once I am happy with the lining out.

 

John

[bartley]

Completing the lining out

 

This is quite a time consuming process but, as Chuck says, this process will be a good check on the process of planking and is good practice for future projects.  It is now complete and as a check I found that it followed Chuck's templates quite well

 

It might be a while before  I start on the planking as my other hobies need to take prcedence for a couple of weeks.

 

John

[bartley]

Planking begins:

 

I have three strakes in place now.  I damaged the end of one garboard and had to make a new one.  Mine was not quite the same as Chuck's laser cut one so the was a little asymmetry between the sides but I think I am pretty close to my tick marks now  so I am reasonably happy but it is nowhere near the quality of Chuck's high standard.

 

 

 

I am thinking that I might start the simulated nails now while I can see the frames clearly.  Would I need to do  light sand before attempting this?  The planks are pretty thin so care would be needed.  What to do people think?

 

John

Edited June 30, 2023 by bartley

[Chuck]

Looks great…adding the treenails now is fine and a good idea.

[bartley]

Planking completed

 

I have all nine planks on now but the wales are still to be installed.  It looks a bit "blotchy" because I gave the first five planks a coat of Wipe On Poly and when I sanded back some of it remained.  It will be more uniform when I apply I final coat

 

I am also a bit shy of the top of the frames amidships (by a little under 1/32).  I could see that this was happening throughout the planking.  I think maybe I did not fare quite enough in this region.  Anyway I was proposing to address it by making a slightly wider second Wale

 

 

 

 

John

[Freebird]

Looks very nice John! 
 

Best Regards … Rick

[bartley]

Thanks for your support, Rick

[bartley]

The Wales are now installed and sanded back for and aft as recommended by Chuck.:

When the hull is inverted and the build board removed it looks like this:

The removal of the frames was quite straightforward . However there is way too much seepage of glue into the interior of the hull .  This is the first time I have used CA to fix the planks. I clearly overdid it.  I was a little unsure about the faring and wanted to ensure that the planks were secure. I needn't have worried as the fit was pretty good in fact.

 

The cap rails were then installed leaving plenty of meat on either side for sanding to shape:

 

 

Next the bolsters at the bow were fabricated and fitted.  A tricky little job this one.  Chuck provides six blanks and I used five to get two satisfactory  ones:

 

The next task is to fair the inside and narrow down the cap rails significantly.

 

John

 

[Chuck]

That is looking great.  Well done.  Onto the fun bit now.

[bartley]

Finishing the Cap rails

 

After thinning down the Cap rails to around 5/32, the inboard strake added. They were painted red and the friezes attached

 

 

 

[Chuck]

Looking good.   Well done.

[bartley]

Flooring and Platforms

 

I found both these steps quite challenging .The flooring has to bend over the frames of course and notching the platforms neatly was also challenging.  They are still not perfect but as good as I can get them.

 

John

[Chuck]

Yes that is tricky… but you did great work of it.

[bartley]

Thwarts and stern seats

 

The first step is to fit the risers.  There is a for and aft part and the by pre-bending these to fit the inner part of the hull they fitted well.  The main issue is to make sure that the port and starpoard risers are at the same height.  By measuring the height from the plans I found this fairly easy:

The next task was to fit the thwarts and the cockpit seats. All of these parts are in two pieces.  As Chuck points out, it is difficult to rebate a nice even edge particularly in AYC so all of these parts consist of a thick wide part with a thin narrower one glued on top.  For example here are the thwarts:

 

 

And the Cockpit seats ( only dry fitted here)

 

 

 

The side cockpit seats are painted red:

 

and finally the crosspiece an the Knees are fitted:

 

Next up is  to fit the rest of the thwarts permanently.

 

John

 

 

 

 

Edited May 25 by bartley

[bartley]

The Windlass and remaining thwarts

 

Chuck provides templates for the construction of the windlass and these are glued to a piece of 3/8 X 3/8 square stock and the sides pared away to the lines

 

 

A small chisel was used to make the pre-drilled round holes square to take the bars

 

The windlass is then mounted into the model via the two small laser cut brackets wich are mounted below the risers.  After installing thee more thwatrs thwarts the model looks like this:-

Thw rudder was fabricated ftom the blank supplied.  It was first standed to a tapered profile for and aft and rounded on the forward edge:

 

After sanding smooth and given a coat of wipe-on Poly the top was painted red as shown in the

 

 

The hinges were the added at the angle specified in the plan.  These are laser cut boxwood and are quite delicate until glued in place.  The bolts were simulated with blackened wire

 

 

 

 

 

Decorations were cut from paper

 

 

These are installed to finish the ruder

 

 

 

After mounting matching hinges on the aft section of the hull the rudder could be mounted

 

 

Edited August 24 by bartley

[bartley]

Fabrication of Oars

 

Before starting on the masts and spars I decided to start work on the oars.  This consist of a turned handle attached to the blades,  I turned the handle on my home-made lathe

 

 

 

 

The lades are laser cut from flat sheet.  I standard these to obtain a slight curve which tapered toward the end

 

And the final appearance of a single oar:

 

I made only four of the eight or so that would have been used:

 

 

John

 

[bartley]

Thole Pins

 

This was quite a laborious task - 32 identical pins required.  I made at least 40. I turned them using my Proxxon rotary tool to a little less than 1mm:

and them painted them red before installing so that I did not over paint the cap rail

 

I.also found them more tricky to install than you might expect  since the slightest impact would break them off. I used this jig to ensure that the spacing an height of each pair was identical  

 

 

 

I finally managed to get 32 in place and I am hoping that I don't break a few more off during rigging!

 

John

Edited September 2 by bartley

[bartley]

 Fabricating the Mast

The mast is turned from square stock which is first planed to an octagon using a 7:10:7 template provided by Chuck

 

 

 

Yo can see that in this last shop a little more planing is required but I feel this is not critical.  However it does help with the subsequent turning if the blank is symmetrical..

 

I use a home-built lathe to do the turning.  This is not just to save a few dollars but believ that my version addresses some of the deficiencies I found using The Proxxon 250 owned by a colleague.  These are:

 

1. even the slowest speed is two fast.

 

2.  There is no steady support provded

 

3. Although this deficiency is claimed to be addressed by the hollow chuck, I found that specially for narrow spars, this caused a "whipping" which often shattered the spar motion which often shattered the spar.

 

So in my version I use a variable speed electric drill and two moveable  platforms.    These align with the drill chuck and have a roller-skate bearing mounted in the center.

 

If the spar is hexagonal or smaller diameter than the bearings, then wooden inserts are fitted.

 

 

 

 

After  here is the result after completing the turning

 

 

 

And then after painting steel bands are simulated with black tape an eyebolds added as detailed in the plans

 

John