Vigilance of Brixham (BM 76) by FlyingFish - 1:32

[FlyingFish]

On 8/20/2024 at 1:09 PM, Keith Black said:

Showing photos of the build coupled with photos of the restoration provides easier comprehension

Glad it helps - I do realise that despite Keith's kind words, this approach makes my attempts look very second rate to theirs!

19 hours ago, wefalck said:

Do they use some sort of templates to (rough) cut the pieces and fit them then?

I havn't seen any plans or templates other than the survey of the original lines, the adjusted sheer and a set of plans for plywood templates for the frames. I get the impression that parts are mostly sized in place, using traditional methods - plumb bobs, marking gauges, sliding bevels, try squares and suchlike and of course many of the parts are spiled onto plywood.  I did see a laser being used to set the position of the bowsprit exit through the hawse piece, but other than that its just down to the tremendous skill of the shipwrights.

17 hours ago, FriedClams said:

Perhaps the white balance isn’t set to automatic?

Quite possibly! I have absolutley no idea how to use it - although I was instructed to use the 'intelligent auto' button, so behind the scenes it should be sorting out the best options. I can see a WB button so I'll fiddle with that.

[FlyingFish]

Thanks for following along and thumbs ups & comments - greatly appreciate your time stopping by!

 

Stern Tube

A tricky little fellow. As usual the shipwright makes it look easy but I found it a real fiddle.   Easier to make outside of the boat, then retrofitted I thought.

It’s all based on the size of the rudder post offset from the stern post by the gudgeon and pintles. The rudder post needs to rotate to 45° or so within the tube. The tube protrudes below the counter enough to provide a surface to terminate the planking, and above to form the steering post, which for the 1926 version will be by a tiller.

 

Started with a former or mandril from a dowl shaped to the tube dimesions, and then used the little 110v micromart saw I recently bought, brand new for a song on ebay, to rip the stock on a hastily knocked up sled. Must say I’m pleased with this addition to the shop – dead nuts accurate out of the box.

Then filed a chamfer on each, using a little jig, to help them round the oval of the tube. Should have planed this angle, in retrospect but they were hard to hold in place.

Then wrapped around the mandril which was waxed to prevent the glue sticking to it. Smeared the joints with PVA so that it would be flexible afterwards rather than use CA glue.

The first one I made was too big, so made a second. Then slipped it off the mandril and filed it to shape. It’s not the perfect shape I wanted – there should be a straight section next to the stern post, and I may redo this if I have time later, but for now it can stay.

Then the space around the tube is filled with packing pieces.

 

 

Note the haunch timber is not yet fitted properly in the shot below.

And the real thing for comparison.

All for now!

[KeithAug]

36 minutes ago, FlyingFish said:

Stern Tube

A tricky little fellow.

Yes very tricky Andy. I think I would have been tempted to start with a piece of dowel and then bore it out to form a pipe. Then cut the pipe into strips before shaping / reassembling the strips to give the desired shape. However your effort looks pretty good to me.

[FlyingFish]

Well I've left the the part unglued, so it slides out, and I may well have another go down the line. Thanks for the suggestion!

[FlyingFish]

Again many thanks for the 'likes' folks!

A bit of a 'catch up' post today.

Clamps and Shelves; Yoke and Stringers.

Slightly out of order but included for completeness - trying to prepare for the beam layout to strengthen the hull befoe attempting any planking.

As there are no beams installed yet I took care to use some temporary stringers, beams and the building jig to hold the frames in the right position (by reference to the sheer line plan glued to the base) so that the clamps and beam shelves did not distort the shape. This is one disadvantage to building in this way, but easily overcome.

The heads of the frames were then reduced & faired– again this framing method requires this extra step, especially as I knew I had some dodgy marriages of fore and aft pairs along the way. I found the power hand sander followed by a sanding block made light work of it, but the dust needed capturing so rigged up a ‘chimney’. Looks odd, but this worked really well at getting the very fine hardwood dust away from the area. I’ve found holly dust to be very fine – floats about the shop so I always run the air filter too whilst I’m sanding.

The clamps and shelves were steamed and ironed into shape to prevent any stress deforming. I tried out a little soldering iron with ‘bending’ attachments on-line which was inexpensive – . Seems to work OK but probably only useful for small or thin parts to apply heat in a localised fashion. 

Their clamp and shelf edges were bevelled where necessary to fit the shape of the frames. Then a quick check to make sure I’d left enough room from the sheer for the beams and decking, and they are glued in place.

 

Vigilance had all sorts of ironmongery wedges and angle brackets up front. All added over the years to keep her together, especially I suspect when the stem was replaced by Ken Harris. None were original as shown by the way the bolts were attached – and although welding was in use in 1926 I doubt if they would have used this over a well chosen oak knee.

Then the stringers were steamed into shape – these look to be pitch pine or maybe larch (I’m staining up some maple for this) and run from the yoke timber at frame 34 along the bilges to the stem. They are made of three long planks each side totalling 20” wide (6” 8” and 6”) and 2.5” thick. They stiffen the hull, reduce twisting and strengthen it at the bilges.

When they were put back into the boat they were each manhandled in from the stern – in one piece!

I’ll post some smarter images soon of the boat which is now largely in frame – along with some news on the direction this build is now taking.

Edited August 29 by FlyingFish

[JacquesCousteau]

Looks great! The stringers really highlight the lines of the hull. I forget if you may have said this earlier, but will you be leaving some of the planking off the finished build to show off the framing?

[FlyingFish]

11 hours ago, JacquesCousteau said:

will you be leaving some of the planking off

Well @JacquesCousteau you made me smile. Keep following and all may be revealed!

 

Here's the shots of the framing so far.

[FlyingFish]

A familiar conundrum.

As mentioned, @JacquesCousteau  's comment made me smile – accurately reading my mind!

You may (also) have been thinking to yourself – why is he bothering to make all these complicated raked frames and counter timbers accurate to life when it will all be covered up later?

 

Like my previous build I’ve been drawn down the line of authenticity to this point; now I come to a crossroads when either I must begin to cover it all up or continue the interior details.

I remember the same awful conundrum when as a child I had to decide whether the undercarriage of the Airfix Spitfire I was building would be ‘up’ or ‘down’; the canopy open or closed. No options, it had to be glued one way or the other. The plans included a large question mark.

Dogfighting with your pals required ‘gear up’. Placing in the diorama on the ground means ‘gear down’. I was in crisis of decision. Nothing much changes it seems.

When Airfix brought out a 1:24 scale Spitfire in 1970 the undercarriage was retractable! At last, I could ‘fly’ a whole mission, but now I was a little too old to be dogfighting with my mates. I saved up my pocket money and bought it anyway and dogfought myself, before landing safely on the railway-set table that folded down over my bed.

Back to the present. It’s either cover-up time, or maybe…..

I could make some sectional models or attempt to make sections of the decking removeable.  However, sectionals would not show the whole picture, and the removeable deck would not work if it were displayed in a case. It would also be very difficult to rig a boat and allow access for sections to lift out.

 

So there seems to be only one way; make both a ‘whole’ model to be rigged and displayed at work fishing and another cut-away, with reduced rig, showing below-decks in full 1926 detail. The two models are intended to be shown together.

Talking with the current Chair of the Trust they are keen to use the real rebuilt Vigilance as an educational resource – they are designing an area below deck which will operate like a floating classroom, showing visitors how the boat operated, and its history.

So if this model shows what it was like in 1926 it might contribute to that plan, adding to the story of how they worked this boat in the 1920’s.

Behind the scenes I have prepared a second build; which may help explain why it’s been a bit slow. I’ve kept it under wraps until I was sure I’d go through with this idea. All will be revealed soon, providing the keeper in lunacy doesn’t appear and whisk me away to a padded cell.

 

Edited August 30 by FlyingFish

[JacquesCousteau]

Very ambitious, I'm looking forward to following along! This sounds like a great way to contribute to the educational mission.

[KeithAug]

2 hours ago, FlyingFish said:

All will be revealed soon, providing the keeper in lunacy doesn’t appear and whisk me away to a padded cell.

I look forward to it Andy. The revelation that is - not your appointment with the padded cell - although to be fair this might also be quite informative for some of us. As a child I shared your Spitfire dilemma which was why I always favoured the Fairey Swordfish. 

Your great work on the framing continues to impress.

[FlyingFish]

12 hours ago, KeithAug said:

I always favoured the Fairey Swordfish

Ah yes - remember that well. I'm not sure how well it would fare in a dogfight, but you wouldn't want to see it coming from the deck of a boat.

[FriedClams]

Well as @JacquesCousteau has stated - very ambitious indeed!  But what a great plan, Andy!  I had been wondering if you intended to plank one side of the vessel and expose the other with some of the framing cut away - but this double your fun project is much better.  That first shot in post #127 is a real beaut and shows off your advanced level of modeling skill.  So good.  Looking forward to more. 

 

Gary 

[FlyingFish]

18 minutes ago, FriedClams said:

That first shot in post #127 is a real beaut

Thank you - I did fiddle with the white balance as you suggested, but must have undone the effect for the final shot as it went all 'warm' again!

[FlyingFish]

Vigilant (Full Build Version)

I can’t cope with two separate logs, so will do them side by side. It should be obvious which I’m working on – tell me if not!

The fully built model will have no ‘innards’, so rather than do a second set of fully built double frames and keel/deadwoods etc., I’ve reverted to the ‘conventional’ process of plywood frames on stations using the Naval architects lines plan, which will then be planked and decked.

The idea is to get both models to the same point, then where possible simply build two of everything that will be on both boats, if that makes sense, and work on them concurrently.

This starts with originating the station frames in CAD; printing out; pasting onto 4mm birch ply; cutting out and sanding to the line.

As the architects’ plan stations do not correspond to the actual frame positions, I have surveyed how this will affect the hatch openings (not much it seems), and marked the frames to show how they need adapting later as carlings are fitted etc.

I’ve thought through where floors need to be used under the hatches that will be seen through, although this will be very minimal.

Mast positions have been mapped along with other ‘intrusive’ features like the hawse timbers and bitts.

I’ve made an aluminium camber gauge to mark the deck camber (4” over the widest beam of 19’) on each frame at a height that allows the use of a 2mm birch ply underdeck as well as the decking planks.

There is some fiddling about with the aft-most frames to later allow the sternpost, horns and cants to fit and allow room for the stern-tube to run down the stern post. I had a second keel, stem, stern & deadwood centreline assembly already made, so scratched my head trying to figure out how to build them in around the station positions..

I think the elliptical counter shape will have to be made with a solid carved piece aft of the final frame which is then slotted to take counter timbers. Yet to work out the details,  but at least I’ve laid this out already and have the radial angles and shapes to copy.

Then scroll sawed along the cutout lines (in this case the deck lining camber and two upstands) to allow the frames to be separated from the board later.

A little stout boat waiting to grow up…  All for now!

 

[KeithAug]

A neat set of frames Andy. Good scrolling.

[Mark Pearse]

Hi Andy

 

That framing is indeed beautiful.

 

The photos raised an unrelated question for me, as I will need to try to show some timber weathered on my current build - the cockpit seats & some other timbers are unfinished teak, so greyed off. It might be just a trick of the lighting, but the photos appear to show the frames in a lovely greyed off state.......as opposed to the stringers.

 

or perhaps you're building it outside in the elements, over 5 years....

[FlyingFish]

Mark - glad you like them. The frames are made from Holly, left to season outside for 2 years which has allowed a fungal greying to take place before drying inside. This is deliberate as it mimics the weathered oak look of the boat. The stringers were larch or douglas fir I think, so I've used field maple, which is very pale, 5 year seasoned and then dried to 15%. They have been spirit stained  'antique pine' but will be later weathered down with a thin wash of dark oil paints. 

Here's the Holly:

6 hours ago, Mark Pearse said:

over 5 years

This part may well be true if I continue at this rate!

[FlyingFish]

Again, thanks for following along and for your appreciation.

 

Frame Dry Fit. (Full Build Version).

Routed a board to accept the frames. I was reminded how much I dislike routing MDF – its foul stuff, but I had some to hand. The board is screwed to the building jig to keep it flat.

Of course, I had to dry fit the frames to see what they looked like. Taking a lead (with thanks) from @KeithAug I also found some stainless rods from an old work photocopier I dismantled years ago to align the frames – they have come in handy several times since. Must remember to remove them before they get locked into place.

I used the micromark table saw to cut the notches in each frame for the baseboard alignment slot and for the keel. The latter took some working out as I’m using a copy of the actual keel dimensions with deadwoods. In the end I took a measurement from the waterline to the top of the keel/deadwood at each station and used that to mark the notch depth. This aligns the bearding lines on the frame and keel. Also drilled a second 6mm alignment hole in the larger frames at waterline #4.

I also cut out the centre of frames where floors would be added later.

Also added a piece of poplar to the last frame to shape the elliptical counter. Also some adaptation was needed to accept the stern post.

You can see Vigilance (I) in the background, having a rest.

 

There is still some fiddling and finessing to get the fit spot on, but needed a break from the frames.

 

Chasing the Rabbet!

Chose to cut the rabbets before installing the keel assembly to the frames – the plans define the position and the frames define the angle. I also had one to copy! It’s also a lot easier to do flat on a table.

Started by scoring the rabbet accurately on the keel. Then used chisels, a Dremel router upcut bit to set the depth where the planking runs flat to the rabet at the stem. Also used a Dremel carving bit to help shape the gradients where the rabbet is wider. The a good deal of scraping and sanding.

Bottom right and below: rough checking the garboard fits the rabbet.

 

So next step is to start assembling the frames properly into the keel with spacers and fillers and fairing. Time for a new dust mask.  All for now!

 

 

 

[Dr PR]

I love this build!

 

You are so lucky to have the original vessel as a guide.

[FlyingFish]

On 9/5/2024 at 6:23 AM, Dr PR said:

lucky to have the original vessel as a guide.

Indeed - it's a pretty unusual opportunity. Great learning experience to see first hand how the shipwrights do things.

[FlyingFish]

Slow progress down the spine of Vigilance. A hairy moment when I thought the keel line was bent, but caused by the junction between the two steel alignment rods being slightly off. All sorted now.

The shape midships is a cabin table (upside down) in an area that might be viewed through the skylight. Area painted dark to give impression of a wall. probably never be seen, but just in case.

Started filling the space between stations with balsa - I'd forgotten how much I hate the dust off this stuff, so may limit it's use. It does however give a nice line for the planking to follow.

Keel fitting next. All for now!

Edited September 7 by FlyingFish

[KeithAug]

Excellent progress on number 2 Andy.

[FriedClams]

Nice work on the POB version, Andy.  Something about the images in this last post reminded me that these models are quite large.  About 29" LOA?

 

Gary

[FlyingFish]

1 hour ago, FriedClams said:

About 29" LOA

Thanks! That's right Gary:

1:32 so LOA 29". 

[FlyingFish]

Thanks for comments, likes and visits.

Version 2 now framed, and stregthening blocks glued in place. I may do some more infill before planking, but it all seems pretty rigid and the distance between frames is small. A couple of 'side by side' shots to show the comparison between the building methods. The first took many months more than the second! Not far off planking now.

All for now!

Edited September 10 by FlyingFish

[KeithAug]

Excellent progress Andy. You are very quick!

[FlyingFish]

On 9/10/2024 at 8:13 PM, KeithAug said:

You are very quick

Well a bit of a spurt then, but slowed up now.

Plenty of planning going on, if not much physical progress.

I have started on the beams and stanchions (some of the former will need fitting before planking the 'open' version), and of course I now need to make enough planking for two boats, which will be quite a task.

Also I've been thinking ahead to other jobs: layout of the interior, and just how to show the inside without butchering the vessel, researching many aspects of the working boat - boiler, rig, trawl net etc.

Also I've been researching the ship's boats carried by these trawlers - with an open thread in the development and research forum for those interested. Many hours trying to recreate what they might have been like.

However there will be an intermission for a few weeks as my son is coming home shortly to continue our guitar build which has so far taken 18 months. We hope to get the neck and body joined up this time. The workshop has been turned into a luthier shop, and I have been making all kinds of jigs and whatnots which take days to make but are each used for minutes it seems!

All for now!

 

Edited September 26 by FlyingFish

[wefalck]

Perhaps you want to post some pictures of your luthier excursion in the 'Non-ship/categorised builds' section?

 

Not that I intend to build any musical instruments (which I wouldn't be able to tune and play anyway), but the tools and materials of that trade are also of interest to us shipmodellers.

Edited September 26 by wefalck

[FlyingFish]

2 hours ago, wefalck said:

some pictures of your luthier excursion

I mentioned the 'go-bar' press when making the frames. I'll look out for anything that might transfer to model-making and post!

[FlyingFish]

A great week or so working with my son on our guitar build - almost got it done, but he'll be back for another session in the new year. He lives abroad, so it's a great time to catch up, and have some time together.

If you'll forgive this being off topic, here's a few pics of how we got on...

It's very satisfying work, super precise (well it should be!), and that compound dovetail joint to get the neck angle precisely 9mm over the bridge has a pucker factor for sure. 

We have the frets and headstock to do, then finishing and setting up the action etc. I have very high regard for luthiers skill after this build!

Back on Vigilance shortly, with lots to do!

All for now.