18th Century Merchantman Half Hull by dunnock - FINISHED - NRG -1:48

[dunnock]

While working on my latest model, HM Cutter Trial from Vanguard Models, I realised that it would be a good idea to have some further practice in hull preparation and planking before embarking on another full ship project.

I’m hoping that this project will teach me some new techniques and help me make a better job of planking than I have previously.

 

I am using the suggested ¼” foam-board as a base on which to build and used spraymount to glue the body plan to it.

Laying out the keel, keelson stem and stern, it is clear that some trimming and fitting of the bow keelson is needed

The whole kit is made in basswood making it pretty easy to cut and sand. The risk is taking off too much so slow and easy is the rule.

 

Once the stemson is cut to length and sanded to fit the keelson lines up pretty well with the drawing. I didn’t need to fettle any of the slots for the bulkhead on the main keelson but the bow keelson required a bit of a tickle with a sanding stick.

The rabbet is marked up with a pair of compasses. I measured the thickness of the sheets provided for planking which varied between 0.85 and 0.99mm. I took 0.9 as a rough mean and marked the rabbet. I used a chisel to remove the rough, then a file and finally scraped it clean with a razor blade. The keel and keelson were straightforward as a simplified 45º angle was used for the whole length. The stem is a little more difficult to do with a changing angle as the rabbet rises up the the stem pieces. However the manual provided and Toni’s log Half Hull Planking Project - Planking Downloads and Tutorials and Videos - Model Ship World™ provide plenty of useful detail and photos to help work it out

 

Once the rabbet is cut, the keel and stem pieces can be glued up. I have used minimal glue to fix the pieces to the board to make it easier to remove the model when completed.

At this stage the deadwood and stern pieces are not glued .

 

David

[RossR]

Excited to see so many build logs for this kit right now.  I have this one on the shelf and I am follow all of these closely. 
 

 

[dunnock]

Before beginning to fit the bulkheads the notches in the keelson need to be cut closer to the rabbet. This is simple enough with a sharp scalpel.

The central bulkheads are added first with spacers to provide extra bracing.

Bulkheads 1 to 4 and A to E are straightforward and progress is quick. The spacers require a little work to fit snugly.

The stern bulkheads are tackled next but before that can be done, the deadwood has to be sanded back. Bulkheads G and H are used to mark the bearding line and the wood aft of this is sanded out to meet the depth of the rabbet at the keel. Immediately below the deadwood the keel a 90ºnotch is cut.
The deadwood, sternpost and transom piece can now be glued to the baseboard. I forgot to take a separate shot of this stage but below shows bearding line, deadwood sanded back and frames F and G installed.

The frames F to H can then be fitted together with their spacers, including the filler pieces Ga and Gb. Frames G, H and the filler pieces are trimmed at the lower end to match the bearding line.

The  basswood ply splinters quite easily when they are trimmed. I will need to cut back frame H a little further but that can be done during fairing.

 

The stem requires a bit more work. The slots for 4a and 5 needed deepening a little.

A notch has to be cut in the stemson for bulkhead 5a and the lower end of the frame trimmed to run close to the rabbet.

 

5 and 5a are then fixed in place with a spacer. A further filler piece, 5b is provided which is glued onto the stemson and the fore of frame 5. A final filler piece is required that I made from a piece of 1.5mm limewood strip to fill the space up to the bow rabbet.

 

The instructions recommend leaving the transom off for the moment because it is vulnerable to damage. With the framing complete, this marks the first milestone of the half hull project. 

The lines of the hull are quite pleasing in this shot but the flat bow gives me some concern for the planking.

 

Thanks for looking in

 

David

Edited January 26 by dunnock

[dunnock]

I used white charting tape to establish the line of the top rail and was surprised at how much had to be trimmed from the tops of most of the frames. Compared to the instructions and Toni’s log I had quite sizeable chunks to remove. I checked and measured several times and then realised that Toni's frames sit higher in the keel than on my version because as Toni says, he forgot to cut deeper notches.

 

I carefully sawed through the frames, even so several spacers came loose and had to be reglued. The top edges were sanded to finish.

Checking the run of the frames before starting the fairing process there are 4 that are low: 1, D, E and Gb. The top of frame 5a was also finished below the level of the toprail so this was built up too.

These are built up with pieces of 1mm limewood strip.

Now it’s time to create a lot of sawdust but I will take a break until the weather improves because it needs to be done outside. In the meantime I will return to finish HM Cutter Trial because fresh supplies of rope arrived from Canada the other day.

 

Thanks for the likes and for looking in

David

 

Edited January 28 by dunnock
Removed random picture

[dunnock]

I’ve all but finished Vanguard Models’ HM Trial – just waiting for the flag painter (my daughter) to find time to paint the ensign – so I’ve resumed work on the half hull.

No improvement in the weather but there’s not too much sawdust being created so I’m continuing indoors. As I work on the fairing, I’m finding that frames that I thought were OK turn out to be low. I don’t think that I have gone too far on the fairing because the back edges are untouched. I added shims to the lower parts of frames 4a and 5.

I have also found that some of the brace pieces between frames are not as solid as I thought so I had to re-glue some of them. I think that a lot of the problem is that mounting the hull on foam-board as suggested is not a solid base. The foam-board is flexible and individual frames can move relative to the others. If I were to make another half hull model, I would use something more solid as a building board.

I’m happy with the fairing which took a few hours over several days and I can now mark the wale and begin planking.

 

David

[James G]

David, I ended up doing the same on mine. I think it’s a manufacturing issue with the kit. Shims resolved the issue for me. Below is how mine turned out. Very educational and worthwhile.

 

[Cathead]

 

Yes, I also found the need to adjust a few. It's likely that'll occur in any kit, so it ends up being part of the learning experience. Nice work so far!

 

On 1/27/2024 at 7:51 AM, dunnock said:

because as Toni says, he forgot to cut deeper notches.

 

For what it's worth, Toni is a woman.

[dunnock]

Thanks James that's a very nice model.

Thanks Eric for the nice comment and for putting me right ...

 

My apologies to Toni for making wrong assumptions

 

I fitted the counter yesterday which highlighted the need for a bit more fairing at the stern and marked the position of the wale. I'll post some pictures later.

 

David

 

 

 

[dunnock]

I laid out the tape for the garboard strake and although the line looked good to me, I found that when it came to cutting the strake out and fixing it, the forward end finished too high. I replaced it so that the strake finished just aft of frame 5 rather than forward of it. This position corresponds more closely to Toni’s build log. The broad strake was more or less a repeat of the garboard strake. Initially I made it too wide at the forward end, removed it, thinned it down and replaced it. Most of the planks have been removed, cleaned up and replaced at least once until I was happy with their fit and placement. Perhaps by the end of the build, I'll be getting it right first time!

 

I have also installed the first strake of the first belt of planking. I think everything looks OK however, the bottom of the stern frames look higher up the deadwood than in the photos in the manual. 

 

[dunnock]

Planking continued slowly. Plenty of discarded planks and removal of poorly fitting ones but hull is now completed up to the first layer of the wale.

A stealer was added at the stern at the junction of the first two bands of planking and a drop plank at the bow one strake further up.

First layer of the wale

Planking now complete up to the wale

 

Looking at the hull overall, I think results have improved as I worked my way up the hull but that is the purpose of the excercise. There will be quite a lot of cleaning up to achieve a half decent result. It would have been better if I had sanded back frame 5a because it has caused a high spot at the bow. There is a similar situation at frame G. Maybe I can make these less obvious in finishing.

 

The instructions say that now would be a good time to begin sanding so I will begin by scraping the hull followed by sanding with 120 and 200 grits.

 

David

[dunnock]

On the home straight.

The four strakes above the wale are straightforward

I made the plansheer from the basswood sheet. I placed the scarf joint a little further back than stated in the instructions, at frame 4 to balance the curve of each piece.

At this point I ran out of sufficient sheet to finish the quarter deck outer planking and wale so used some stripwood I had in stock.

The outer layer of the wale was cut from a sheet of 1.5mm boxwood. It took several soakings in hot water and bending to shape before it would lie easily around the bow section and I had to use a drop of CA gel to fix it at the stem.

I sprung a couple of planks on the hull while clamping the after section of the wale but luckily they were easily re-fixed.

The quarter deck rail and transom are made from lime stripwood and a trim of 1mm square section black boxwood completes the build.

More sanding and 5 coats of shellac have been applied to finish off the hull.

 

The hull was removed from the building board quite easily , helped by brushing IPA around the frames

And the remains of the paper scraped and sanded away.

 

Despite initial misgivings about whether I had miscalculated the position of the garboard and broad strakes, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and is a great improvement over my previous attempts at hull planking. So overall I enjoyed this project and learnt some useful lessons for future modelling. I think that in future I will stick to tapering and edge-bending for the inner layer but, even though more time consuming, I’ll persevere with the spiling technique on the outer layer in the hope of improving further.

 

All that remains is to find a suitable permanent mounting board and frame and get permission to put it on show somewhere in the house.

 

Next up will be Vanguard Models' HMS Speedy.

 

Thanks all for taking the time to look in

David

[ccoyle]

Lovely finish!

[Thukydides]

Great job. Your planking turned out really nice.

[JacquesCousteau]

Very well done!

[RossR]

Fantastic job.  This will look great hanging in your home.  

[dunnock]

Thanks everyone for the likes and Chris, Thuky, Jacques and Ross for your very kind compliments

 

David

[dunnock]

Just a final note now that the hull is mounted and taking up it’s place on the wall.

To keep out excess dust I have covered the open top with black card supported by a simple framework on the open side.

 

 

David