moreplovac Posted May 5 #1 Posted May 5 Well, it is that time again, this time I decided to step into a new zone, for me not that familiar but to see how things will go... For the first time I will be working on La Rochefort, a port yacht from 1787. Here is brief description/history of the ship (from the internet): Created by Colbert in 1666, the city of Rochefort is unusually located since its harbor-arsenal, built on the Charente river, is about twelve miles away from the sea following the river. Although this exceptional distance from the sea protected the harbor from enemy fleets for centuries it caused problems, however, that were unsuspected at the time of its creation. Indeed, in the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, the depth of the Charente river made it impossible for large vessels to sail up and down the river without first unloading their equipment, arms and ammunition. The Navy thus created a flotilla to assist and equip the vessels that had to remain anchored in the Aix roadstead while waiting to be fitted out or laid up. This flotilla consisted of several kinds of small vessels: lighters, yachts, transport-ships or brigs from the harbor. As an illustration of these types of ship we chose the yacht, inherited from from Dutch workers who came to drain the swamps of the Charente during the 17th century. This small elegant craft is of a simple construction with basic rigging, since only fitted with one mast and three sails. I will be following Ancre plan and an introduction to model ship building "Dockyard style" by Adrian Sorolla, hopefully making some interesting model. Ancre book includes a booklet and a set of 16 plates of drawings. In the booklet, a chapter describes the creation of Rochefort and the reasons that led to the constitution of the flotilla. The construction and laying out of the Le Rochefort are detailed in instructions abundantly illustrated with 3D figures, followed by a commentary on the plates including a precise description of the rigging. The plans were copied multiple times as I am planning to do a bit of a testing before cutting the real wood. For frame and keel parts I will go with pear wood that arrived from Germany. For other parts I will not purchase any wood at this time and will work on once I reach that point. I do have some other boards I am planning to use for testing, etc.. This time I marked all frames on the plan, and cut them into individual pieces. Then all pieces for one frame are put in a bag, where I will be keeping cut parts for the same frame. Or I can just use rubber bands... Then I put all keel/keelsen parts on one piece of wood, this time I am testing alder wood. These will not be on the model, for model I do have purchased pear for keel as well. Testing will allow me to see how things are done in real life, what glue to use for glueing on the board, making sure I check cut pieces for level once they are on the board, position of templates on the board to utilize the most of the board, what cutting tool to use, etc... pretty much the whole process. Maybe a bit overkill but being my first build of such type... next scratch build model will be a breeze... I might reposition some keel parts a bit better to utilize wood gran flow.. good advice from fellow modeller.. Happy modelling.. rek, JpR62, CiscoH and 4 others 7 Quote
druxey Posted May 5 #2 Posted May 5 Yes, do try to avoid cross-grain wherever you can. G1, for instance, has one arm completely cross-grain. Rotate it until the grain runs at about 45 degrees to each arm. You can minimise waste by placing parts on a 'V A V' principle. mtaylor and allanyed 2 Quote Be sure to sign up for an epic Nelson/Trafalgar project if you would like to see it made into a TV series http://trafalgar.tv
moreplovac Posted May 6 Author #3 Posted May 6 Thank you druxey, suggestion taken, keep them coming... much appreciated.. mtaylor and druxey 2 Quote
moreplovac Posted May 9 Author #4 Posted May 9 Did you guys find it extremely hard working in a shop while the weather is nice and sunny? I don't have an option to open shop doors so have to make a choice... A bit of a progress... corrected position of few keel parts to follow the wood grans as best as possible.. still don't like G1 position...will make another copy of that part and glue it differently, then will cut both parts and see how they work.. Few frames were glued to the board.... first adding glue to the paper frame part and put them on the board, second picture is adding a small amount of glue to the board first, then arranging frames... Since I am testing, no harm to see what ending up results will be .. Happy modelling.. mtaylor, druxey, clogger and 2 others 5 Quote
druxey Posted May 9 #5 Posted May 9 Looking much better. And I agree: G1 needs to be rotated more. mtaylor and moreplovac 2 Quote Be sure to sign up for an epic Nelson/Trafalgar project if you would like to see it made into a TV series http://trafalgar.tv
JeffT Posted May 14 #6 Posted May 14 Hello moreplovac. I'm moving this to the scratch build logs section. mtaylor and moreplovac 2 Quote Jeff In progress: Medway Longboat 1742 - Syren Ship Model Company -1/2" scale USS Constitution - Model Shipways - Scale 1:76 HMS Granado - CAF Model - 1:48 HMS Sphinx - Vanguard
moreplovac Posted May 14 Author #7 Posted May 14 (edited) My test cuts are done and now it is time to sand them all correctly; some parts are already sanded to the lines. Since the wood is ticker that needed and once all parts are sanded (or before, will need to decide), wood need to be run thru the table saw or band saw to reduce the thickness to correct dimension. These steps might looks too much but need to test the process and tools required and "repetitio est mater studiorum". Happy modelling.. Edited May 14 by moreplovac dvm27, davyboy, GrandpaPhil and 8 others 11 Quote
moreplovac Posted May 20 Author #8 Posted May 20 All frame parts were cut and rough sanding will be the next step. Few pieces will need replacement.. some glued to close to each other, for some cuts were damaging the part... Here is my test keel; I was testing the process and tools I might be using and this is end result. I was more concerned about those parts connecting to each outer, making sure the lines matching correctly... still need to do a bit sanding on the top of these two pieces but I will be ready to cut the "real" keel parts next. Question for you guys: I noted when using oscillating sander for inner parts of the frame, it leaves a bit of a paper burr at edges, most likely due to the sander motion (up, down).. How you guys are dealing with this? I can certainly remove burr afterwards but piling up paper during sanding prevents from clearly see the line.. Outside edges of a frame are OK since I am using disk sander rotating counterclockwise and pushing the paper down on its rotation cycle.. Happy modelling.. GrandpaPhil, JpR62 and mtaylor 3 Quote
Mike Y Posted May 20 #9 Posted May 20 Your build looks beautiful and with clear quality standard! Used a disk sander to shape frames, so it was never an issue since the disk always pushes the part down. The concave parts are sanded on the edge of the disk, slow and careful. When you got close to a line - then I guess you can smoothen it on a spindle sander. You don’t need to get too close, better leave some ”meat” for the fairing once the frames are in place. CiscoH, mtaylor and moreplovac 3 Quote Current build: Beavers Prize - POF 1:48 (Hahn style) Side builds: Schooner Polotsk by Master Korabel 18th Century Longboat by MS Finished: 21ft English Pinnace by MS
moreplovac Posted May 21 Author #10 Posted May 21 Thanks Mike Y, yeah, I was experimenting with few other sanding ways/options but appears that slow and careful way is always a winning combo.. Appreciated your comment. Cheers mtaylor and Mike Y 2 Quote
moreplovac Posted May 22 Author #11 Posted May 22 Some inner sanding was done for few frames using oscillating sander and paper burr was removed with a small piece of sander paper. Result is very nice and acceptable. This is rough sanding, still leaving some meat close to the line for final sanding.. Happy modelling.. GrandpaPhil, CiscoH, Mike Y and 2 others 5 Quote
moreplovac Posted May 23 Author #12 Posted May 23 1/3 of all frames rough sanded and ready for assembly... there are few that needs to be made again, just to much pressure on the sander caused more removed wood that needed... Happy modelling.. druxey, GrandpaPhil, mtaylor and 3 others 6 Quote
moreplovac Posted May 26 Author #13 Posted May 26 (edited) This is my pile of cut and rough sanded frame parts, ready for assembly and final sanding... I do have a bout 10 frames not marked with a number I would need to match during assembly process.. I also made few frames, completely copied from the plan, in one piece to be used as a visual representation of frames and frame orientation towards the bow/stern... this way takes more wood than cutting individual frame pieces but it is easier for testing purposes... This is my current "good" pile of keel parts.. And this is my pile of testing parts... The keel parts in above picture are done from wood that is thicker than needed and I planned to saw it down to the correct thickness but I had some challenges with the process and at this moment no much fundings to buy proper sander so will try to stick with the wood that has little deviation of required thickness... And of course under the watchful eyes... Happy modelling.. Edited May 26 by moreplovac GrandpaPhil, davyboy and mtaylor 3 Quote
moreplovac Posted May 27 Author #14 Posted May 27 First attempt to make some keel parts... Rough sanding then some more controlled sanding using a file. Challenge here is to keep straight position of the file and not allowing it to wobble up and down during sanding.. Will need to build few sanding disks in the size of the keel parts to assisting with flat sanding... a bit afraid of damaging my Proxxon wise with sanding to the template line and keeping those metal wise parts as a border... Ok, looks OK... testing OK still looks good... And lets rotate to the side with no paper.. Hmm, not quite there... Yeah a bit over sanded somewhere... Time for a new part.. Happy modelling.. GrandpaPhil and mtaylor 2 Quote
druxey Posted May 27 #15 Posted May 27 If you can cut the joints with a very sharp chisel and avoid sanding, you may get better results. If you sand a piece in the vise you will 'rock'. It is almost impossible to get a flat, level joint surface using that method. CiscoH, moreplovac and mtaylor 3 Quote Be sure to sign up for an epic Nelson/Trafalgar project if you would like to see it made into a TV series http://trafalgar.tv
moreplovac Posted May 27 Author #16 Posted May 27 Thank you, will try it, forgot about chisel... mtaylor and druxey 2 Quote
KLarsen Posted May 27 #17 Posted May 27 I usually scrape the joints with a sharp knife, that makes it perfectly flat. If you leave a little more wood around the piece and create the joint first, it doesn't matter too much if you have to make any corrections. When the joint is done, sand the rest of the piece down to shape. Mike Y, davyboy, mtaylor and 2 others 5 Quote
moreplovac Posted May 27 Author #18 Posted May 27 Thank you KLarsen, Will try that method as well.. It is already looking better just playing with chisel.. the new parts will still be made but this is a good test.. CiscoH, KLarsen, Maxthebuilder and 5 others 8 Quote
Mike Y Posted May 29 #19 Posted May 29 Sanding would never leave a perfectly flat surface, no matter how straight your hand is. Milling is the best, but if using handtools only or if mating curved pieces - then shave off the curved center area with a blade or a knife. If one really want to make the joint disappear - you can scrape the middle with a curved tool, creating a tiny ”shallow zone” 😊 Good luck with these! druxey, mtaylor, dvm27 and 1 other 4 Quote Current build: Beavers Prize - POF 1:48 (Hahn style) Side builds: Schooner Polotsk by Master Korabel 18th Century Longboat by MS Finished: 21ft English Pinnace by MS
moreplovac Posted May 29 Author #20 Posted May 29 Thank you, MikeY. I will poke around with combination of hand tools, milling machine, patience, etc and hopefully have some satisfactory result for me... druxey and mtaylor 2 Quote
moreplovac Posted May 30 Author #21 Posted May 30 Big guns are brought in for assistance... better control and results but also lots of noise from machine itself and vacuum.. Happy modelling.. mtaylor, davyboy, druxey and 6 others 9 Quote
No Idea Posted June 1 #22 Posted June 1 Just seen your build as I've not been able to be here much just lately - really good luck with your build and you have made a great start mtaylor and moreplovac 2 Quote
moreplovac Posted June 1 Author #24 Posted June 1 Started well and on track... and then forgot to tight the clamp screw.. Oh well, 2 hrs of work... Starting again.. Happy modelling.. GrandpaPhil, Rik Buter, Roger Pellett and 4 others 6 1 Quote
moreplovac Posted June 4 Author #25 Posted June 4 A bit more work was completed; few keel pieces done with small details left to be done.. With holiday season it does take time to make those parts.. Happy modelling. No Idea, CiscoH, mtaylor and 3 others 6 Quote
moreplovac Posted June 7 Author #26 Posted June 7 A little bit of a work completed yesterday; both parts do need a bit of a touch ups and finishing sanding and I am hardly waiting to see how they all fit together... Happy modelling. CiscoH, No Idea, Rik Buter and 3 others 6 Quote
moreplovac Posted June 9 Author #27 Posted June 9 One more completed.. this little fellow gave me hard time, had to make few. Happy modelling.. Rik Buter, Maxthebuilder, mtaylor and 5 others 8 Quote
moreplovac Posted June 11 Author #28 Posted June 11 A bit of a progress,,, magenta keel part was turned around for no apparent reason 🙂 Happy modelling.. Mike Y, Maxthebuilder, Rik Buter and 5 others 8 Quote
moreplovac Posted June 15 Author #29 Posted June 15 A little table addition to bridge the gap between sanding paper and sanded part... just a two piece of plexiglass, glued together for thickness and two holes matching diameter of a sanding cylinder.. suction action of an attached vacuum, keeps the plexiglass very tight... On the bench.... during action... All parts are almost done... Hard to find some hobby time during Euro24... Happy modelling.. Maxthebuilder, No Idea, CiscoH and 8 others 11 Quote
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