Armed Virginia Sloop (AVS) by SkiBee - Model Shipways - 1:48

[SkiBee]

18 hours ago, CiscoH said:

the deck, bulwark, and waterway planking will hide all the sins of the thinned bulkheads.

 

I have a version of that drafting kit you show; my mom got it for me at an auction years ago and I had no idea what it was originally for.  I use the small compass (the one with a pencil) all the time marking out plank widths. 

CiscoH

The nib ends were for ink, like an old fashion ink pen you had dip into a bottle of ink or fill from an ink bottle.  By the time I came around we had what was called a LeRoy pen, a cartridge ink pen, but my father used the nib pens when he was a draftsman.

[SkiBee]

Started gluing the planks on the counter, when I went to glue the bottom plank on it looked like that there was not a straight horizontal line across the bottom.  So I trimmed off a bit from the midline to the starboard side.  When I glued it on, it did not look right so I glued on the piece I trimmed.  You can see it from the pictures below.

I whittled and sanded the edges of the transom planks to the to the counter of the transom filler pieces. Two things I noticed as I was looking at the next step, the fashion piece.  I should not have sanded the plank edges to the contour of the side of the hull but I should have created a straight cut so that it would match the fashion pieces.  The second thing I noticed was that the top transom plank did not extend above the aft deck as the design called for.  So, I removed the top plank and will glue in a wider piece that extends beyond the sides of the hull.

As noted earlier, the aft ends of the hull planks were not even in reference to the counter filler pieces.  At that time, I figured that I could cover that up when I glued the walnut planks on. But it does create a bit of a problem glueing on the finishing pieces.  You can see that the Port side comes down to the junction of the two counter filler blooks.  Where the starboard side does not, I curved the planks up more than they should have been.  I thought about using acetone to soften the CA glue I glued the rear portion of the starboard planks on with acetone, remove and then reglue in the right place, but the more I looked at the drawings and instructions, I still think I can correct it when I glue the walnut planks on.  The only thing that I can see that I need to be careful with is to make sure that the bottom of the gun port is even with the top of the walnut Black Strate.

[CiscoH]

i personally would leave it be and make sure i remembered to properly position the second layer of planking, as i think you said your plan was.   good progress

[SkiBee]

Bending the first walnut plank to fit under the windows on the transom. At first, I couldn’t find the walnut planks, I had put them with the basswood since they were so light.  I started to test what stain that I had would bring it closer to the walnut wood color in the kit. The walnut stain made them to dark and hid the wood grain. In the below picture, the top plank is basswood, the second is the walnut plank I’m referring to, the third plank is the walnut plank stained with light Oak, the fourth plank is a thicker kit supplied walnut. At this time, I’m going to stain the hull walnut planks with the light oak stain to bring out a darker color and the grain.

 

Started to work on aft transom windows, I painted the frames gold and then glue a piece of plastic that was the top cover of some tools. Painted the back of the window frame with a light coat of CA glue and clamped the plastic to the frame. Looks like glass.  Painted the inside of the window housing black per the instructions, but when I trail fitted the window in the transom, the glass just looked like it had been painted black, there wasn’t any indication of depth behind the window.  So, I painted the inside a window yellow to simulate the yellowish color of candlelight.

Glued the windows in using wood glue then started gluing the first plank on the transom. Started in the middle using CA glue.  The biggest problem was keeping the window to be even with the thickness of the plank.  After a little trial and rework, I think I got it.

 

{NOTE: After glueing in the windows and walnut planks, I'm not sure it matters what color you paint the inside of the windows, even leaving them not painted.  Looking through my windows, I still can't see anything.}

Edited Saturday at 11:25 PM by SkiBee

[SkiBee]

Glue the remaining transom walnut planks until the top of the windows.  Next, I glued the walnut planks on the counter, ended just little past the first layer of planks, will leave it like it is until I start the lower hull planks that bend up to the counter planks, and then figure out what to do, trim or leave them as is.

Had to give a little thought to the walnut planks above the window, where I wanted the top of the last plank to be in reference to the aft sub-deck.  I looked at pictures in both instructions, drawings and other build logs.  I chose to put two planks above the windows and then decided how far back to cut the topmost plank.  The first plank I carefully cut out a little notch out for the windows by laying the plank on top of the last plank and windows to determine width and depth.  Took a little at a time then trial fit and then a little more sanding and cutting, I ended up sanding some of the width of the plank off due to a few mistakes cutting the notches rather than start a new plank.  Actually, I think that will be better since I’m sure the topmost plank will end up being shaved down as I but the top piece on.  Sanded the transom planks down a little using medium fine sandpaper to clean up the edges.  I might have to fill in some small gaps between the planks with walnut colored wood filler.  Next, I will clean up the gold on the windows, not sure if I’ll put on some Polly-Ur now or later.

 

{NOTE:  The Key is to TAKE YOUR TIME getting the windows in the right place and then planking, trial and error is ok.  I'm good with the results but should still have taken a little more time to prevent gaps around the windows and between the planks.}

[SkiBee]

I trimmed the top off of the top most walnut plank to match the basswood plank that extended up above the aft deck surface.  I looked through a lot of build logs and it seemed like the right height.

Started building the port side Fashion Pices, it was a little tricky to do the bottom curved piece at the counter.  Experimented with angles and such, ended up following the Luck Street instructions. The starboard fashion pieces will be more of a challenge since my wale plank is to height (look at pictures a few frames back), but I’ll figure it out.

[CiscoH]

I found the stern window assembly to be the most challenging part of the build (so far anyway).  mine never looked exactly right.  once the fashion pieces are added everything flows a bit better.  yours is looking great

[SkiBee]

CiscoH

Thanks, you have been very helpful during this build