Steam Schooner Wapama 1915 by Paul Le Wol - Scale 1/72 = From Plans Drawn By Don Birkholtz Sr.

[Paul Le Wol]

1 hour ago, Keith Black said:

Nice case, plans for the Sharpie?

The first visitor I get that looks at it more than once is taking it home with them. 🙂

 

29 minutes ago, KeithAug said:

All coming along very nicely Paul.

Thank you Keith, I really appreciate your comment !

[Keith Black]

19 minutes ago, Paul Le Wol said:

The first visitor I get that looks at it more than once is taking it home with them. 🙂

 And your address is? ......... no way, Paul. She's way too nice a model to be adopted out. 

[Paul Le Wol]

“And your address is? ......... no way, Paul. She's way too nice a model to be adopted out”

 

Its been finished for a while now and no one has met the requirements yet so I will probably have to get going on making a case for it.

 

 

[Paul Le Wol]

Hey Everyone, wishing you all well. Thank you very much for the Comments and Likes. In the last post I mentioned that I would like to attach the main deck cabin but after some thought decided that it would get in the way of laying out the planking. The planking I chose to start with are the ones that run along the inboard side of the bulwark stanchions as seen in the next photo. They are labelled LONG'LS which I take as being short for longitudinals. 

 

 

Some spacers were made and laid on the waterways and then the long'ls were glued to the bulkhead extensions.

 

 

 

The bulwark stanchions that rise up to the cabin deck where laid out to get the shear. I used the same process as when laying out the main deck cabin.

 

 

 

A piece of 1/8" basswood sheet was used where the height changes. Next came making a multitude of bulwark stanchions and covering boards. A couple of months ago I decided that this build would require some machine assistance so I bought a Slicer from Ultimation Tools. It really shines when it comes to making these small pieces.

 

 

Port and starboard stanchions were done simultaneously. I'm now halfway down the main deck. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**** The frames that pass either side of the main hatch will be reinforced with an additional frames as seen in the next picture ****

 ( This statement is not true. The stanchions in that area have the same spacing as the others. The 10 1/2” frames stop at the deck beams and the 13 1/2” frames continue up to become stanchions. The two 10 1/2 “ frames that were installed have been removed.

 

 

Now back to the slicing.

Edited Thursday at 11:50 AM by Paul Le Wol
Wrong interpretation of drawings

[Keith Black]

 Nice work, Paul. Slicers are the only way to go, I can't believe how long it took me to see that lightbulb come on. 

[Paul Le Wol]

Thank you Keith. I think I would have been struggling a bit without it.

[JacquesCousteau]

Great work on the stanchions, they're really even!

 

Is a slicer more precise than using a razor saw with a miter box and a stop? I've only used the latter before.

[Dr PR]

Paul,

 

You are planking the hull from the inside out! That is a very good way to get all the bulwark frames in place.

 

I envy you on this build. The HAER report drawings show so much detail of the construction of the ship. We don't have that detailed information for most builds.

 

Somewhere here I should have photos (slides) I took on the Wapama back in 1972 when I was in San Francisco for discharge from the Navy. If I find them I'll scan them and send them to you.

[Paul Le Wol]

8 minutes ago, JacquesCousteau said:

Great work on the stanchions, they're really even!

 

Is a slicer more precise than using a razor saw with a miter box and a stop? I've only used the latter before.

Thank you very much Jacques. They are great if you have lots of cuts to make. The blade on this one only cuts square on one side so you still have to square up the end of the strip you are cutting from before making the next cut. I don’t think it is much more precise than a miter box and a stop but when it came to cutting the cover boards which were 5/32” x 5/32”  x 7/32” long basswood it made a big difference just being able to pick the pieces up with tweezers and glue them into place. The cut on the piece you are using is straight, clean and doesn’t really need to be dressed. 

[Keith Black]

I have a RP slicer and I think it's much more precise than a miter saw for repeated cuts requiring the same length, IMHO.

 

[Paul Le Wol]

10 minutes ago, Dr PR said:

Paul,

 

You are planking the hull from the inside out! That is a very good way to get all the bulwark frames in place.

 

I envy you on this build. The HAER report drawings show so much detail of the construction of the ship. We don't have that detailed information for most builds.

 

Somewhere here I should have photos (slides) I took on the Wapama back in 1972 when I was in San Francisco for discharge from the Navy. If I find them I'll scan them and send them to you.

Hi Phil, your offer is very kind. Thank you. I agree, these HAER drawings are very detailed. I spend a lot of time just looking at them and discovering new tidbits. The notes on the drawings are aiso full of great information.

[Paul Le Wol]

3 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

I have a RP slicer and I think it's much more precise than a miter saw for repeated cuts requiring the same length, IMHO.

 

That’s a good looking machine Keith. I’m still getting used to mine. Funny thing is that even if I’m using a repeater most times I still double check the measurement. Must have trust issues 😀

[Keith Black]

10 minutes ago, Paul Le Wol said:

That’s a good looking machine Keith. I’m still getting used to mine. Funny thing is that even if I’m using a repeater most times I still double check the measurement. Must have trust issues 😀

I like the RP a lot. The only issue it's limited for long lengths. If I was cutting long lengths I'd have to design a stop for doing so. I've used mine enough to trust it way more than me and a miter saw. Anymore I just blow and go. 

[Glen McGuire]

I am fashionably late to the party but caught up on all the previous posts.  What a unique and interesting subject you have chosen for your scratch build, Paul.  Very impressive work so far.  I look forward to watching your creation unfold!

[Paul Le Wol]

Thank you Glen, I’m happy that you can make this voyage!

[Seventynet]

Hi Paul, I just discovered this interesting build and am pulling up a chair. Beautiful work as always!

 

ian

[Paul Le Wol]

38 minutes ago, Seventynet said:

Hi Paul, I just discovered this interesting build and am pulling up a chair. Beautiful work as always!

 

ian

Thank you Ian, always glad to hear from you.