HM Schooner Ballahoo by egkb - FINISHED - Caldercraft - 1:64 Scale - First Proper Wood Build

[egkb]

Latest News Folks ..  Well at long last the New Work Room is being built as we speak... Woo Hoo !  All going according to plan it should be completed in a week to 10 days then it's getting my stuff out of storage and making up build tables etc ..  All go here at Glacial Boat Building Ltd (I restarted the company LOL )

 

All The Best Folks

Eamonn

Edited July 23, 2019 by egkb

[The Lazy Saint]

Hi Eamonn, 

I am eagerly awaiting the start of your rigging phase, just in time for me to start mine. 

Best wishes as always. 

The Lazy Saint. 

[egkb]

Hey There TLS ..  I'll probably have to re learn everything before I kick-off , I have some notes someplace .. Oh wait they're in storage too .. Ahhhhhhhgh 🙄 .. Soooo I'll most likely be following your lead 😉 Don't forget that Rudder !!

 

 

Thanks for dropping by

 

Eamonn

[egkb]

++++++++ Newsflash+++++ Latest++++++++

 

OK Folks ... New Build Room aka Attic Conversion/3rd Floor  aka North Face of the Eiger (Lot of Stairs to Climb) is complete and I have just installed the new work 'U' shaped bench and gave it a wipe of Danish Oil .. 

Everything is back from storage and Ballahoo herself is now in the Build Room .. Woo Hoo (OK not actually on the Table but sure near enough 😊 ) only a bit of tidying away and I can begin filling my shinny new shelves with Boat Building Paraphernalia .. 

 

Now where did I leave all that Rigging Research I did over the past few years ?  Darn It .. 

 

Honeymoon Cruise around Italy coming up in a couple of weeks then I can get down to finishing The Ballier and opening another Build Log for ... Hmmm possibly Sherbourne (Have a few on the waiting list, but I always liked 'The Sherry' .. )

 

All The Very Best Folks From 'Moving Along Nicely Boatyards'   (Formerly Known as Glacial Boat Building Ltd)

 

Thanks For Stopping By

 

Eamonn

Edited September 30, 2019 by egkb

[Edwardkenway]

Good to see you back Eamonn, it will be nice to see your Ballhoo out of ordinary!

Sherbourne  is a nice boat to build, and another in the fleet is always welcome. 

I'm glad you got a brand new shipyard too😃👍

Cheers 

[egkb]

Hey There Edward ... Out of Ordinary indeed, and not before time.. I rather suspect I'm going to have to learn all the basics of Boat Building all over again .. but for the moment (Room Preparations and Honeymoon aside) I'll have to rummage out all my Notes and Re-Visit my Lees etc, but at least I'll have a place to do this where I can spread everything out for a few days if needs be and not be in the way .. 🙂 

 

Cheers Mate

 

Eamonn

 

BTW The rain has been going all day here too.. We won't even mention that Hurricane Looking doo-dah heading our way either.. 🙄

[egkb]

Hi Again Folks .... Well I found my Notes and decided to put The Ballier onto my new Build Table at long last !  .. 😎😁

I discovered that I had left off at putting eye Bolts in the Transom area,  so I got the 0.5mm Black wire out (a recent purchase to avoid having to chemically blacken) and twisted up 6 eye Bolts .. Needless to say my first one went flying across the room when I came to trim the excess off, Hmmmm.. I wasn't gonna let the wee devil escape that easily so I hunted it down and found it lurking under the Ballier Plans 🙂

 

Six holes drilled later and the glue came out ..  all going like clock-work so I decided to call quits on my First Day (cough cough ..Hour) Back ..  

 

Oh by the way there are actual Photos coming up here ... Try to contain the excitement there folks 😉

 

All The very Best From Glacial Boat Yards

 

Eamonn

 

PS latest additions are the 2 eye Bolts on the Transom Taff Rail & the 4 on Deck at the Transom itself

 

[Edwardkenway]

Eamonn it's good to have you back😃. How is your new shipyard?

Your Ballahoo is looking very good and it won't be long till you're masting and rigging. 

Sooo good to see photos 👍😂

[egkb]

Hey there E .. The shipyard is still a tad cluttered but spacious (I know this sounds contradictory lol)  I still need to lay it out correctly and get to grips with where everything will go.. but for the moment I have  some stuff sitting about in plain sight if you follow (so I can more easily locate it) and bit by bit they will start to find their natural home,  for now I am locating all items associated with Rigging (tweezers, blades, wire, string/rope, blocks etc)  .. I'll post some photos of it as soon as it looks presentable  ☺️

 

Thanks for Stopping By Folks and for all the Likes

 

Eamonn

[egkb]

Hi All .. I working away in the background here (On the Main Boom and its fittings at the moment) and researching Rigging on these schooners .. I was getting stuck into this a few years ago when I had to pack all away to get on with Home renovations.

This is definitely an occasion where MSW comes in handy as I have been going back over my discussions with Jim_Smits (Who completed a flippin' wonderful Ballahoo, take a looksie folks if you haven't already done so) and as a result am a bit happier at where I left off all those years ago... 🙂  Now I can research properly and see what level of detail I wish to include in the Standing Rigging.. Dirk (Dubz) has made me want to step it up a few levels (Thanks Dirk .. 🙄 by the way) so it may be time to dust off the ol' Serving Machine ..

 

Won't post any photos of my work on the Boom as tis only a wee bit of wood work etc ..  I'll wait till there is something more substantial 😉

 

All The Very Best Folks

Eamonn

[egkb]

Hi Folks..  Update Time Again ..  I have almost completed the Main Boom (after much research, then some more research for good measure.. am now widely acknowledged as the local authority on Schooner Booms circa 1805..  conclusion.. I can confirm they are the bits that stick out from the mast in a front/back direction 😉 😐) and decided to revisit my Mast Hoops, the original attempt was done quiet some time ago and though satisfied I'm by no means fully happy with them.. I have as we speak some newer versions done and variations on same using Cream coloured paper and also some long wood shavings made specifically.. (Hopes are high for the wood shavings.. there I said it !... Of course this has just put a jinx on them 😖 😇 )  I will post some photos shortly, or as soon as I clean off the work table cos right now the words Blast Radius apply to it with wood shavings all over the gaff (sic)

 

All The Best For Now

 

Eamonn .. The Ballahoo Main Boom Expert

[Beef Wellington]

Hi Eamonn,

 

Please share pictures of the main boom to which you are the main boom expert, may come in handy as about to go there myself, or indeed any pictures of progress as long as they involve pins and clamps 🙂

 

All the best

[egkb]

Hey There Jason ..  Ermmm  I may have slightly oversold my knowledge re Main Booms,  just slightly !  LOL (I would deffo recognise one though 😄 )

 

...  Here are a few photos.. Yup! Actual Photos Woo Hoo.

 

They are of The End of the Main Boom, a Sample Mast Hoop and The Boom support on the Mast with Mast Hoop for scale..

 

The photo of the Mast Hoop by itself is of the Hoop in its 'raw' state, made from wood shavings wrapped around a suitable sized dowel, in this case a round profile pencil, then glued..  Once the glue has set I put the whole assembly into a mini wood lathe and holding (carefully at both ends!) a craft knife I gently lowered the blade to the revolving pencil till the rings were separated..  It is un-sanded and pretty much straight from manufacture, I lightly cleaned it up and sanded it gently on the other photo, it still needs further sanding cleaning and staining.  I made approx 15 with this method in very short time, I will use the best 8 or so (further research needed here lol)

Any Questions please ask away.. Particularly about Ballahoo Schooner Booms circa 1805 😉  Spoiler Alert.. They are Wooden !

 

All The Very Best Folks And Thanks For Dropping By And Giving A Like..

 

Eamonn

 

[Beef Wellington]

Very ingenious solution to the mast hoops, they look great.

[egkb]

Cheers Mate, can't take credit though as I first got the idea from Dee_Dee who if I remember correctly used Birch Bark or similar, sadly it didn't really work for me (prob wrong variant near me)  I Googled Mast Hoops just to get an idea of the size/scale etc and up popped a You Tube video of a chap making them from Wood Shavings for his scratch build of Yacht America ..  I'll take a looksie for the vid and pop a link in here..  I'm not on my Build Room Computer at the mo .. Back in a mo ........... ......😆   

Here it is, well worth a Looksie....

 

 

All The Very Best Mate ...  And Ta for Dropping By and the Likes

 

E

[egkb]

Back Again Folks ....  

 

I sanded the Hoops I'll be using to pick my final 7 or 8 from (they are on the stirring stick with the black bit in centre of photo)  Those on the top are the recently made Cream Card/Paper versions I was going to use until I discovered the Video as posted yesterday..  Also in shot are my Wood Shavings, Pencil used and abused 😃 to shape the Shavings and a left over piece I cut the Hoops from on the lathe..  Oh I wrapped the pencil in Tin Foil (Cooking Foil) to stop the glue sticking to it (worked a treat,  no need for 'release agent' just Cooking Foil shinny side up)

I will put the Hoops in place as soon as I'm happy with them (possibly more sanding and a coat of Wipe On Poly to seal )

 

Thanks For Stopping By Folks

 

Eamonn

 

[JayCub]

HI Eamonn, i have really enjoyed your build log sofar and the banter you have had with  so many of  the members..its a fabulous build of the ballahoo that you are putting together.. i can't remember laughing so much for a long time..very neat and tidy work. still laughing from the one liners as i type...looking forward to your next update..for some reason im thinking of fish and chips tonight...great attitude you have going on.. i hope im as calm when i start my first wooden ship build..your work is certainly encouraging 

 

Tom

[egkb]

Hey There Tom ... I tend to look at my Ballahoo and laugh as well ..😁😉 .  Tis nice to hear from a new visitor too and not so far away either.

 

One of the main things I learned here is to just get stuck into a build and not to over-think it toooo much (by all means research what you are trying to achieve but don't let doubts bog you down or stop you from making the first cut )  Find the right boat for you and get stuck in, there will always be someone on here who will have built it first, so read up on what they did (and didn't do!) and away you go.. Ballahoo was perfect for me as I love smaller craft and I decided to really go to town 'Super detailing' her,  though the bare kit makes a darn nice build anyhoo (See Ballahoo by DavidM, in completed kits) I got held up in my build with major home improvements and not having access to a build space or any tools/research material (all in storage) Thankfully I'm pretty much set up again and have been tipping n' tapping in the background here..

I can heartily recommend the Ballahoo as a first step.. and do set up a Build Log so others can follow long and help out as needed.. I happen to know an expert on the Ballahoo Main Boom circa 1805.. 🙃🙂 

 

All The Best Mate ..

 

Eamonn

 

[JayCub]

HI Eamonn, its one of those moments that you say to yourself, i should have read this build log first... 🙄 😕as i bought the Hms Jalouse last week..some how it looked smaller and easier on my laptop..as for research i could only find one completed build and that was in a display cabinet and from a distance..wikipedia has the same information as the instruction manual although they do have a bit more history ..great to hear your more or less set up to continue your builds as you have a few in the pipeline...i will have a look at the DavidM build of the Ballahoo.. 

 

cheers

Tom

[egkb]

Hey Again Tom .. HMS Jalouse looks a nice boat ! The basics will be the same for her as Ballahoo (and most other kits for that matter) so you shouldn't have any problems there.. Just take your time (possibly not as much time as I did to be fair .. I think the actual war my boat was in ended quicker than my build time !) and have fun with it..  remember stuff may go wrong but there is little that can't be fixed and errors that seem dreadful at the time will hardly be noticed later (if noticed at all in fact)  Oh, if you wanna see a wonderful Build Log of a smaller boat check out Dirks Sherbourne (Dubz is his user name & Sherbourne is a Cutter)  Dirk takes you through step by step (as many on here do.. I had some brilliant help from the folks here) and remember techniques that apply to Ballahoo, Sherbourne or Syren etc will apply to Jalouse .. sooo keep Looking/Following other build logs and Builders ! And if in doubt scream and shout..  We will laugh take a look and help you out ! 😇😇

 

All The Best

 

Eamonn

[egkb]

Hi Folks ...   I decided to get the Anchors out and re-size the Stock ..  Ages ago now you may remember me mentioning that these were waaay off scale so after more exhaustive research (opening a folder I created called Anchor Dimensions.. knew it would come in handy) I have begun to resize the Stocks..  Original Kit supplied ones are 5.0 cm long and I need then 4.2 cm Long so I'm sanding 0.4 cm off each end (substantial difference when taking Scale into account)..  Each stock comes in two pieces which I glued (with pva) together for convenience of Sanding/Shaping.  I will separate them later and assemble the anchor properly being sure to leave the slight 'gap along middle' between the two sections as per Full Scale versions..

No Photos at the moment  .. I mean who wants to look at bits of wood gluing ...  I know I know.. Just Kiddin' it's kinda what we do 🙃 😉  OK I'll go take some ...  Oh, did I mention I finished the Mast Hoops last thing was giving them a light coat of Wipe On Poly.

 

All The Best and Thanks for Taking The Time To Drop By.

 

Eamonn

 

[DavidM]

Hi Eamonn; I'm pleased to see you back in your (new) shipyard.  Your Ballahoo is looking mighty impressive and, as ever, your log continues to both inspire and inform.  On a personal note, I've put my Sherbourne back on the shelf and have made a start on my Pickle (bulwarks completed and about to lay first plank of first planking). I haven't yet gained the confidence to open a build log!

Kind Regards,

David

[egkb]

Hey There David ... Thanks again for looking in, it's nice to be back building again..  I really must post a photo of the new build space I created (massive clean up first though )

 

I would love to see what you have done with Pickle though .. Post a couple of photos on here if you like, I don't think anyone would mind! but as you know a Log is the way to go (We have all seen the brilliant job you did on Ballahoo in Completed Models Section, so deffo nothing to worry about) If you don't fancy on Posting on here could you pop a few photos into a PM to me.. As you know Pickle is one build I plan on doing as I love the smaller vessels (I saw a model of her in Portsmouth a couple of years ago, and there is a full size replica out there somewhere too.. both interestingly look different to the Caldercraft Kit Version, I wouldn't mind finding out why, I guess She evolved over her lifetime )

I'm back in work tomorrow so there won't be any major updates for a few days..

 

Thanks Again For Looking In

 

All The Best

 

Eamonn

[DavidM]

Hi Eamonn.  I'll send you a PM with some photos when I get more organised.  I've got some pear for the hull, maple for the deck and plenty of rope and blocks from Chuck so I'm looking forward to the build.

Kind Regards,

David

[egkb]

Looking forward to the photos David .. I haven't worked with Pear but I hear it is wonderful stuff (Nigel 'NMBrook' who posts/posted on here uses it a lot if I remember) I always fancied on Holly for deck work but couldn't source any so I too used Maple and I'm not disappointed .. I must see if I can locate any before starting my next build,  probably have a year or two to find it at the speed I operate 😖

The assembly instructions for Pickle are a serious step up from Ballahoo aren't they ?  I downloaded a copy some time ago to help out with my Ballahoo build.. Mind you Ballahoo's Instructions were pretty much 'There's a pile of wood now Make Ship from It.. Simples'  😉

 

All The Very Best David.. 

 

Eamonn

[egkb]

Hi Again Folks ..  I managed to sneak some Ballahoo work into my 'Day-Off' , I wasn't planning on doing so 'till my holidays which are coming in a few days time .. So I opened a few of my reference books to locate scale drawings of anchor stocks which I could size in Photoshop to suit my needs..  Success was found in Laverys The Arming & Fitting of English Ships of war 1600-1815 .. I scanned the drawing of the Anchor Stock into Photoshop and sized it to suit Ballahoo , transferred it to an A4 sheet and Printed (see photo attached) Checked the size (as scale can sometimes change when printing, if you aren't careful with settings) Then cut out the relevant parts and lightly pasted them to some of my spare wood stock (Don' think I've ever seen the word 'Stock' used so often outside a Cook Book !! 🙄 )

I'll Cut and sand them to size next week and report back as to how I get on 😁  I mean what could possibly go wrong .. 🥺 😆 ..

 

Stay Safe Folks 😷

 

All The Very Best, and Thanks For Taking The Time To Drop By.

 

Eamonn

 

Edit ..  BTW The wood Stock is thin enough to allow me to do both parts of each Stock on the Anchors .. So the bottom photo is for One Anchor Only !

 

Stock.. Stock ...Stock .. 😇

 

Stock ! (There, That Must Be A Record)

Edited March 27, 2020 by egkb
Additional Info

[egkb]

Hey There Folks .. Time for another Exciting Ballahoo Update .... (Hopefully I'll be able to go an entire Post without using the St*cK word)

 

I have the anchors 90% complete, just waiting for material to make the Bands (You know, those Bands that go on the 'Wooden Cross Piece' .. yes that piece.. am determined not to say it.. 😁 ) and delivery was for yesterday, but what the World in turmoil at present it might be a wee bit longer arriving..

 

This time around I went back to finish the Boom and get going on the Gaff also ..

 

I made up the 'Strop' that holds the Top Block of the Boom Sheet , you can just about make it out in the photo, it is made of Served rope with two loops that are lashed together to the side with the bight of the rope seized around the block..  The foot ropes were added as was the Cleat and attaching point for the pulley arrangement  (underside of boom) that tightens/operates the Clew of the sail (am trying to work out if this same pulley /cleat doubles up to also tighten/operate the Boom topping lift (when not used for the sail) as I'll be making the Topping Lift fast to the boom via a Block fitted to the end of the Boom as opposed to the Ballahoo Plan version which sees the Topping Lift go to the Mast head and then down the mast to be belayed on deck (at the foot of the mast)

My next thoughts are with Boom Guy Pendant(s) (attached at the boom where the Sheet Block is made fast) then properly onto the Gaffs and their attendant Blocks and Fittings

 

All The Very Best From Rapid Fast Boat Builders previously known as Glacial Boat Builders

 

Take Care Folks & Thanks For Stopping By

 

Eamonn

 

PS in the photo you will see a rather nice wooden cleat (almost completed)  that I was happily carving until I remembered the Kit came with about a dozen pre-made !!

[Beef Wellington]

Looking sweet Eamon, that's a very sharp looking false sheave.

[egkb]

Cheers Jason,  that reminds me I need to paint it Black 😀

 

E

[egkb]

Time for another Ballahoo Update...

 

Well Folks.. It's nearly time for the Masts to be stepped (At looong last I hear you say) Most if not all blocks/fittings are in place on the Booms, Masts & Gaffs..  Note to other Ballahoo Builders out there I feel (Opinion btw) that the position, as per plans, of the Blocks for the Gaffs is too high giving a very steep angle which feels (again an Opinion) wrong.. You would almost be pulling the Gaff into the mast (Bow & Arrow style) as opposed to raising its peak .. I will see if I have a copy of the plan here to show what I mean (Found One, See Below)  Anyhoo .. I placed my blocks in a more central location on the Gaff..

Oh also in the photos are the Anchors and their -wait for it- Stocks !! 😇  (still waiting for the Banding material, not really surprising though to be fair)  I will 'wipe on poly' them and add any details, nails & ring etc., once my delivery arrives..

 

All The Best Folks

 

Eamonn

 

Photo Time..