Beavers Prize 1777 by Mike Y - 1:48 - POF - Hahn style

[Mike Y]

I am lucky, my admiral is very understanding. She does not like smelly things though, so my experiments with diluting tung oil with turpentine failed..

 

Also, if she complains about my "workshop" - I will complain about her knitting machine corner  So no complains, perfect balance.

[Mirabell61]

Finished the most risky part of the fairing - the outer surface of the side that would be opened.

Lesson for the future - if you add the bolt simulation - add another millimiter of margin to the frame lines, especially on the sides of the hull (it is unlikely that the bottom would be problematic).

 

Ended up with some really thin sides around the midship:

IMG_3693.jpg

 

But overall - nothing is screwed up! Just some bolts that are too close to the edge of the frame, but they are not poking to the side!

No finish applied, and will sand with fine grits right before finishing - apparently, finger marks are very visible.

 

IMG_3689.jpg

 

IMG_3703.jpg

 

The transom wings required a lot of shaping! You can compare with the non-faired side on the right.

IMG_3705.jpg

 

 

I tried lots of different tools for fairing, but ended up with this set:

Foto 2016-01-24 18 54 45.jpg

 

Cork block shaped to be round on one side, and remains flat on another. Sandpaper - Mirka 120 grit.

Semi-flexible yellow thingy was very useful when sanding the bow and transom. Right the exact flex! Grit 90.

French curve scraper helped to level the frames, especially in the tight areas. In another areas, miniature chisel was used for that.

Surprisingly, block plane was very useful to quickly even out the frames, to later finish it with the sanding block.

 

Beautiful build Mike...,

 

Nils

[michael mott]

 

Spent few weeks working on my "living room corner workshop"

My goodness I can't even keep my computer desk that clean and tidy.

 

The hull framing is looking very nice.

 

Michael

[igorcap]

Mike , most dust gives sander , so be sure to use a vacuum cleaner, it is recommended with control power (low power thrust is sufficient, but less noise). Moreover  I recommend vacuum cleaner controller which automatically turns the vacuum cleaner together with your sander , for example PROXXON AS/E

[Mike Y]

Igor, all shop vacs are too loud and too big for my room... So I am using a tiny detachable vac (http://cache.air-n-water.com/images/electrolux-el1014a-6-l.jpg)

I put it close to the sander, under the left bottom corner where the majority of dust goes, and that helps a lot.

[Mike Y]

Finished fairing the exterior of the hull:

 

 

 

No finish applied yet.

 

First time I show the hidden side of it

 

It is the port side, it would be fully planked and fully hidden - hence no iron bolts, very rough fairing and less attention to the frame alignment - ended up adding strips of wood to patch the low spots. 

 

Now need to make a frame to support the hull in an inverted position (keel down), to be able to comfortably work with the internals of the hull. Internal fairing would be fun!

 

[jose_b]

She looks really good.

[Erik W]

Well done Mike!  I also like your lighting and photography with these.  The bow and stern photos look awesome.

 

Erik

[Mike Y]

Thanks Erik! This time I gave up and used iPhone 5 to take photos, instead of the proper camera (Canon S120). The colours on the iphone photos are much more correct and realistic then the ones made by canon, which makes everything too warm and yellow under this light. Tried to reset the WB - ended up with colours that are too cold. Tried iPhone - hah, it just gives a right colour with no tweaks or filters or adjustments

[Mike Y]

Installed the false keel. It is the first time I work with ebony, and probably the last. Working with ebony is all about cleaning, cleaning, cleaning and again cleaning. Bleh!

 

 

Shaped it with the Veritas mini block plane, its blade is really hard, cuts ebony without any issues:

 

Result:

 

[michael mott]

Beautiful work Mike

 

Michael

[gjdale]

Nice, Mike! Ebony may be a pain for clean up, but nothing looks quite as good.

[jose_b]

Ebony is also very rigid and it's very difficult to bend it, but the result is impressive (use steel wool to finish work).

Edited March 26, 2016 by jose_b

[Omega1234]

Absolutely superb work, Mike!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[mtaylor]

Just lovely, Mike.  Yeah, ebony is a pain.. but when you see the results it's worth it.

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Wonderful, Mike.

How do you want to cut the rabbet on the keel?

[Mike Y]

Christian, it is only cut on the side that would be fully planked. No rabbet on the other side, for aesthetics reasons.

[Mike Y]

Made a support jig to install the hull in an upright position.

It is a first time I see it this way, very, khm, unusual! Like it is upside down. Or, hold on, right side up? Very confusing after working on the inverted hull for little bit more than 1.5 years..

 

 

 

 

 

The jig is simple and surprisingly stable. I was planning to add a diagonal braces to it to increase stability, but looks like it is not necessary. 

 

Now it even looks much bigger when stored right side up

 

Ok, so now I do not have any more excuses, time to fair the inside of the hull. See you in a few dusty weeks!

[mtaylor]

Mike,

Welcome to the "Let's flip it over and see what it looks like right side up" club.   She's looking very good.

[dvm27]

Now she looks like a ship, Mike. The next huge reveal when you cut the frame extensions and free her from the jig but wait as long as possible to do this.

 

Have fun with that internal fairing. I foresee some bloody knuckles!

Edited March 28, 2016 by dvm27

[wyz]

     Mike, the model is coming along nicely.  Yes, ebony is a royal pain in the butt to use.  Not only is it brittle but the dust from it can cause real problems.  Many years back I needed some thin strakes from ebony wood.  I made them with my thickness sander.  Every time I went to put them on the hull they cracked.  Over and over I had to remake them.  Stupidly I wasn't wearing my dust mask and ended up breathing enough ebony dust that I started having respiratory problems.  I almost called 911.  Ebony looks really nice but it can be nasty to work with.  I ALWAYS use the mask now, for all woods.

 

Tom

[jose_b]

She looks vey good. I like all photos, in special 3rd and 5th.

[druxey]

Consider dye or paint when you make the wales, Mike. Ebony is a b*gg*r from every point of view, as others have mentioned.

[ggrieco]

That is one beautifully fair hull, Mike. Wonderful craftsmanship!

[Mike Y]

Robin, that is very easy - click on the image to open a fullsize version, right click -> save image, then post it to your thread.

[Niklas]

Mike, just catching up on your excellent build. Your'e making a beautiful Cromwell!

Niklas

[Mike Y]

Latest updates:

Got a shipment of cast cannons (from http://shipmodels.com.ua/)  andanchor and also a cnc milled figurehead (from igorcap) 

 

Very little time for modelling, but briefly visited Paris to admire the great collection of fully framed models in its maritime museum.

 

Still fairing the inside of the hull. The "planked" side fairing is finished, but the "prime" fully opened side will take more time.

It is a nasty process, I will really follow a traditional build sequence next time - fairing bow and stern first, before midship is assembled. 

Out of all my tools, just two are usable for it - curved scraper and a similarly shaped sanding block. Also some xacto blades for a fine scraping later during the process:

 

Found a super simple way to keep the dust away - two sheets of paper - and it is collecting under the hull, not getting onto the floor. Also looks spooky

 

These parts are really tricky due to very convex curves: 

 

My frame alignment was not perfect, some ended up too thin, but I will cheat a beat and leave them slightly unfair on the internal side - it would be hard to see anyway.

Lesson for the future - build in the upright position, where it is much easier to control the alignment of the thin top timbers.

If building in Hahn way, upside down - leave a lot of margin around top timbers, where they are thin and sensible to misalignment, when you cut the frames.

 

Edited May 1, 2016 by Mike Y

[Siggi52]

Mike,

 

may be you have seen it already, I upload an album with my pictures of the Royal George in the gallery of contemporary models.

 

Regards,

Siggi

[Mike Y]

Thank you, Siggi! They are really valuable for me.

[Omega1234]

Hey Mike

 

Seriously gorgeous work. I reckon, after 18 months, that you're pretty chuffed and deservedly so!

 

 

Keep the great work going!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick