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

[Kurt Johnson]

I can image since this wood is “personal” that it will become the highlight of the case for you. Nice going. You’ll have to get a hampster or rabbit so you can use all those shavings!

 

Kurt

[Wintergreen]

Hej Mike,

I confess, I just ran through your log, but what you've achieve so far looks great.

And in the living room... I silently went "holy c**p" when I saw the picture after you planed the planks...

Let me grab a chair here at the side and I will cheer you on as you go.

[Mike Y]

Håkan, glad to see you! Hope there would be more updates this year when I will finally get back to the actual modelling...

The room is actually good enough, forces me to keep everything in order. The workshop will just allow to increase the scale (larger bandsaw, larger planer, larger mill, etc) - which means I will get sucked into making furniture, tables, etc etc etc. And there are only so many hours I can spend on a hobby.

And it is nice when I can be close with my family, at the same time doing some tedious task that does not occupy a lot of brain (some random glue-up, sanding, etc etc).

[Mike Y]

On 14/02/2018 at 3:28 PM, canoe21 said:

Hello Mike

 

I have been going over your build log on your Oliver Cromwell with Harold Hahn plans.You sure have done a super great job of building your ship it is looking great and you must be very proud of your very fine achievement, WELL DONE.

 

I am in the last month or so on building my scratch build the Golden Hind at a scale of 1:60 a rather small model ship and I have been thinking that I would like to do a POF build of the Oliver Cromwell or the Halifax with Harold Hahn plans, yours sure has come out looking very nice.

 

I am a bit confused as it seems that you have bought the full framing kit from the Lumber Yard but you do go on to making your own frames, is this because the Lumber Yard frames were not up to your very high standards or had you planned your build this way?

 

You sure have acquired a fine bunch of tools since you first started your Oliver Cromwell and making very good use of them all if I may add. Great job on your display case it sure will give your Oliver Cromwell a new home to live in and keep her dust free,                                                                                    ENJOY.

 

Regards   Lawrence

 

 

Hi Lawrence,

 

Thanks for the compliments!

 

The "timbering set" I bought from the Lumberyard does not contain frames, but instead it has lots of "framing stock" (strips that are laminated together to be used as a blank for framing). The process should be quite clear from the first 10 pages of this build log. The process is quite simple, once you get the hang of it (for example, how to join the pieces together on a proper angle without gaps, or how to laminate two layers without wood cupping because of a moisture in a glue).

 

I haven't planned to replace the wood, but was kind of forced to, because of a number of reasons:

1) Included framing stock was a bit different kind of pear that I expected - it is a golden colour pear, instead of pink-brown swiss pear I was looking for. I did not know that the term "swiss pear" has different meanings, so I was just expecting a different wood. The golden pear is not bad, in fact some modellers even value it more than the pink one, but it is purely a matter of taste. Most swiss pear you see on this forum is a pink-brown variety. 

2) The stock was very rough with a deep sanding marks. I had no planer or sander back then, and sanding it by hand was a major time waste and it was not fun at all. Also, they had an inconsistent thickness, which leads to even more sanding

3) High colour variation and lots of defects (grey areas in that wood)

 

The laser cut parts were also made out of golden pear, but a higher quality one. Though some joints were too wide, and the laser char was thick - cleaning it was worse than just cutting a new part out of a pear sheet. Also, they were a bit too simplified (stem was made out of one single piece, etc).  This specific point is not a lumberyards fault, this is the way how Hahn did it, simplifying it on purpose to make it a bit more beginner-friendly. 

All that together lead to a decision to just buy the wood I like (pink-brown swiss pear) and do it from scratch. I haven't regretted that decision, and I have nobody to blame if smth does not fit together

 

Lumberyard do not have any photos of the package contents, so hope my log helps a bit. Now you know how the "swiss pear timber set" looks like in reality.

I posted a lot of photos and whining texts in the first part of that log, if you need more details. 

 

If I would do it again - I would do it like this:

1) Buy the full set of plans (from Hahn family directly or from Lumberyard, not sure what is easier nowadays). Maybe a framing jig as well, Lumberyard have it laser cut. If you cut the jig yourself using the paper template that is a part of the plans - paper distortion might be a problem - it is a really big object, and if it is skewed - the resulting ship would be skewed as well.

2) Once you have the plans - order the wood separately from a source you like and trust, using photos or sample pieces to make sure you get what you expect. That is easier than I though - you need lots of framing stock (dimensions and amount is easy to calculate from the plans, I can share the numbers for Cromwell if you need), and a number of sheets of various thicknesses for all other parts. That is also easy to do once you have plans - just pick up the wood type for different pieces, check their thickness, ballpark the quantity you need, buy 50% more just in case. 

Luckily, you do not need a lot of different thicknesses (think about oaks that the real ship was made of - they can only be so thick). So I bought a number of pear sheets of various increments - from 2mm (planking and such) all the way up to 10mm for a thicker parts. Add a 1-2mm reserve for sanding - if you need a 6mm thick part, you need a thicker sheet for it (8mm or so), otherwise you will end up with a 5mm part  

 

In hindsight, I am not sure what is the point of a timbering package. Framing stock - any wood supplier will mill you a custom sized planks. Parts that are laser cut - it is easy to cut them on a bandsaw/scroll saw, and finish with a disk sander. You can't build that model without these tools anyway, and making them out of a clean sheet is maybe even easier and more pleasant than trying to scrape away or sand away that nasty char, that ends up screwing dimensions here and there. 

Either you sell a kit where everything is pre-cut and a scroll saw is not needed, or you sell plans + jigs.  

 

Please send me a message if you need more details, would be happy to help!

Edited February 17, 2018 by Mike Y

[Mike Y]

Not planning any rigging (not my cup of tea at the moment, but never say never). Haven't heard about rigging plans of Cromwell, but it is a very typical ship of that period, and there are plenty of other frigates with a rigging diagrams. Pandora or a Swan class as an example - you can buy rigging plans for them (and an Anatomy Of The Ship book for Pandora) and easily use this for an Oliver Cromwell. Of course, it is a stretch - but probably not very far fetched. 

[Mike Y]

Hope to start reading your build log soon!

Please send me a message if you need a wood list or a detailed photo of some parts to know what you will get in a box.

[Mike Y]

Hi Lawrence,

 

Yes, the decorations and windows are good quality, two bottom sheets on this photo:

 

Though you need to be really careful when building a transom area to make sure that windows will fit, there is no room for error. I  was not so accurate in this area, so my windows would be made to fit instead...

Also, note the grain direction. I would try to make those out of multiple pieces - more realistic and less chance to snap off a flimsy piece that has a grain running across its width. Though it is boxwood, so it might survive. But trying to clean off the char while trying not to break it - is a big challenge, probably more difficult than just cutting the piece from scratch (the plans have all the necessary patterns).

So there is no clear answer, just imagine yourself making those from scratch or using laser cut pieces. What would you prefer?

[Kurt Johnson]

You might be able to pretreat the windows with CA which would strengthen them quite a bit. This, though, would probably make removing the char very difficult. Maybe if you glued the windows to some file card as a bolster would help. Then you could sand the card away the card afterwards.

 

 

Kurt

[Mike Y]

The display case progresses. Sloooowly (live gets in a way, in a good way). Only get 1-2hrs of hobby per week, assuming no trips.

Everything is milled up, and miters are cut using miter jig on a table saw and fine tuned with a disk sander + miniature block plane.

First series of strips buckled up significantly, because of a moisture in the glue. But I quickly realised that I do not really need to spread a glue over the entire plank - few spots is enough for it to be in place.

So I apply the glue in lines:

And brush some water on tope of the plank before putting a weight on it - that helps to neutralise moisture on both sides of the plank, or even force it to bow in another direction. 

After that, plexiglass plates + Books help to clamp it down:

 

That process worked well, all planks are now flat and there is no buckling.

 

Next strake was made of willow, 4cm wide. It was carefully straightened with a plane and straightedge before passing it through table saw:

 

The idea was good, until I screwed up. I was trying to carefully align the grain pattern, so the sapwood strip will be on the outside... 

Except one plank where I made a mistake:

 

With very little material to spare, I will reuse this plank for the central part of the floor.

So the left plank was made out of two cutoff pieces. Not ideal, but not super bad:

 

Nothing is sanded or finished, so pardon for some glue lines. 

 

[BANYAN]

Looking good Mike.  You will get there despite the challenges life throws yourway - it took me 14+ years to do my Endeavour

 

cheers

 

Pat

[cog]

Promising Mike ... I love the colour

[Mike Y]

Thanks Pat & Carl!

 

Milled the rest of the flooring. Dry-fit confirmed that I have enough wood (phew!), but just enough - no room for whoopsies:

 

There are some synergies between our hobbies, knitting weights are handy

 

First planks are in! Now it is quite mechanical, planning to install one pair every evening:

[cog]

that will be a royal floor!!

[Omega1234]

Hi Mick

 

Very nice and precise...and dare I say, impressive workmanship.

 

Cheers. 

 

Patrick

[Mike Y]

The case floor planking is moving with a steady pace.

However, it turned out trickier than I though. The wood (willow) is not behaving properly - cups a lot due to a glue moisture, and, apparently, shrinks afterwards. So I stopped applying moisture to planks, otherwise I get shrinkage (I promise this joint was super tight initially). The shrinkage ratio is definitely higher then with pear.

 

And made plexiglas plates that allow me to put a steady pressure on a whole plank, ignoring thickness of planks around it. So now I can put some heavy books instead of these weights:

 

A week later, some planks started to shrink and deform where there was not enough glue. Argh! And applying glue to the entire planks = moisture = cupping and shrinkage.

 

Basically this setup and this wood (willow) is really not suited for a water-based glue. Ideally I should have used a vacuum bag and epoxy instead of PVA. But I would not dare mixing so many batches of epoxy, and I will definitely screw up the alignment if trying to glue more than one pair of planks at a time.

So the plan is simple - glue as it goes, let it dry for a week to make sure all gaps are opened. After that - inject epoxy under distorted planks, hoping it would lock everything in place. Fill other gaps with epoxy as well. Luckily the epoxy I have (west systems) is similar in colour, no need to dye it or mix it with sawdust (otherwise it might be too thick to get into the gaps).

 

Also finished all the wiring and tested it. It works! To make things more complicated, I passed through a single power cable that powers the case itself and a stereo system located nearby. The case has a 220v switch (just in case) and a dimmer regulator. It looks messy, but all wire connections are carefully spliced, soldered, isolated and I tried to be very careful and cut no corners. Do not want this thing to be a hazard.

 

[Mike Y]

3 hours ago, canoe21 said:

Your wiring ship display lighting sure looks good from here and is quite a bit more complicated than the Led Lighting system that I choose for my Golden Hind Build. I do hope that you are going to cover all of your wiring with a thin sheet of paneling just to keep out little fingers.

Hi Lawrence, 

No paneling planned - there are no exposed wires, everything is properly soldered and covered with heat shrink (few exposed wires can't be soldered now, need to wait until the case is glued in place). It is just 24v on most of the wires, and 220v switch would be turned off most of the time.

If I close it (for example, thin plywood on magnets) - then it would be actually less safe - in case of some issues I would not smell any melting, and can't test if the wires are cool enough.

But, if needed, it would be quite easy to close at least some parts, magnets joints would be practical

 

3 hours ago, canoe21 said:

I have however built a binnacle for my up and coming Oliver Cromwell will be very tied up for the next couple of weeks, not good for model building.and added o single Led Light to it. I must have used a rubber ruler as it came out .075" or 2mm wider than my set of plans but I can live with that for sure, but it is at least a start. I do have a question, how thick is the piece of boxwood that the stern decorations are Laser cut on? I do believe that I will begin work on these to fill in a bit of time waiting for the paint to dry, just a thought. I kind of think it would be around .75" or 2mm but that is just a guess,                                                        ENJOY.

Yes, it is around 2mm, your gut feeling is correct!

[Mike Y]

The floor is completed! I had no extra wood, every single plank was used, just a few cutoff pieces remaining. That was close!

 

 

 

Now need to fill some gaps with epoxy, cross fingers and plane it smooth!

 

 

[Kurt Johnson]

Mike, You really are an artist. It’s nice to see what can be accomplished without a workshop and a million specialty tools. I also like approach you take with every detail, complete, thorough and done the way it’s supposed to be.

 

Kurt

 

[cog]

Mike, your herringbone patern turned out marvelous. The colour of the wood nicely accentuates it. Beautiful work!

[druxey]

Nice work, Mike!

[BANYAN]

cheers

 

Pat

[Mike Y]

Thanks a lot for comments and likes!

 

Let's make some epoxy mess first:

 

Plane it:

 

Sand it:

 

The result is silky smooth, even before any finish!

 

After two coats of OSMO Polyx finish, I finally connected all wiring and permanently glued the case in place. There is no way back!

 

Oh, I also have a model of a ship, need to show it in the build log every now and then, as is tradition:

 

Now just a bunch of small things are left - install the skirt, carefully plane/sand everything to get rid of any gaps, make holes for light controls, finish sand and refinish everything.

 

[cog]

It really looks superb, Mike (the model too ) Are you certain it is big enough? If it isn't, I am willing to take it off your hands

[Kurt Johnson]

Looks beautiful. Did the epoxy give you a hard time? That’s pretty hard stuff. I imagine the blade of the plane isn’t quite as sharp as it was. 

 

I love the the effect of the lighting on the hull! 

 

Kurt

 

 

[Tigersteve]

Your hard work paid off! I had forgotten what that model had looked like. I think your Pinnace is jealous of this display effort. 

Steve

[druxey]

Nice casework, Mike!

[Mike Y]

Carl, it is more than big enough, at least for my little apartment. Will build a bigger once once I get a villa

 

Kurt, planing epoxy is quite easy. WestSystem epoxy that I use does not harden to rock-solid mass that plane will have problems with, it has a bit of elasticity, probably because it is designed for marine applications and it should not be brittle, and should handle temperature variations. 

 

Steve, Druxey - thanks!

[Canute]

Your case looks great, Mike. I love the base parquetry. Excellent display for the Cromwell.

[ChrisLBren]

Love it Mike !!!

[Mike Y]

Final touches on the display case.

Installing the pear "skirts". They needs to be thinned down a bit, and they are too wide for my thickness planer. So I planed them manually. Was a bit too aggressive, and, whooops!

 

Argh! I do not have any spare wood, did not expected to break a simple flat sheet

Luckily, it broke quite clearly, and it was easy to glue it back together:

 

The crack is barely visible on the finished product.

 

Installing the skirts. They are glued with epoxy, to avoid any cupping / warping due to moisture. It was a breeze, epoxy is so much better for that kind of work!

 

Now I can fine fit all pieces together. A bit of planing:

 

And then a lot of sanding. I love sanding, it turns ugly into smooth and beautiful, hiding all mistakes

 

Now the part that made me nervous - cutting a hole for the LED control knob. There is only one chance to do it right, and no spare wood to cover mistakes.

So I scored the circle to reduce tearout (breaking the wood fibers that could be teared apart by the drill otherwise):

 

And then applied tonns of masking tape and started to drill, slooooooowly. The hole saw is adjusted to the precise diameter with a zip tie  

 

Few nervous minutes later - the hole looks pretty hole-ish! Phew, no screw-up.

 

After a bit of sanding magic:

 

And the final result: 

 

I'm a bit scared to pull all that plastic away, already got used to it