Carmen 1850 by GuntherMT - FINISHED - Constructo - Scale 1: 80 - pailebote (Schooner) - first wooden ship build

[GuntherMT]

Thanks glued.  It's only clean because it's my library and office, so I'm trying to keep it from becoming a pile of sawdust while I'm working on turning another room into a dedicated hobby room that isn't filled with bookshelves and computers.

[GuntherMT]

Just a bit of progress from this weekend and this evening, as I was working on moving lots of stored stuff (10 years worth of storage room accumulation) in preparation for a new hobby room.

 

I had tapered the gaffs and booms, and glued the jaws?, clamped them, and left them to dry on Saturday.  I completed the boom shaping yesterday, and then tonight I shaped the gaffs, and rigged all 4 pieces.

 

These display an interesting 'history' of my block stropping, and I'm leaving them as is just for my own interest.  First, the double blocks were stropped with the kit's copper wire to the eyebolts per the instructions.  Second, after I got the blackened wire, the single blocks on the booms were stropped with the blackened wire in place of the bare copper.  Third, tonight I read about the 'figure eight' rope stropping technique for attaching blocks to yards, and used that technique for the 6 single blocks attached to the gaffs.  The rope system is really nice, and fast, and looks pretty good too!

 

Here are the completed pieces before varnishing.

 

 

And now, complete and drying.

 

 

 

[russ]

The spars look very good. The tapering appears to be correct. So often spars are not tapered enough, but yours came out very well.

 

Russ

[GuntherMT]

The spars look very good. The tapering appears to be correct. So often spars are not tapered enough, but yours came out very well.

 

Russ

 

Thanks Russ,

 

I owe it to another member here - I used a method from Bob's (bhermann) Bluenose build log.  I marked the dowels at multiple points and transferred the size mechanically to the dowel at that point from the plans using the caliper.  I then used sandpaper (for two of them chucked into a drill, and for the two shorter ones, I just sanded by hand while slowly turning the dowel) to sand them down to the marks.  I then laid them on the plans directly to compare and finish.

 

In this picture you can see all the bits and pieces, and the main boom has had the taper points transferred, but not yet sanded.

 

 

This method worked very well for me, but I still want a lathe. 

[testazyk]

Very nice work and a very interesting log.  I love your workshop!

[S.Coleman]

Looking real smart. Real clean work. As a first time wooden ship modeler you keep that habit of a clean work space. So many of us have picked up that bad habit of messy work areas. Keep up the excellent work

[GuntherMT]

Thank you for the kind words Testazyk, S.Coleman, and Lawrence.

 

Lawrence, after reading through your Victory build over the last month, I'm fairly stunned that you could get anything at all out of my little Carmen build, but if indeed it helps you in some small way, then that makes me quite happy.

 

Had a terrible 2.5 hour commute home tonight, and have a teleconference with the India group in about 15 minutes (one of many downsides of having part of your team almost exactly 1/2 way around the world, a 12.5 hour time difference), so I doubt I'll make much progress this evening, but I have a few details I would like to get done in preparation for the booms and gaffs to make their permanent home on the ship.

 

I've decided to finish her without sails at this time, as I am just not up to all the stitching lines in the sails right now, and I think she looks great without sails, so the addition of the yards, and some running rigging should make for a nice display I think.

[themadchemist]

Nice work Brian, just catching up after a bad weekend.
 
Just starting out and not wanting to send huge sums on tools, consider this
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Hobby-Lathe-Disc-Sander/H2669

 

its a good starter and someone, sorry can't remember the thread gave it excellent reviews. 
 

[GuntherMT]

Thanks Keith, that is an interesting setup.  Based on the noise it was making while working on this kit, I think my drill is not long for this world however!

 

So I'm looking at the running rigging, and it turns out that my run of having 'extra' parts in this kit has come to an end.  I am short 3 single blocks.  I do have 3 extra deadeyes and 3 extra double blocks.  I may try to sand down a double block and see if it will work as a single.

[GuntherMT]

Update for the last couple days. 

 

So when I started test fitting the yards it occurred to me that holding the proper angle was going to be really difficult using the rigging, let alone making sure they stayed straight front to rear, so I drilled some holes and added pins. 

 

 

Test fitting, pins worked great, look ma, no glue (or hands)!

 

 

I didn't care for the "tie a rope between the jaws with square knots" method of yard attachment the kit instructed, so I got some small black glass beads and put them on with thread.  I've decided after this that people who do beading for fun must be more insane than people that build little wooden ships.

 

And mounted the yards in preparation for doing the running rigging, since I've decided not to do sails on this build.

 

 

And, after taking this picture, I started working on the rigging, and completely forgot to take any progress photos.

 

Oh well, next post will show the end of this evenings progress...

[GuntherMT]

I'm sure the suspense between posts was killing you.  Heh.

 

For the running rigging without sails, there is no plan in the kit, and not enough blocks to really do it right in a lot of areas (like the bowsprit done like the AVS).  I looked at all sorts of different schooner build photos that were done without rigging in the gallery, and just sort of winged it.

 

I posted earlier that I was short 3 single blocks.  Well, it turned out that I was actually not short 3, but only 1, and that one was a block that I dropped sometime last week, and I've never been able to find it.  The other two were attached to the booms where I actually should have installed double blocks.  Woops.  I cut off the singles and installed doubles in their place, leaving me only short the 1 block.  I sanded down a double block to single thickness, and unless you know which block to inspect up close, there is no way to tell, so success!

 

I also decided that the 'natural' seizing on all of the standing rigging just looked weird to me, so I changed it all to black.

 

After one marathon rigging session, I present to you.. 

 

The finished Carmen! 

 

 

I'm obviously not a photographer, nor do I have a 'real' camera.  Mixture of flash and no flash without great lighting.  I should try to take some better photo's outside at lunch tomorrow if the hurricane doesn't actually decide to hit us.

[themadchemist]

A Very Nice first build, and Very quickly executed also.

 

Congrats, Brian.

[russ]

Congratulations. This is really nice looking model. Excellent work.

 

Russ

[Alfons]

Beautiful work Brian, a truly impressive first build. Whats next?

 

/Alfons

[GuntherMT]

Beautiful work Brian, a truly impressive first build. Whats next?

 

 

Thank you Alfons.  My next build is an AVS, the build log has been opened, but nothing is actually started yet.

 

Went out during lunch and snapped a few pictures, most of them were terribly out of focus and poorly framed because the sunlight makes it impossible to actually see the viewscreen on my old camera, but a few were ok, so I'll put them up as the final photos of the Carmen here.  Unfortunately my stucco house backdrop makes the running rigging all but disappear in the photos.  Oh well.

 

[teloo]

The Carmen looks really brilliant. Congratulation to finishing this build. I will follow your next build log

[GuntherMT]

Thank you for all the likes and kind comments, and now for a final update on the Carmen.

 

For display, I decided that I'd like to take it to the office and keep it there, since I'm a bit of a hermit and nobody would ever see it at my house. The problem is, that being both very light, and a bit fragile, I figured it would be a week or less before the nighttime cleaning crew managed to knock it over and wreck it. So I decided to make a display shelf.

I went to Lowe's and bought a couple short pieces of red oak. Since I have no 'full size' woodworking tools besides a circle saw, that's what I used to cut the wood, but of course I have no way to make proper joints, so I just cut a couple of pieces of the 'leg' wood and glued them inside the main legs for support, used lots of Titebond wood glue, and clamped the hell out of it overnight. Seems pretty solid, especially considering that it's only got to hold up a really light little boat. It's main purpose in life is to anchor the boat down. For that, I measured the spot where the boat's stand needed to sit to keep it centered on the shelf, and drilled a couple holes part-way through the shelf, and then drilled much smaller holes the rest of the way through. I then drilled a couple small holes into the boat stand, and anchored the boat stand to the shelf with some small wood screws. I then finished it by using Min-wax wipe on Poly (clear satin), and gave it three coats with steel-wool buffing between coats.

Pretty happy with it considering my lack of tools to do a 'proper' job. I certainly wouldn't try to use it for anything that could put significant side to side stress on the legs.

 

 

And in natural light.

 

Monday morning Carmen is off to the office!

Edited September 21, 2014 by GuntherMT

[russ]

The stand looks good. However, if you are worried about it being knocked about by the cleaning crew, please consider a case of some sort.

 

Russ

[GuntherMT]

The cleaning crew is pretty decent, it's just that the model is so very light that I was concerned that they'd knock it around when wiping down the counter tops.  The shelf is pretty heavy, and since the ship stand is actually screwed to it, they would have to do something intentionally, which I don't think they'll do.  The shelf will be placed on a counter top where it will have walls on the left and rear, and a piece of computer hardware on the right side, so they would have to actually pull the shelf out to knock it over.  The force required for that would knock over a case just as well I think.

 

Thank you for the concern though.

[FlotsamFerno]

Hi Brian -

after reading your response to my post in the New Members forum I couldn't resist reading through your Carmen build log. Can I just say it puts my effort to shame even though I'm still ridiculously proud to have actually finished the build without ceremonially torching the thing at numerous points..

So much in your construction rang true with my experiences, although your determination to put right your mistakes is inspiring. I too was of the mindset that this was my first build and any mistakes were all part of the learning process - but that's where the similarities end. I made a mistake and ploughed on, way too timorous to even contemplate veering from the instructions.

Your finished model is a beauty and I only wish you'd decided to have a crack at the Endeavour next so I could follow your lead..

Good luck with the Virginia Sloop.

 

Paul

[GuntherMT]

Thanks for dropping in Paul, and for the kind words.

 

In retrospect, I think I got incredibly lucky with the Carmen, as when I first started I knew nothing about how to square up the bulkheads and properly fair the hull.  The fact that my complete lack of doing any of the right things at that point in the build never came back to really bite me and wreck the entire effort can be attributed purely to dumb luck I believe.

 

A ship with the complexity of the Endeavour is still a number of builds off for me I believe.  I'm not sure I have the patience to take on a build that I know in advance would take me a year or more.  I have an idea of what my next couple of builds might be, but for now I'm just going to concentrate on doing the AVS the correct way, and learn the proper methods of doing things to be applied going forward.

 

Best of luck on Endeavour, I'll be looking for it!

[testazyk]

Congratulations and well done!

[trippwj]

Brian -

 

I missed this entirely as you were moving through the build.  Beautiful work - should look quite sharp in your office

[Don Quixote]

Came across this one and saw "first build" while checking out Carlmb's Niagara, because that's what I'm working on. For a freaking first build. BAD idea. I was hoping to find someone doing a worse job than me but so far I'm leading the OMG what happened to that pack

 

Beautiful job. If I'm ever in Arizona I'll swing by and steal it.

[Carlmb]

Beautiful build. Congratulations and good luck in your future builds.

[GuntherMT]

Came across this one and saw "first build" while checking out Carlmb's Niagara, because that's what I'm working on. For a freaking first build. BAD idea. I was hoping to find someone doing a worse job than me but so far I'm leading the OMG what happened to that pack

 

Beautiful job. If I'm ever in Arizona I'll swing by and steal it.

 

Thanks Brian.  You chose a much more difficult kit than I did for a first build.  The Carmen is not only much simpler than the Niagra, it's also much smaller, and mistakes are not as visible as on a larger kit I believe.  Keep at it and you'll get there, and if it's too much, set it aside and tackle something simpler to get your skills up, and don't be afraid to tear down and redo stuff.  I've done a fair amount of that even on the Carmen.

 

As far as stealing it, the Carmen now lives at my office, which is in a secured building, so I'd recommend against the attempt. 

 

Carlmb - thank you for the kind words.

[Don Quixote]

 

You chose a much more difficult kit than I did for a first build.

So I've heard. And noticed. And learned. 

 

Unfortunately, my daddy didn't raise any quitters. I've a couple mini maomi's, both solid halls, one of which is a solid hull and single planking. Plenty simple. (Though I think double planking gives us a second chance) I've promised myself that I'd set this one aside before starting the masts and rigging, and do both maomi's before heading back to this one. Sure hope I don't get stubborn and not quit!

 

I re-did the gun ports and sweeps 4 times. Dunno how many times model shipways has sent me more wood.

[Don Quixote]

Oh yeah. And in my own defence, I grew up in Michigan and have been on the Niagara. Ask me they never should have built the ship. I mean, so what if Detroit was the UK's problem?

[gerty]

Hi Brian - I'm late to the party on this one - but just went through your build log and wanted to add a note to say;

 

Terrific Job !  & Congratulations on a Beautiful Model.

[Corey]

Wow Brian, truly a work of art and a piece to be proud of. As I go through some of these build logs I can only hope that some day...

 

Corey