Rattlesnake by KenW - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64 - American Privateer

[augie]

Looks pretty darned good, Ken.  I'm still waiting to do anything 100% to my own standards.  Have fun with the tree nails.

[scott larkins]

Looks really good. Nice job.

[robnbill]

Ken,

You are doing a bang up job on the ship. On the treenails, at 1:64 the treenails will be very small. I would figure roughly a 1" hole would be about 1/64" or .016 rounding. That would be the equivalent of about a 26 gauge wire. Since you are not painting this, you might think about using brass 26 gauge wire. Drill a small hole touch the wire to some thick CA and insert it in the hole. Later trim and sand. This is much easier than trying to tree nail with something that small and the brass will look smart against the wood color but not too bright to take away from the details you are adding.

 

Just a thought.

[KenW]

Thanks Bill and Scott and the 'likes'.

I've been using Chuck's method as described in his Cheerful log for the tree nailing.  It looks pretty good.  I'll post the results soon.

Cheers.

[KenW]

I haven’t made an entry in quite a while.  A lot of distractions and work was slow.  I’m not all that satisfied with the results of the overall planking of the hull.  But the tree nails look good, if they don’t all line up properly.

 

I did paint (stain) the expanded black stripe, a half inch thick, as the plans show.  Looks O.K.

 

 

I also made up the hatches with their coamings.   I’m pleased with all the deck furniture I’ve made so far, including the new hatches.  I don’t understand why I can make small, detailed binnacles, capstans, bulge pumps, etc. that I’m happy with, but I can’t plank a hull.  I guess I just have to view a planked hull as a large piece of furniture.

 

[augie]

That's a lot of treenails.  Looks very nice for a guy who 'can't plank a hull'. 

[KenW]

Thanks Augie.  I used a #78 drill which is pretty small.

Now I’m ready to plot out the deck and start planking.  First I added a waterway and planked the inner bulwarks.  Then I got the plans, made a copy, cut the deck out and put it all on the deck.

 

Next I placed the hatches on the deck and added some scrap wood to insure that the hatches and deck planks have something to glue to.  I started by adding four 1/8 inch planks in the center of the deck.  Some carving was necessary, but I took my time (like I do when I’m making furniture).  I also made the bow sprint to ensure it fitted properly.

 

 

 

I want to plank the deck using the method described by Chuck Passaro in his Cheerful log.  He says that ships built at this time were planked with curved and tapered planks.  And, when I looked at the Rattlesnake plans, sure enough that is the way the deck planking is shown.  So I mapped out the planks and used an artist tape at the half way point to check if my plan looked “correct”.  Don’t know if it's “correct”, but I think it looks alright.

 

[scott larkins]

Make sure you put that bow sprit in before you put in the forecastle.  Once that forecastle is in it is damn near impossible, I found.  I put my bow sprit in early and was happy I did so.

[KenW]

Thanks Scott.  I suspected as much.

[DocBlake]

Very nice job so far.  Your planking and treenails turned out great.  You used holly to plank the hull and redheart for the inner bulwarks.  What did you use to plank the outer bulwarks, counter and transom?   Are you going to use the cast metal stern carvings supplied in the kit, or carve your own?

 

Dave

Edited October 2, 2015 by DocBlake

[KenW]

Hey Dave - good questions.

The outer bulwarks and counter are boxwood; and the transom is swiss pear.  I may use walnut for the upper outer bulwarks.

The carvings are something I'm still pondering.  I may make an impression of the stern carvings from the cast metal and then make an impressions from that impression so that I can re-shape the carvings and perhaps improve them.  I can't see myself doing those intricate carvings myself.

[SawdustDave]

Beautiful work Ken. The Rattlesnake is one of those really beautiful ships I have always wanted to build. I'm sure your deck will turn out great.

[KenW]

The deck is planked.  I even managed to carve some scarf joints; two forward and two aft.  I don’t think I’m going to do tree nailing for the deck, but I do have to tree nail the upper outer hull.  Then I’ll be ready for deck furniture and the guns.  There are also 5 gun port covers that I must make.

Lots to do and so little time to do it.

[augie]

Love the hooded scarph joints.  Nicely done.

[KenW]

Thanks Augie.  I never could spell.

[KenW]

I’ve made some progress.  The stern is improved with only the fancy metal decoration to be added.  The pencil lines are for tree nailing that I forgot I hadn’t done.  Also, six gun port doors are installed.  I used the Syren kits and each door can open and close.  However, I intend to rig all 20 guns, so the doors will always be open.  And finally, I made a manger board; even though my forecastle and quarter decks will not be exposed.  I will know the board is there.  (The bow sprint is not glued yet.)

 

 

[src]

Ken,

Nice looking build, this is on my to build list, will be watching and following.

Sam

[KenW]

Thanks Sam; and to all the 'likes'.

[augie]

And now, we know it's there.  Well done.

[KenW]

Thanks Augie

[KenW]

This is really two entries combined into one.  First I constructed 12 gun carriages.  They were made from some sheets of red heart wood left over from the capstan kit which I sent to Chuck Passaro.  He made his gun carriage kits from the red heart, which I think look really good.  I don’t care what my son says, I painted the gun barrels and the trucks black.

 

 

Secondly, I mounted six of the guns on the fore of the gun deck.  These will be pretty much covered up by the forecastle, but I wanted to rig them anyway.  It’s good practice.  I decided that I didn’t want to use those ‘beautiful’ round coils for the ends of the tackles.  When I visited the HMS Victory, the tackle lines look like they were just kicked under the carriages.  On the USS Constitution, the tackle lines were tied around the blocks, which is what I tried to do here.  It’s not exact, but close.  I have since touched up the paint on the guns.

 

 

 

 

[GaryKap]

Hi Ken -

Nicely done!!!  all that cannon rigging practice from FAIR AMERICAN must be paying off now...with these smaller cannons.  Keep up the good work.

 

<<Gary>>

[augie]

Nice idea on the natural finish redheart!

[src]

Ken, Reheart was a great choic for your carriages, looks good. What do sons know anyway? Dosnt he realize Dad is always right?

Freapping the training tackle must have been fun.

Sam

[KenW]

Thanks Gary, Augie and Sam and the 'likes'. 

The blocks and line at this scale feels a lot smaller that on the 1/4 scale Fair American.

And Fathers are always right.

Cheers.

[DocBlake]

Beautiful job so far, Ken.  A very inspiring build.

[KenW]

I’ve gone as far as I want, for now, with the forecastle.  I installed the beams for the deck that were removed/broken from the forward kit supplied bulkheads.  All seems O.K. up front. 

Now I must turn my attention to the stern.  From reading the blogs of DocBlake and jsgerson, I realize that there are many potential problems with the transom back here.  As far as I can tell, I do have some problems, but they aren’t the same ones that they had.  So the work begins.  Also I’ve decided I’m going to use dark walnut for the outer planking above the white molding rather than Swiss pear.  I just like the look better.

[Martin W]

Hi Ken -- Beautiful work on this lovely ship.  I love the look of your stern with the expertly done planking.  Are the beams you set in for the forecastle also in redheart?  I used that wood for the capstan in my Fly, and had thought of using for the gun carriages as well, but found it so crumbly that I gave up and resorted to paint instead

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[KenW]

Hey Martin.  I have looked in on your Fly build before.

The forecastle beams are done in redheart, and aren't yet glued in place.  The gun carriages are also redheart, but I had it easy since Chuck Passaro made me kits from some sheets I had.  The wood can be crumbly, but it does look good.

Cheers.

[Martin W]

They do indeed look good, Ken.  And so do those beams -- I am jealous.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin