Sovereign of The Seas by SawdustDave - FINISHED

[SawdustDave]

George.... On second thought, I'm not sure the bamboo skin would be my choice for the Connie since she is completely painted and copper plated. I use it mostly for the incredible beauty of the grain.

I haven't considered using it for deck planking.... Can't say how that might work for you.

Edited March 5, 2015 by SawdustDave

[GLakie]

I'll have to paint the hull at least down to the copper, but not the deck.  A little poplar for the light frame-work and that'll just leave what to use for the railings, coamings, and other deck fittings.

Edited March 5, 2015 by GLakie

[SawdustDave]

Busy morning in the ship yard....

 

Decks are cut and ready to go next.

[JesseLee]

Well I made it over here finally. This should be a great build.

[SawdustDave]

Got a little problem here....

I had noted early on, that the bulkheads of these plan sheets were flat surfaced, as opposed to having the profile seen here (taken from Denis Pink's build)....

 

Had planned to simply build the profile out from the flat bulkheads. Upon further study, I find that the aft bulkhead is too close to the main mast to do that....

 

Looks like I'm facing a major rip-out here.... all the way back to the red line.

Plus, I'll have to address that grating as well.

No great problem either way, just hate I didn't spot this issue before I began planking the waste area.

 

Fortunately, it still looks good for building out the forward bulkhead as planned.

 

BTW.... I didn't like the looks of my planking experiment once dry-fitted .... went back to individual planking.

[GLakie]

Sorry to hear about the re-do Dave, but at least you caught it when you did.

[Omega1234]

Hi Dave

 

My gawd, you're quick! The framework for the hull and keel is looking good, despite the little setback you mentioned above.

 

I'm looking forward to following along.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[SawdustDave]

Here goes.... bulkhead removed without any major damage.

 

Edited March 7, 2015 by SawdustDave

[ASAT]

Dave, have you planked the entire hull in a day or just from the wales up? How about a pic of you planking? It's looking good, you are afast builder....

[SawdustDave]

Lou... the hull planking seen here starts just below the waste deck in order to establish outer parameters of the waste deck bulwarks, and allow me to add frames and mark gun ports, begin planking the waste deck, etc.

I'll get back to more hull planking as soon as I put this bulkhead issue behind me.

Thanks for dropping in mate.

[SawdustDave]

That really wasn't so bad. In fact, it allowed me to use the same pattern I created to go ahead and cut out the profile frames for the forward bulkheads.

 

Decided to build this as a one piece module that can slide right into place and aligned perfectly with the upper deck surface. The dry fitting was perfect.

 

I think I will go ahead and add the planking to the face before installing.

 

 

Back to work.

[SawdustDave]

Before painting this module black, I wanted to get a (very rough) visualization of the way I will be trimming it out and adding ornamentation. Finding so many versions out there among many previous builds, I decided this is one area I can pretty much treat about any way I choose.

I'll be attempting to go with the way Doris built hers.... having an upper and lower doorway and six gun placements.

There will be two cap rails with short stanchions between.

 

This bulkhead is very important because it establishes the height of the bulwarks of the half deck.

Edited March 9, 2015 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

Among several side projects being worked on is the first sculpting of the crowned wreaths that will fit around each of the six bulkhead gun port holes.

First the sculpting....

Used to create a casting mold....

Paint with a metallic gold....

My first SOS sculpted ornament. One down, a thousand to go....

Actually, this first one appears a little on the "fat" side, but I'm pretty sure it can be "skinnied-down" with a little more work. Never satisfied....

 

I count 32 of these little wreaths on the plans.

Edited March 10, 2015 by SawdustDave

[GLakie]

Is that the sculpey you're using to make the wreaths and mold Dave!  Looks like it would be 100% easier than trying to carve them out of wood. Probably a dumb question but I've never used it before and feel like a Padawan Learner here. 

[SawdustDave]

Sculpey it is George. And, yes, it is much quicker than wood carving with very good detail results. Very easy to make molds to cast repetitive shapes like these little wreaths. It would take me a solid week to carve 32 of these parts.... not to mention the difficulty of getting them all to look the same.

I'm a big sculpey fan, but I doubt the wood carving artists would look upon it with great favor.

 

Although I get by fairly well carving wood, let's face it.... I'm getting old, and I would like to finish this ship while I still have my health. ha ha ha

[GLakie]

I hear that Dave. I'm only 60 and some of my older friends look at me and say things like "Why would you take on a project like the Constitution as old as you are?" I just look at them shaking my head and tell them "Why not? I ain't building the real thing, and I'm too ornery to die any time soon. What makes you think it won't get finished?  Besides, it's when I stop keeping busy, that'll be the end for me." Ain't gonna happen!"  I'll probably live to be 130, and THAT will be our maker's punishment to me for all those suggestions of his I ignored when I was younger. 

[SawdustDave]

Whilst plodding steadily along fitting deck planks to the waist area and building the first bulk head module, I have a couple of off-ship projects going on.

Because of the number that will eventually be required, I am building gun port frames along with the task of trying to come up with a quality mold that will give me consistent parts for the little crowned wreath.

I had to go to "Smooth-On" Rubber Mold Compound to get a good repeatable mold.

 

Not at all happy with the first attempt posted earlier.... but think I may have come up with something more acceptable....had to invest in new Alumilite casting plastic compound, since, after five years of sitting around, my old stuff just would not mix and set properly.

It takes about twenty minutes to pour a new piece and remove it from the mold.

Edited March 12, 2015 by SawdustDave

[GLakie]

It looks like the newer batch turned out nicer with cleaner, smoother lines Dave.  Those look like keepers! 

[Piet]

Yup, they do look much more gooder Dave.  I'll pick your brain on that Sculpy stuff next month.

 

Cheers,

[SawdustDave]

While still working on the first bulkhead module, I have managed to complete the deck planking of the waste area, and begin building the bulwarks with gun port frames.

The gun port frames, shown in the previous posting are created as seen here by simply using a perfectly shaped block to glue up the four sides. The block form assures the frames are very precisely the same size and perfectly squared up.... This assembly creates two frame units.

Each frame, made of bamboo strips, is just over twice the width needed, so I am able to split them with my mini table saw, and get two frames from each unit.

 

Here are the gun port frames glued in place with custom fit panels glued between each...

And here are the five frames in place with all the custom fit panels....

Edited September 7, 2015 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

Side note....

The bamboo strips being used for the first planking of the hull are taken from an old roll-up patio shade left over from when we had a screened in patio years ago in previous home. Never throw anything away mates....

[SawdustDave]

Next, before planking the next level of the aft decks.... The plans I used to cut out this deck were drawn with two large gratings, which I will now reconfigure to allow one smaller grating and an opening for an open passage way with rails (as seen in the inset photo of AVBiker's build)....

[GLakie]

Nice work on the framing Dave! I like your use of the bamboo. Think I'll pick some up when I get some poplar, for my slicing trials. 

[SawdustDave]

Completed the first planking this morning, and began with several strakes of outer planking

 

And here's a dry fitting of the bulkhead I've been working on.... Not done with this yet....

 

 

Back to outer planking.... Note the use of Bondo (auto repair filler) to level and smooth out the surface of the first planking layer.

Edited March 23, 2015 by SawdustDave

[GLakie]

You're making great progress on her Dave. She looks great! A question about the bondo instead of regular wood filler. Isn't the Bondo harder to sand than the wood around it, and how do you get around this problem? Did a lot of body-repair work during the off-seasons, hence the question. 

 

Cheers

[SawdustDave]

The sanding is done with a combination of an orbital disk with very course grit, and a vibrator sander using a medium grit. The bamboo strips stand up real well to heavy sanding pressure of both tools.

[Piet]

Starting to look real nice Dave.  Glad you posted an update!

 

Cheers, 

[Omega1234]

Hi Dave

 

That's a really nice job you've done on the bulkhead! Even after admiring your photos, I still can't believe how quickly you're pushing ahead with this ship. Hull looks great, planking's nice and the deck's nice as well.

 

Good stuff and I look forward to more updates.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[SawdustDave]

Hi George, Piet, and Patrick. Many thanks for dropping in. Of course, like everyone, I'm plum tickled to see that first layer of planking done....always gives us our first visual of the overall size and shape of our model. The outer skin planks can be done over a period of time as I continue to work on any number of other processes, like the sixty some gun port frames that still must be fitted; gun port lids, cannons and cannon trucks, etc.... not to mention the hundreds of individual carvings.

That bulkhead I posted yesterday isn't nearly finished.... still need to add a few more ornaments, re-paint the gold with a brighter metallic gold I found, stain the upper door, clean up the rail stanchions, then there will be a base molding to conceal the gap where the deck planks butt against the bulkhead.
Speaking of upper door.... Why in heck would that door be there anywho?  What purpose does it serve?  Thinking about removing it.... not decided yet.

Edited March 25, 2015 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

My little shop pal "Smokey" spends most of the time roaming around the shop floor looking for something wood to tear up.

So I leave the ship yard to do a quick run to the grocery store for the Admiral.... forgot to put him in his mansion.... and here's what I find upon my return. 

Little thanks for allowing him to hang out with me, huh?