So, almost a year later and how much progress has there been? Well, not as much as there should have been honestly. Spending a day working on this a week with competent skills should have taken six months, maybe a little more tinkering with rigging and running stuff. Unfortunately life isn't that kind and I stupidly volunteered my weekends to go work with birds of prey then decided to do a masters degree where I can't get access to a workshop (so I'm also slowly going insane but ho hum!), so I haven't had as much time as I would have liked. On the other hand, there has been progress so I'll keep you all updated.
First up, I missed some steps in my last post, I took some photos with my phone and they got missed out, but if a brand new beginner stumbles on this they show things which might be useful to take note of.
So, for an embarrassingly large amount of the build I didn't have any reference to where the centre line of the ship was and I was doing a lot of it by eye or measuring across the beam of the ship in various places. It didn't work very well. In the end I relented and tied a piece of string to the rudder tube (the mid point of the stern) and glued the other end under tension to the middle of the bowsprit, like so:
Now, this also allows you to notice other things, like the fact that the hull is actually asymmetrical. It isn't much, to the untrained eye like me I didn't notice it until this point, but it is fairly significant. I'm relatively confident that this had a large part to play in why the support beams got so badly messed up- I was shaping them symmetrically and they wouldn't fit true in the hull because each side is a slightly different shape. What this will do to performance in the water I don't know, but since I'm (hoping) not going to be a speed boat it shouldn't be too bad.
Following up is a result of the centreline being found and why you shouldn't mark out a hole for a mast before the strut is in the boat- the hole is out of position by at least half an inch. If this happens it isn't the end of the world, you can drill a new hole and fill the old one in. To fill the old hole I shaved a peg of wood approximately the size of the hole and secured it with epoxy mixed with sawdust, so there shouldn't be any major structural flaws from the superfluous hole.
Secondly before I laid the deck guides down I noticed that the stern wasn't level and needed correcting. This isn't a jab at the hull manufacturer, the hull overall was in really good shape and needed no filing of excess anywhere else so I just got complacent and didn't check as well as I could. It was only a few millimetres difference.
To rectify the true flat level was marked on (how we found the true level I can't remember any more, but it involved exotic tools called rulers and skill far beyond mine to line it up and draw round a curve without messing it all up) and masked off with tape. then you simply need to get the sanding implement of your choice and bring the hull down to the same level of the tape. It is quite important not to go over the line anywhere which is easily done with a hand file if you're being enthusiastic about it, otherwise you need to lower the top level of the hull and start again. do this too many times and you won't have any boat left!
Not much of a difference to the eye, but it was very noticeable putting supports for the deck across.
Next up, a very cheating way to make sure the supports for a deck are level if you're working at the very top of the hull. I used balsa at this part and epoxied it to the hull, making sure that no support was lower than the top of the hull. Given that balsa is such a soft wood, gentle sanding with the hull as a guide gives you a lovely flat surface to lay a deck on level with the top of your hull. It greatly increases work speed because you don't have to be nearly as careful sticking the supports in.
Finally, bringing us to the very last of the 'catch up', here's a photo detailing the stainless steel peg installed on the keel. I masked off the part of the fibreglass hull which was going to have the slot for the peg to try and stop cracking on the surface which could cause the whole part of the hull to disintegrate which would then require extensive work to fix. I haven't currently put anything into the hole to reinforce it, but if I notice the fibreglass is starting to wear with use I will install a stainless tube of similar diameter to the peg in the hull, similar to the mast holes on the top (but since those aren't going to be in direct contact with the water most of the time, brass should be sufficient).
Now, this fills all of the gaps left out up to this point in the build, all of the above had been done before the final photograph in the previous build post was taken, I just didn't include them, oops! Now, onto new stuff!
Firstly I put combings around all of the hatches. I don't really like hatches flush to the deck, they make it a pain to waterproof while still giving decent access to the compartments underneath, something that plagues me on both my Kormoran and my corvette (I do feel quite bad for the lack of progress there too), where I'll probably end up fudging in slightly raised platforms to hide combings on those two boats' stern decks. The combings go to very nearly the height of the structures that will be build on top of the hatches, such as the main cargo hatch, an access below decks and raised steering position (which admittedly is a bit of a fudge, in reality they were usually recessed. I'll also have to be careful with that, keeping in mind the sweep of the mizzen boom). This just keeps maximum security if the boat happens to be completely swamped by a wave or some other event and helps to prevent hatches being knocked off completely in freak accidents. To make the combings I glued some 1/8th wood strips to the underside edges of the hatches to provide a surface for the combing plates to stick to. I used superglue for this but I may in the future reinforce it with epoxy or the like, especially the inside corners of the combings.
It's worth noting that I laminated two layers of the same ply I used for the deck to form the combings. It makes the sheets fairly stiff and robust. Also note the notches cut out so the combings can straddle a support beam. Obviously there's a large hole fore and aft of the main cargo hatch where the decks change level. That needs fixing!
this makes a return to the use of cardboard templates, just like the deck. Given the asymmetrical nature of the hull, this is pretty much the only way to do it properly on this boat (ha! I said I was doing things "properly") and get a decent final fit. the gap at the bottom of the template is where the deck is bowing down slightly, I corrected this by adding a small piece of wood at the bottom of the panel made to cover the gap and clamping the deck to it until the epoxy had set. Hopefully it'll be enough to hold it in place, or a massive hole will open up at the worst possible part of the deck!
The wooden divide between decks goes in quite neatly and then I put combings in for the small hatch here once everything is set. Although the deck isn't quite a perfect fit here and there is a gap, there is a support running the length of the deck underneath it slathered in epoxy so in theory it should still be waterproof, although rigorous testing will show that up at a later date. Also this isn't the top layer of the deck, there will be planking above to hide this. The planking is also why I chose such a thin piece of ply to form the deck- strength will be singnificanlty increased by the planking and it also keeps the weight down.
Then I got to work on the masts. Both the main and mizzen are in two parts, purely because I think it looks cool, not for any historical authenticity. The masts were shaped on a belt sander after making the tops of each one with a circle to show how big they should be at each end and then each end was rounded off where appropriate. Two supports for each mast were fashioned out of ply and secured in place with epoxy. I ensured that it was a tight fit for all of the masts going in so there would be minimal slippage when it all set. The lugs to hold the booms to the masts were fashioned out of oak and a mixture of sawing and sanding to shape. Each lug has a notch cut in it with a corresponding notch in each boom, epoxied together then hidden with whipping twine tightly wrapped around and doused with superglue for strength. Although not finished this gives an idea of the eventual sail layout for the ship, with one square mast at the bow and two gaff rigged sails behind (possibly with detachable sails above each large sail too). The square sail will be linked to the mizzen boom and be pulled into position respective to the position of the mizzen boom.
Here she is with the masts standing to their full height- she's going to be a tall ship, but the masts are to the reccommended heights laid out in the original plan (even if that's the only thing I followed in the plan!). Also note I've started planking the deck. To do this I used some planking strips, cut them to length and superglued them to the deck. Between each plank is a strip of black mounting card which simulates caulking fairly well and will be sanded down to the same level of the deck when finished.
Next up we 're installing the shaft for the bowsprit to be plugged into. Like other models in the Portsmouth Model Boat Display Team, this model is using a short length of copper pipe for the bowsprit to be inserted into, being strong and resistant to wear as it's repeatedly assembled and disassembled. this pipe is mounted on a block to raise it proud of the hull at the bow.
The copper pipe was epoxied into a groove in the wooden block then a hole drilled all the way through the whole lot, this is for a brass pin to go through and pin the lot to the deck. Possibly overkill but I like the extra security.
Here we have the underside of the block. I've sanded a channel out for whipping twine to pass though. You can also see the wooden plug epoxied into the pack of the tube. this plug was a length of dowel inserted to the point where the bowsprit should rest then secured with a generous amount of epoxy. This part will be under all of the force provided by the three front sails if not being blown directly from behind so it needs to be tough as nails. the end of the whipping twine has been superglued here out of sight. The other end will also be glued here once finished. It's always a good idea to glue the first end in before you start whipping, so you don't have to hold it all in place. It's also good to be as generous as you can with the area you can glue the first piece on with- the more you can glue the more force it will take when making the whipping as tight as possible, something you want to do!
Here it is with the whipping twine on, this is partly decorative and party provides strength if the bowsprit is knocked upwards, it will help the copper pipe stay in place. Again the twine was reinforced with superglue with the excess gently dabbed away.
Here it is after final installation. the block was epoxied to the deck and the brass pin was passed through the whole assembly and into the deck itself, following a generous amount of epoxy down the hole which was heated to ensure it filled the length. The protruding length of brass once fully set was filed away. This is one of those rare moments where I managed to file it well enough that you can't feel where the brass is if you run your finger over the assembly! The shadows are through resin, there aren't actually any gaps. It's also worth noting that there's more whipping passed around the front end of the copper tube. This is the real protection from upwards force and the twine passes through a hole in the original hull itself which was drilled out prior to installation. Again, the thread was reinforced with superglue after the twine was in place. The old thread to mark the middle of the boat is still attached to the bow at this point, although it will be easily removed.
Here it is as of Christmas, with the bow assembly installed and the planking on the deck in place. I used three kinds of wood to plank with. The most abundant is a middle tone of wood, walnut I think but I can't be sure. There are a couple of odd planks with different wood, one kind a lighter colour (but the plank is also much thicker so will require careful sanding) and another a darker, rich red wood, which will form the planking on the hull. These varieties of wood are supposed to represent replaced planks at yards where the original kind of timber was unavailable, it also breaks up the deck a little but before I put things like loose coils of rope and stuff all over the place. I Tried to keep the pattern of the butts of planks realistic, but looking back I don't think the areas fore and aft of the hatches look right, especially with butt ends of other planks on the same level as they are, but none there. hopefully it won't be too noticeable. I should probably also plank the very fore section now that the support for the foremast is finished.
I put a couple of good layers of yacht varnish on the planking before cutting and sanding away the excess card 'caulking'. This is to help stiffen the card so it doesn't do something silly when it's being sanded and also so that black particles from said card won't lodge in the microscopic pores in the surface of the planking and can simply be sanded off, instead of becoming a real royal pain. Once the caulking and deck is sanded again andother decent load of yacht varnish will go on to protect it then I can think about putting a satin or matt varnish down to lessen the shine and make it look more like a working boat. But if subsequent messing around goes wrong I can always then sand it back to the original yacht varnish without damaging the deck. Here you can also see one of the red planks, just in front of the aft hatch. The outer and inner hull of the ship will be planked with this and varnished to a degree, which I think will look really nice. even if it perhaps a little too exotic for a simple trading vessel.
It's also worth noting that I didn't need to especially shape the ends of the planks overhanging the stern. Once varnished I simply sanded the excess back to be flush with the stern. I haven't quite finished sanding the overhangs at the edges of the changes in deck level yet though.
So that brings us to the end of the current progress of the ketch. hopefully I'll have an update again before the end of the year this time!