Posted: Mon May 14, 2007

And now, let's change completely ...

Just in the middle of the planking activites of the ship hull, the magazine "management" decided to have a break in the main building plan and start, in another shipyard, to build one of the ship's boats (....)

The following is the longboat. It's length is about 13 centimeters. And the history begins ...

First, the hull assembly: the keel, the bulkheads. The several pieces are glued each other and then are glued turned upside down on a plywood tablet to maintain rigid the structure. I have unfortunately no photos of the boat at this stage.

Second, the planks. The stripes are very, very small but also flexible. I used a special kind (less liquid) of cyano-acrylate glue to mount the planks. I glued together with the boat also my fingers several times but, finally also this unbelivable step was terminated.

Third, finishing the hull: filler where necessary (two or three very small places) and sanding. Then I have fixed the keel, the front and the rear.

Fourth, the boat was removed from the tablet by cutting the bulhead hedges and then I started to work on the internal fittings and the rudder.

Fifth, sixth, etc. and finally the boat is completed.

At this point the boat should be terminated by painting her with matt transparent enamel. But I didn't like this kind of painting and so I decided to add some color here and there ...

Today the boat is finished without oars. The building instructions do not explain if the oars will be built in the future. If not I will decide at the proper time if it is worth to build them, in spite of the intructions, or not.

Next: the second boat ... but, for now, four images of the longboat.

Posted: Wed May 16, 2007

The next four photos are dated March 25th, 2007.

The work on the Santisima Trinidad didn't progress too much in this period of time. I have highlighted with rectangles the area of activity.

Most important is that I have started the second planking.

The strips used are of two kinds: "ramin" for the upper part of the hull and "sapele" for the lower.

While the sapele strips are very, very good in terms of quality and consistency, the ramin one have not the same quality and are quite difficult to work. Anyway the work progresses quite well.

Added some more details to the stairs between the middle deck and the upper deck. Added the iron balls to the upper deck grating ... and so on.

Simply beautiful Jack.

Love following your build logs

Posted: Sun May 20, 2007

May 2007.

The job is still in progress .... some new planks of veneer are added from the top towards the bottom. A final effort and the task will be complete.

The next time I'll exercise myself by planking a eggplant or a water-melon.

The white triangles at the stem and the stern are also growing. In the next message I will explain how to cover them.

Posted: Mon May 21, 2007

May 2007.

I have terminated to lay the veneer planks in the lower part of the hull.

Now there are a lot of short and long white triangles (or trapezium) where it wasn't possible to glue the plank. I think that the previous photos let you imagine very well what to do next: build for every unplanked area a triangle or a trapezium of veneer to glue inside.

This photo (a picture from the instructions contained in the magazine) explain how to build this piece of wood: take the proper measurement, cut the plank at the right lenght and after, using a cutter and a ruler, cut diagonally the strip. It's not so simple but at 90% this will be enough. In some cases you need some adjustments with the cutter and or sandpaper.

Posted: Mon May 21, 2007

May 2007.

Once you have fixed the first stealer/drop plank, you need to repeat the same process for every empty area on the hull and, at the end (of the end), this should be the final and desired result.

It's very easy, do you agree ?

NB: This is not my model but a picture from the magazine, next some very (very) recent photos of mine model.

Posted: Sat May 26, 2007

As anticipated in my previous message I have prepared some jigs to curve the strips I have to use for the whales. The whales are made of african walnut of mm. 2x4 and are very hard.

The following photo shows one of the jigs I have done. The jig consists of two parts, that I call male and female. There is also an example of the strips obtained. The thickness of the jig can accept three strips at a time. Every whale is made of up to three stripes.

I proceed as follows:

- soak in water and ammonia for 24 hours three strips;
- preadapt the soaked strips to the curve by working with a candle;
- block these strips between the male and the female components of the jig;
- with some rope and adhesive tape, keep together the male and the female;
- leave the strips to dry for 24 hours;
- in the meantime I soak in water and ammonia three other strips.

As you can see the stripes are curved in the right way and, most important, they maintain the desired shape.

The installation at this point is only a matter of patience:
- take care to glue the stripes in the proper position on the hull (this is particularly important for the first of the three);
- once the whale is done, level the stripes with sandpaper.

Initially I used the vinyl glue but I wasn't satisfied, so I tryed with the cyan glue and I found this method perfect.

I had some problems with the quality of the stripes, mainly for differences in the color and in size. I have solved the differences in size with sandpaper but I haven't a same solution for the color.

I think I will adopt one of the followinf two solutions:
- use mordant color for wood to uniform the colors or
- use black enamel to color the whales.

Posted: Sun May 27, 2007

In the meantime I am preparing and installing the wales of the startboard side, I made another interesting activity.

In the previous photos of the hull you have probably noticed that the sternpost, the stemson and the keel are not there.

In the may shipment of the magazine these pieces are included.

Unfortunately, after a quick review of this material I found them of poor quality: I was expecting some kind of solid wood and I found'em made of plywood !! Also the cut wasn't perpendicular !!
I decided this was unacceptable for me and so I have used this material as a sample to reproduce my own pieces.
Obviously they are all made with solid mahogany wood.

I then mounted the sternpost and the keel in the proper position on the hull. At the moment I have not yet installed the stemson because I have to finish the whales before. But the piece is ready.

The following image shows the stemson ready for the installation.

Posted: Sun May 27, 2007

And here are two other images taken in the same day. I like particularly the second one. Note that I have applied the danish oil in the lower part of the hull.

THE OIL ! I have to say that this oil is simply fantastic. Once it is dryed perfectly (3-5 days) the appearance of the wood is very, very nice.

Compare these photos with the same without the oil and you will discover the difference ! I'm honestly thinking not to use the varnish as final painting and, instead, to apply another coating of this oil.

Has anyone soggestions / experiences regarding this idea ? Any comment is well accepted.

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007

Three more detailed images of the starboard side of my Santìsima Trinidad.

In these images you can easily see that the whales have been coloured. Normally they should be black but I have decided to use a different method.

Instead of using an acrylic black paint I have used a powder for coloring wood to be diluted in water. I think its name is mordant but I am not 100% sure. This powder is available to simulate several kind of woods. I have choosen the ebony type. As you know ebony is practically black.

I have applied this liquid with a paintbrush for three times in order to fill as much as possible the color. Finally I have applied another color (mahogany) for a fourth time.

The result is a very dark brown, close to black, that I like very much.
Now I'm working in the same way on the larboard side.