Starting to remove the first of the parts from the frets and cleaning them up with a light sanding to improve adhesion as suggested in the official build diary.

First I cut the fret attachments through and then cleaned any remaining little nubbins? with my hobby knife. Then I carefully rubbed all of the edges with a sanding stick to remove some of the char left by the laser cutting process being careful not to round over any edges, change the shape, or remove too much material.

Here's Frame #14 all glued up. There seems to be ever so slight a warp to it. It wasn't from how I glued it. It looks like the plywood center portion of the frame is slightly warped throwing off the whole piece. The warp is very slight but noticeable.

Will this straighten out once I add the false decks and align everything, or should I take some other action? Frame 18 looks like it has a similar slight warp to it.

Steve,

Thanks - I'm trying to fix it now. I was working off of my iPad and it showed 4 different sizes for the pictures - even after the resize, i attach 4, all show as a different file size (so one would think they are different pictures) yet the same photo seems to show up multiple times.

Dominick

Hi Dominick, great to see you up and running with a build diary, I for one will be following your progress. Looks like you are off to a great start and nice to see you got the pics problem sorted out.... As for rib 14 and 18 you mention, place the made up ribs on a flat surface and keep under heavy weights until they are needed, hopefully that should flatten them out.... .. Good luck with the build, any problems then give me a shout...

Regards

Alan

All bulkheads/frames from parts 1-10 are now assembled. The last one was pretty warped. I weighted them all flat until I'm ready to glue them up after I get the false decks. Hopefully it will straighten out.

I also put together the jig for the ship's launch.

It's been a busy few days at work so not much progress. I'm hoping to start the first of the cannons tomorrow.

Ian,

Thank you for the kind words. I checked your build as well, quite good progress and looking very good. You are miles ahead of me.

I finally attached the first of the frames, bow frame 12 and glued the first extension to the keel in place. You can see my machinist square (all the way from Sheffield, England) in the photo to make sure everything is nice and square. Then had a wee dram of a fine single malt to celebrate.

I'll start the bow formers tomorrow.

I noticed that the second part of the false keel, part number 2, also has a slight warp to it. I'm assuming that the false decks will help square all of this up at the end prior to fairing and planking. I am keeping everything pressed flat with heavy books in the mean time.

John,

Thanks. Yes, I am following the official build instructions so I have only glued up that one frame and will glue the bow formers. I glued in the first of those this morning - both parts 8 - and the spacing between the bow portion of the false keel and the formers is uneven as it nears the top of the bow. Turns out part 1 is also warped. If I left this and planked it the bow would never look right.

I'm going to lay in a good fillet of glue along the base of each part 8 for strength, then do the same for each part 9 after I install them and then I think I will have to glue in some spacers made from the scrap of the plywood frets to force it straight and true.

Is it normal for this many of the plywood parts to be warped? I'm getting a little concerned about how difficult it's going to be to true this all up at the end before planking. I imagine someone with less general modeling/woodworking experience might be in deep doo doo.

Hi,
Dampened slightly is usually better and between 2 glass sheets is preferable. I "borrowed" the glass from some picture frames for mine and placed some books on top

The build jig is a must for keeping the keel frames straight and should remain in there until you have done a good ammount of planking, after this it wont be needed.
Steve

Steve,

Thanks for the advice. I'll try that.

Alan,

Thanks as well. I think your tip will come in handy but I thought it might be difficult to unglue this particular assembly since I had already installed some of the bow formers and laid in a fillet of glue. I also had used some CA to hold the part square while the PVA dried. You present a very good reason not to use the CA in the future.

Anyway, I made some shims from the leftover plywood frets and used them to straighten up the bow portion of the false keel. Now it's nice and straight and right down the centerline. I haven't glued the shims in yet, they are just held in place by friction right now. I want to wait and see if any adjustments are needed before I glue them in..

Here's a picture of the completed bow formers with the shims inserted. Looking good if I do say so myself.

Next steps, dampening and weighting any of the frames and keel sections that are warped, building a jig to keep the keel nice and straight once the warps are out and the keel is completely assembled (which is the next step in the instructions pertaining to the hull), assembling the cannon, anchor, carronade, and ships boat.