Onto the final phase for month 8 of the HMS Bounty...the lower deck planking.

Going to start out with the most critical information - the first course of planks are the most important. You must get these nice and straight and right down the middle of the hull. Check your alignments and measurements, then check again. And for good measure, do it one more time. If you do not get the center planks as nearly perfect as possible you will struggle later...I speak from experience as you all know from the multitude of blunders I have broadcast on this build log.

Some pointers on getting the center planks straight:
1. Find the center of each main cross beam and make a mark. Then follow up with a straight edge and connect bow to stern. You may find that there are a couple that are slightly off due to your ribs being a bit port or starboard...this is not a problem. Simply stick with the center line you drew. If you find that your center marks are all over the place when trying to draw a straight edge from bow to stern, then you will have some challenges ahead as your ribs are likely not properly installed.
2. ONLY USE STRAIGHT PLANKS. You must check the planks you are going to use and make doubly sure they are as straight as can be. It is not unusual for a plank to have a slight bow and these can be used for late courses of planking. However, for the center planks, these must be perfectly, or nearly perfectly straight or you will end up with a problem that grows and grows until it is painfully obvious by the time you reach to outer edges near your ribs.
3. Use a straight edge when installing the planks. Once you have found center at the bow and stern from #1 above, center the end of a plank on that mark and the mark the outside edges. It is the tick marks are these outside edges where you will place the edge of your staring edge. When you install the first plank. place the straight edge up against it, align it down to stern on the outside tick marks, and your plank should but right up to the straight edge the entire length of the plank. If it does not, you likely are using a bowed plank and should refer to #2 above. Repeat this when installing the second plank, and again for the little piece at the sternmost area.

If you follow those 3 simple steps/rules you should end up with a really nice, straight, and centered course of planks. Let these dry completely. Would be sad to start trying to place planks next to them, or to try starting to cut out the hatch areas, only to find the glue hadn't set and you accidentally move the plank. If that happens, you need to get your straight edge back out and align everything again...not fun.

I continued with this process until I had the 9 courses of deck planks running down the center of the ship. As with any other aspect of a build, I took my time to ensure joints were to my liking (means nice and tight). You will want to ensure this especially at the butt joints that fall on the main supports. Take you time getting these fitting nice and tight and you will get better visual results in the end.

The same applies for planks that require shaping at the bow and the stern. I am not sure if an of these ends will actually be visible once the internal planks are installed, but regardless, I like to make things look nice, even if they may not be visible. Note, I typically end up with several waste pieces - these are pieces that I worked and worked and worked and eventually messed up. I do not settle for these and instead set them into the scrap pile for use in another area. I then try again. On these first 9 courses of planks I did this with 3 pieces, so not too bad. In the end, the edges look nice at the bow and the stern.

Also, failed to mention earlier, just like the Orlop deck, I used a #2 pencil and colored all edges of the planks where they will meet with another plank. This is to help highlight the seams and simulate the caulking. Take note that the deck does not go all the way to the ribs in some areas at mid ship and at the bow. So you will not want to color the edge of a plank that will end up being a visible edge.

Also, as I move outward on the planks I continuously check with a long straight edge to ensure I am not starting to bow inboard or outboard at any point. It is normal for some planks to be just a wee bit narrower than others, so if you do not check for straight regularly you could end up with a bend where a wider plank butt joints with a narrower plank. You won't see it at first, but after a couple more courses you will definitely start to notice.

Here is a bird's eye view of the 9 center courses of decking in place and trimmed where needed. It has not been sanded down yet as this won't be done until the rest of the deck on this level is completed.

Getting on really well.
Well done.
Chris

Last part of Episode 8 - the mast feet. These were pretty straight forward as well, but do have one tip to offer: Take advantage of the bevel created by the laser cut when shaping these. The instructions call for a 10 degree inward bevel on the lower two thirds of the feet. The laser cut is kind of close so you will only need to remove the char and sand just a bit further to achieve this 10 degree bevel. All I did was carefully view each to ensure I had it flipped the right way and started working at them. The top sides also require just a bit of work, but not much. Be careful as just a few strokes with some sandpaper or a needle file will likely get you the results you need. You get too happy with sanding these and you may quickly find you have removed too much material.

Note that the mizzenmast foot I did not have shaped quite right when I took the photo. It was actually when reviewing the photo that I noticed I had missed beveling the top-left side as you look at it in the image. I went ahead and corrected this before attaching it to the deck.

Went ahead and glued these to the lower deck and that is a wrap for Month 8. However, reading ahead and there are some things I can continue to work on while awaiting the next month's subscription.

Both main deck supports are now in and they line up nicely on both sides. If you recall, on the lower deck supports I had installed one of them about 1.5mm too far forward. Didn't make that mistake again. Also, same as the lower deck supports, I used CA glue instead of Wood Glue...one of the rare instances where I do this.

Started working on the bilge pumps and as they started to take shape I wasn't very keen on the look...at least it is not what I am going for. I do like how this kit has broken just about everything down into laser cut parts so a newer builder can focus more on learning the bits and pieces. However, I find I want a bit more authenticity when it comes to the details that go onto the decks and all. For me, these are the parts of the build that I really enjoy so I like to put a personal touch on things. But I don't want to overdo it on this model as I actually like the overall feel...don't want it to start looking like a furnished doll house.

To that end, I started searching the web for photos of what a bilge pump from this period (1750-1800) would actually look like and did not have much luck at first. I did fine one that seems to be what this kit is trying to replicate, so for any of you who are sticking with the kit solution, I tell you it is fairly close. But I still wasn't convinced what I was looking at was what was actually used on the original Bounty.

A bit more searching on the web, actually a lot more searching on the web and I came across the book - Anatomy of the Ship: The Armored Transport Bounty. Found a copy on an auction site and went ahead and bought it. Supposed to arrive early next week. The book contains detailed drawings and diagrams of every detail of the original bounty, so it should be very useful when tackling all the finer details of this build.

Added bonus, once the build is complete I think the book sitting next to the model would be a really cool final touch. With the other two models I have completed visitors are constantly wanting to touch things. Now, I can divert their sticky little hands to the book and indulge them in much more detail than they will ever want to know.

I think I have mentioned it previously, but just in case I have not I will do so now - I am a big believer in reading ahead before I start on something so I have about as good an understanding of what I am doing before I even start. I think this is a result of feeling really stupid back in school when I took one of those "test your IQ" sort of quizzes and thought I was doing great...the next great Einstein even...just to get to the last question and read something like "Do not answer any of the previous questions." Of course, the set of instructions said to read everything before starting, but hey, boys will be boys.

Anyway, because of that mental nightmare as a child I now read ahead always. Having done so here, I went ahead and got all necessary wood pieces together for the bilge pump. I know the instruction have you do it piece by piece, gluing things in place as you go along. But that method prevents you from dry-fitting everything to ensure it is as you like it. Once I had all the pieces I needed, I went ahead and did a dry fit and things were good.

The instructions also have you starting at the bottom of the pump and working your way to the top. The end result is the center column sticks out the top and needs to be trimmed. This is where the dry fit presented a big bonus. Having noticed this, and already thinking about attaching a small piece of scrap wood to the base of this thing to hold it while I work on it, it dawned on me, if I started at the top of the bilge and worked my way down (opposite the instructions) I would end up with a nice little hold piece at the bottom that I could cut off once the piece was completed.

Starting with the first 4 octagons, I glued them into place on the center column. Note that I have not yet cleaned any of the char off the edges - I will do this once the center section is done to ensure a nice smooth surface along all 8 faces. Next, I glued the piece with the little nub. Finally, I glued on the remaining 2 octagon pieces. Now I started to remove the char.

When removing the char I used a needle file as opposed to my typical 220 grit sandpaper. Because this thing is so small, the needle file is the best way I have of getting a nice flat surface along all 8 faces. Once I had the char removed, I went ahead and polished up with my standard 320 grit.

Next up was moving onto the metal work. I have mentioned it before, and will do it again, a nice new sharp blade is critical, especially for these really small bits. I buy #11 blades in 100-packs. You can find these online for only a few bucks...much cheaper than buying them at the hardware store. As I do, I wrapped the old blade in some blue tape and put the new blade on. Then I started freeing the piece that will become the top ring of the pump.

For these really small brass pieces I do not try to free them with sprue cutters or anything like that. Instead, I slowly cut across the piece that is holding it in place. I mostly let the blade do the work and apply just the smallest bit of pressure. For each attached area it took about 4 to 6 strokes of the blade to cut all the way through. You also need to be very careful that your blade does not wander too far and mar a piece next to the one you are trying to free. I have done this...as I have done many wrong things.

Once the piece from freed, I went ahead and cleaned up all the edges where any burs were remaining with a needle file. I also went ahead and marred the surface since I am going to apply paint. This will help the paint adhere to the brass.

Finally, I annealed the brass by holding it over a candle flame for just a bit. I like to wait until the brass starts to redden from the heat and then I remove it from the flame. Annealing the brass is critical, especially on really small pieces. This helps soften it so you will have a nicer time bending things into shape...a much nicer time.

If you have been reading this blog from the beginning, you would have noted that I broke one of the brass mast stays on the life boat. This tiny little piece even had scoring in it to help bend it proper so I thought maybe I could get away without annealing it. Seriously, I tried to save myself 30 seconds of holding metal over a flame. Shame on me, and I payed the price. Didn't take much effort and the piece snapped where I was trying to bend a 90 degree angle into it. Therefore...always, always, always anneal the brass pieces if you need to shape them in any way.

On to the pump handle. The brass pieces for this are really, really thin and delicate so please, take your time and be very gentle with every thing you do to these. Starting with removing them from the brass template. Again, used a new or still very sharp blade and made several light passes to remove them from the sprue. Once I had them removed, I cleaned up any burs with a needle file. Again, didn't use any pressure and just let the file do the work. As with the brass ring, I also made several passes over all surfaces of these to create some scratches that the paint could hold on to.

The first brass piece needs to be bent into shape as it is what goes into the top of the pump to move the piston...or whatever it is inside these things. This is a bit difficult as it makes a 90 degree turn and then a second 90 degree turn just about 1mm from the first, so it is really hard to do with pliers. I don't happen to have really small pliers, so I did what I could with tweezers. Oh yeah, before I did any bending I also annealed this piece. Always anneal brass pieces that you need to bend.

For all three pieces the hole at the top was just a bit too small for the nail to fit through so I carefully widened it with a small drill bit. I actually started to twist the head of these just slightly so I needed to bend them back (no picture of this). For the last one I decided to go a bit more crude on my method as it was just to easy to twist the heads on these. Instead of trying to drill it I took a nail, held it with some pliers, then took my small hammer and simply forced the nail through. This actually worked on just great...wish I had thought of it on the first one. Oh well, at least you now know.

Finally, I cut the shaft of the nail fairly close to the head and then glued this into the piece. On the last one where I drove the nail through the hole, instead of taking the nail out and cutting it, I simply backed it up just a wee bit and applied the smallest amount of CA glue. After letting it set for about thirty seconds, I then cut the shaft of the nail fairly close to the brass piece, leaving just enough to slip into the wood handle. I tell you, my process for this last one was so much better all around. If I every encounter this sort of assembly again, I will repeat this process.