Bluejacket Tug Sequin 1/4” scale

Hmmm, good weather and summer chores decrease the amount of time spent in the boatyard.

Todays time was spent on repairing some of the mistakes I made on the Tug’s hull. In my enthusiastic sanding, filling voids and more sanding of the hull I managed to break off every one of the bulkhead extension. Those have all been replaced by 3/32“ square Maple pieces.

The scribed deck was temporarily held in place with glue from an Elmers glue stick while I fitted the pieces of the waterway between the new bulkhead extensions . When I was satisfied that the waterway and the deck were a good fit, the waterway pieces were soaked and then glued and pinned to the false deck.

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The waterway is used to eliminate the gap between the scribed deck and the edge of the first plank.

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The rubber bands work great holding everything together for a test fit.

Jan
One of my favorite woodworking authors said that when he was an apprentice he asked the master woodworker 'whatever do yo do if you are working on a rare, expensive piece of wood and you make a mistake?' The answer was 'we don't make mistakes, we make corrections.'
Keep up the great work.
Steven
 
Your planking looks very neat, even and uniform, Jan! I still have some way to go to get that far!
 
Hi Heinrich,

That little project took two sessions of cutting, fitting and gluing a day apart. Each session was about two hours. I managed use my Dremel Vise to hold the hull upside down so I could work on the stern without things moving in every direction while I was fitting the plank pieces.

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Above is a pic of the hull clamped in the vise showing the unfinished rough planking on the Starboard side. I attached a piece of 1 X 3 X 6 inch Poplar to the deck with several sturdy rubber bands. That gave me a purchase for the vise jaws. Sort of a DIY jig.

Jan
 
I think the skylight will blend in nicely with the deckhouse. It may look boxy when viewed as a standalone, but I am sure everything will be fine once fitted.
 
Fore and Aft Bitts:

How does one finish these? I've not worked much with metal like this.

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I've read various techniques on the Forum, but I'm still not sure how to go about making the Bitts look as they should.

Jan
Looks like pewter. Brass black won't blacken it, but there are some products out there for blackening pewter. Love the skylight.
 
Bulwark Construction:

The instructions call for a Bulwark 1/2 inch high on both the Port and Starboard sides. The inside guide appear to be the Waterway installed earlier and the outside guides are the edge of the false deck and the top of the first hull plank. The Bulwarks are build up from four 1/16 X 1/8th inch strips to get to the 1/2 inch height.

The major problem I encountered was how to hold/clip the first two strips so they would follow the curve of the hull and conform to the contour of the deck.

My solution:

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After soaking the pieces I temporarily clamped them to the hull and let them dry. The next step was to dampen them and drill and place 12mm nails to hold the strips to the deck. I worked a section at a time ( bow to frame 1, etc.) drilling and gluing as I went. The nails will be pulled once the glue has set and the whole process repeated until the Bulwark is the right height.

Jan
 
Hi Jan. That is a tricky bugger, but you seemed to have found the solution. That's the great thing about this model shipbuilding business - it teaches us how to improvise! :D
 
Drilling holes with sore fingers:

Working on the bulwarks using my little manual drill is quite the chore. So a helper was found on Amazon.com


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Nice little tool. Not heavy and bulky like my cordless Dremel. It's three speed, 5000/10000/15000. It has a 3.7v Li-on battery and requires a USB charger and requires 5 volts at 500 to 2000 mA. It charges in about an hour and half, I've used it most of the the day and it's still going strong. The collets are large, there are two supplied, 2.3mm and 3.2mm, with the smallest taking up to a 3/32" bit. I changed that one out for one I had on hand that will hold a 1/32" bit.

Jan
 
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