Enterprise Maryland 1799 1:51 [COMPLETED BUILD]

I've decided to not attach the stem, stern and keel bottom until after the planking.
The main reason is that the planking will add an additional area to glue the keel to.
This should give it more support.

Also tried my first attempt at bending the first two planks.
Made a jig, used a steam iron to soften the wood , then put the wood in the jig, slowly tightened and let set for a few days.

I was happy with how this looked, until I released the planks from the jig.
The plank did not retain the bend and ended up being halfway between straight and bent.

So, I thought I would just bend it the little bit needed to fit the hull. SNAP.
Yep, snapped right at the bend point.:rolleyes:

I think the steam iron gets the wood soft enough but does not permeate the wood so that it retains the bend after drying.

Thus I soaked new planks in hot water for about 30 minutes, stuck them in my jig and now letting them dry.
Hopefully, this works.

Not much work getting done currently, with the holidays and all.
Spending some time reviewing others' build logs, as time allows.

I am about to work on the main masts .
Sanding and rounding to correct diameters, connecting the masts, drilling the holes in the deck.
Not clear as to how deep to drill the holes into the deck.
Edit 1/13/202: Time did not allow for any mast work :(

Pictures to come as time allows.
Thanks for watching Ship-1
 
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Thanks for the details Pathfinder65.
I do have the large schematic's of the ship so I was able to take some measurements.
I don't know if the schematic's are accurate, here's an issue I ran into with the poop deck.

I cutout the poop deck blueprint and laid it on my ship.
From the top it shows the left side of the ship (actually right side since image is from the front) extends out beyond the image.
I'll sand it down. That's seems to be the fix for almost everything, sand it. lol
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The real issue comes from looking at this from underneath.
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As can be seen there is a discrepency between the image and ship.
In the image showing the back of the poop deck, clearly sanding is the opposite of what I need :confused:

Well that's a bridge I'll cross when I get there.
The rest of the blueprint seems to fit okay.
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Moving on to bending the first hull planks.
Here's my jig at work.
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Here's how they look nailed in after a few days of drying.
From the top first....
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Now some close ups...
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And lastly one showing the plank count measured out, I think it came to 16 per side.
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Here's what I've learned.
Letting the planks dry completely does not work.
Though they do ply to the contours, they would never hold with glue and nails, unless you are using a 16 gauge nail gun.... kidding (about the gun)..
So I'm going to use Pathfinders suggestion of soaking in water an ammonia over night, not letting them dry before attaching.
Although I do wonder if the wet wood will hold a glue set? Any thoughts.

Don't think I'll get much more done as it's Christmas time and the grand kids are a hollar'in.

I was nervous laying down the first plank, but after reading numerous reviews and seeing pictures as well as marking where the planks should lie, I jumped in and drove in the first nail.
Turned out it didn't hurt me at all :)

porky3.jpg
 
Rowboat,
It may seem like a rocky start, but I think you're doing a great job. I have no experience in POB, so what you're doing looks great. On the tree nails, you should use a lot more, it may seem too busy but that's because the deck is empty. They will fade into the background as the deck becomes more crowded.

PS What kind of guitar is that?
 
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Thanks Ziggy,
I'll take your advice and add some more treemails.
Didn't think about the fact a lot of them would be covered up.

Guitar is Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster.
 
Hull planking continues, I have 4 planks on each side.
I'm wondering if I should have been narrowing the bow and stem plank ends as doesn't look like 16 planks will fit in those areas.
Didn't think about it till I looked at the model today.

I plan to lay the garboard plank and the middle plank, keeping them straight.
Then see what I have left to work with.

Definitely will need the second planking.
Pics to follow.
 
Added 2 more planks per side, nailed, glued and dried.
The separation between the planks is a result of the drying process.
I used Original Gorilla GLue, used for wet wood.
Not to happy with the way these dried. I did have them completely butted against each other when I started.
Also I think I should have been tapering the bow ends to allow for more planks.


The last plank, as seen on the left, shows glue leaking through. This caused the plank to drift lower before finally drying.
I'll be using wood filler and sanding to clean clean it up.

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These planks were initially butted up next to each other, just a lot of shrinkage.
Also this is thick wood and does not want to bend easily.
A blurry image, apologies...
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A better picture...
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This view (below) , sort of, shows my concerns that maybe I should be tapering the ends of these planks.
Four full width planks takes up a lot of real estate.
No way 16 planks can fit in this stern area.
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I‘ve attached a picture of the planking process. I did two planks on a side each time. Also I let the planks dry in my jig before dry fitting. After the third or fourth plank you’ll need to taper at the bow.

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Top image has the 1st planks bending and drying in the jig. The second image has 2nd planking planks being formed in the jig.

To get the bend correct at the stern I wrapped the plank ends in a small towel that had been soaking in hot water. I used a soldering iron to gently form the planks into shape. Once dry I pinned them in place. I worked with one at a time until I was satisfied with the fit. Then the plank was glued and pinned.

This is the image from the build instructions.

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It’s really one plank at a time. Bend, fit, shape, pin and glue. The nail heads will disappear when you fill and sand getting the hull ready for the second planking.

Jan
 
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Rowboat,
I do agree with you about the thickness of the planks, they seem thick to me also. I still think you're doing great! I have seen people wet or soak the planks, but I am unsure when to do this and would it lead to shrinking issues. Anyhow, cool Fender!
 
Pathfinder65 said:
I‘ve attached a picture of the planking process. I did two planks on a side each time. Also I let the planks dry in my jig before dry fitting. After the third or fourth plank you’ll need to taper at the bow.

View attachment 127005
View attachment 127006

Top image has the 1st planks bending and drying in the jig. The second image has 2nd planking planks being formed in the jig.

To get the bend correct at the stern I wrapped the plank ends in a small towel that had been soaking in hot water. I used a soldering iron to gently form the planks into shape. Once dry I pinned them in place. I worked with one at a time until I was satisfied with the fit. Then the plank was glued and pinned.

This is the image from the build instructions.

View attachment 127007

It’s really one plank at a time. Bend, fit, shape, pin and glue. The nail heads will disappear when you fill and sand getting the hull ready for the second planking.

Jan
Click to expand...

haha :rolleyes:, forgot about the jig I had made earlier.
I used it on the first 2 planks then Christmas came, New years ... forgot about it.
I'll find it today and strap those planks in. Thumbsup
 
First planking continues.
Slow progress .... DSC01008.JPGDSC01009.JPGDSC01010.JPG
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Here I show cutting a plank to make room for the others...
The 5th plank down from the deck is cut short to offer a more level butt for the next plank.
I should have started narrowing the ends of the first 3 or 4 planks initially but a lesson learned.
The plank down on line 11 is nailed in only. Using this as a reference to size plank widths.

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A look from the bottom (what's the word for the bottom of a ship.. keel?) .
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Today I narrowed ( I guess I should say trimmed) the 4th plank down from the deck.
Had to cut out some glue, pulled some nails (maybe they are called pins instead of nails), then trimmed each side.
Pinned and gluded back in place.
I didn't break anything Thumbsup.

This image shows the completed work
Inkedbow with light_LI.jpg


The observant eye can see I added some more planks.
The ones next to the garboard have been trimmed, pinned and glued.
The other 2 are pinned in only. Once they dry I'll pull them off and trim the bow and stem ends.

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A look from the keel, this picture makes my work look not to bad.
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And to end this post a starboard side pic.
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Thanks to a fellow SOS member (@Pathfinder65) I now have the manual for this ship build.
Having gone though the manual over the last few days I see that my kit has some different parts, and maybe some missing parts.
I at least know what I need and where it goes.

I was going to order some items from Modeller's Central but found there shipping costs to be very high.
For $25 worth of products (light weight stuff) they wanted $16 to ship!!!

So I lower my order to only $5 (maybe a few ounces weight) and the shipping was still $16 Thumbsdown.
I sent them an email complaining about their shipping costs, waiting to hear back.

Any other members know of a place to order model parts from?
 
Pathfinder65 said:
This is the image from the build instructions.

View attachment 127007

It’s really one plank at a time. Bend, fit, shape, pin and glue. The nail heads will disappear when you fill and sand getting the hull ready for the second planking.

Jan
Click to expand...

I definitely agree that I need to slow down and take this one plank at a time.
Soaking the wood, setting it in place on the hull, bending , tacking, drying, coming back and trimming the bow and stern ends and finally tacking and gluing the plank in place.

The manual clearly shows that trimming the planks should have started from the first one.

I couldn't see that as clearly from your pics above but when I looked at the manul close up, it was definitely apparent.Thumbsup
 
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