Enterprise Maryland 1799 1:51 [COMPLETED BUILD]

I bring my ship onto this build log in its current state, false center keel has been squared, the bulk heads glued in, some rough fairing of the bulk heads has been done and the false decks (main and poop) have been nailed and glued in......

Currently I am working on the decking for this ship.
I do not like the proposed decking design from the kit so I'm changing it up.

Since this is my first bulkhead and planking build, I am using it as a testing build.
Trying new ideas.
My first change is the decking design and the addition of a nibble plank.
In the below image I have glued in the center deck plank as well as the "nibble" plank around the perimeter of the deck.
Resized image 2M of decking design.jpg
 
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I am using a repeatable 4 plank design. Every fourth plank repeats.
The scale of each plank is based on a 12 foot board. Started with a 24 foot board scale (more realistic of the period) but didn't like the design.
So for a 1:51 scale I'm marking the boards to 72mm.
The shift I'm using for the next plank is 5 feet, which equates to approximately 15mm scaled.

I marked up the Poop deck with a 1/5 scale change since it is about 1/5 the size of the main deck.
After staring at this change I thought it to busy.

So, I'll be changing it back to the initial main deck scale.

I'll post some pics as soon as I can.

Ship-1 .. Sail On
 
Deck planks are in general max up to 6 mtr. The position and final length of a plank is however depending on the position of the deckbeams as the connection from one plank to the next can only be situated on top of a deck beam.
Hope this helps.
 
Back again.
My experiment with using a nibble strake caused some issues.
I started at the bow and thought I could just cut into the nibble stake so that the deck plank would fit right in.
After doing this to a few planks on both sides I realized this was not working.

The image below shows my concerns.
Had I done a little more research :mad: , I have a ship modelers book and it shows how this should look , I could have avoided this error.
DSC00966.JPG

I did redraw the poop deck decking design so that it scaled the same as the main deck.
I like the look much better.
DSC00964.JPG

I used a felt tip magic marker to simulate the tarred horse hair between the planks.
Not the best choice as the ink bleeds beyond the joints.

My resolution to these issues is that some of the errors will get covered up, especially my bow nibbled jointsThumbsdown.
 
I try to split my posts into smaller segments.
This is because previously, I had a long write up with pics and emoticons then the web page lost connection and all was lost. Lesson learned.
So, continuing with my prior post...

I have laid some more decking, this time the nibbled joints more resemble reality.
I am still bummed with the first 4 nibbled joints on each side of center, but "This is how we learn". :cool:
What do the members think?
Also, do the simulated tarred joints look bad?
Maybe they will be less noticeable once everything is on the deck
DSC00971.JPG



Also I decked some of the poop deck.
It looks to me like the poop decking is not squared. Shucks!
I thought I lined up both center planks initially.
Will go back and check if I did that. Maybe it's the camera angle.
DSC00973.JPG


... and here is the work so far.
One other note is I had intended to put in a waterway plank.
Didn't really understand where it should go at the time. My thinking was just put it in over the decking, but that is wrong.
Update: From the pictures I'm seeing of this ship there does seem to be a waterway that will be placed on top of the nibble plank.

What I'm finding out, as a newer builder, is there is a fine line between researching and modeling.
At some point in the research I just want to get "pen to paper". That is, start cut'in, glue'in and sand'in!
Probably a novice issue.
DSC00972.JPG
 
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That is a different approach to planking. When I was at that point in my build I followed the instructions in Constructos manual. I had browsed many of the threads of the experienced builders here on the Forum. An overwhelming amount of information was and is available. So I build, read, bumbled along and learned as I worked on my build. Many of the examples were beyond my "newbie builder" capabilities, but the encouragement and support of the various members helped me hone skills that I used on two other builds. I've learned that doing some things more than once to get them to look right is not unusual and it actually adds to the skill set.

Jan
 
An update on my build.
Finished the main and poop decking.
Did some scraping and sanding with 100 and 220 grit sand paper to level out the decks.
Was about to put a light stain but remembered I wanted to create some treenails.
Not sure if they are called for in the plans but just another thing to learn.

After sanding the deck the nibbled planks look fairly good.
Once everything is on the deck I think i’ll Be happy with it.:)

I’ll try to post some pics soon.
 
Update time!
As I mentioned earlier I completed the main and poop decking.
Here's the proof...
DSC00974.JPG

The nibbled joints don't look to bad after scraping and sanding.
DSC00975.JPG


Next up was to try my hand at treenails. I used a small hand drill and drilled each hole, the benefits of being retired. lol.
Didn't know if I wanted 1 or 2 treenails at the plank butt joints.
I tried 2 at the bow of the ship. Looked like they are to close together.
Here's some pics..
DSC00977.JPG

I think the treenails are to crowed if I use 2 in a plank.
Here's a look at the bow, where I first started with the 2 treenails.
Any other opinions out there?
DSC00979.JPG

I switched to using the 1 treenail per butt joint.
Here's the poop deck and the finished product.
DSC00976.JPG

DSC00978.JPG

Lastly, I painted some Quickshade soft tone Army paint on the poop deck.
This should bring out the detail of the joints and treenails.
It's a little dark so I'll sand the deck to then remove the stain to lighten up the deck.
But that's for another day.
DSC00980.JPG

So any thoughts?
I can't believe I've made it this far :)
I believe next up is planking the hull ? Lots to learn there.
I am also going to take "Pathfinder65's" lead and build the masts while I wait for the glue drying process.
But then, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself ....
 
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It's interesting that it takes 15 minutes to type in the work that I've been doing over the last 3 days, maybe longer ;).
Oh well, sail on ...... Ship-1
 
That is a different approach to planking. When I was at that point in my build I followed the instructions in Constructos manual. I had browsed many of the threads of the experienced builders here on the Forum. An overwhelming amount of information was and is available. So I build, read, bumbled along and learned as I worked on my build. Many of the examples were beyond my "newbie builder" capabilities, but the encouragement and support of the various members helped me hone skills that I used on two other builds. I've learned that doing some things more than once to get them to look right is not unusual and it actually adds to the skill set.

Jan

I guess the planks should have butted up at points where the bulkhead beams were.
This would have been more realistic.
Didn't catch on to that till someone mentioned it .......@Maarten
Well, at least I "learnt" somethin' :rolleyes:
 
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Did some sanding of the deck after using the "Soft Tone" stain but did not get the result I was expecting.
Lost most of the detailing and now the deck has little holes in it.
I thought they would fill in.
So, now a trip to the store for some wood filler.
Another lesson learned.... I think I'm up to 4 :cool:
I think we all have learned as we build and shared the mistakes made. I have a long list of “oh wow, that didn’t work”. Nevertheless I kept on asking questions, making and correcting mistakes, misinterpreting instructions, etc. However you will find the final results worth it.

The visitors that see my completed builds only see the ships, not the work it took to build them.

Jan
 
I'm at a sticking point.
Just about ready to start planking the bulkheads.

I previously cut some rabbet joints into the center keel.
DSC00891.JPG
DSC00908.JPG

My question is should I put on the stem, bottom and stern keel parts now or do I wait till afer the 1st planking ? second planking?
My understanding is by creating the rabbet joint it creates a place for the butt ends of the planks to rest. Also a spot for the Garboard plank to lay. If I don't put those keel parts on now then the planks don't benefit from the rabbet joint.
In all the pics I've seen on this ship model build everyone has no rabbet joint so they do all the hull planking first.

Also since I did cut rabbet joints in the center keel their is not much for the keel parts (stem, stern, bottom keel) to glue to? That seems odd to me.

Thanks for any advice.
 
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