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Hello Dear Friends
Finally !!! Yesterday I mentioned that the new shipyard has opened with baby steps, but today it really opened to full effect.
Next on the agenda was the construction of the front canopy or “bovennet” in Dutch (part circled in green on the picture below.) And – let me tell you right from the outset – I knew this was going to a challenge for reasons I will mention later.
Photograph: Piet Sanders
The kit-provided parts for this section comprise of the two side frames (black arrows) , the uprights that will fit underneath the roof beams at the front and rear for support (green arrow) and the roof beams themselves (red). The shortest roof beam (indicated by the two psychedelic green lines) is obviously the one that goes right at the front.
The two green laser-scribed marks indicate the correct height of the side frames. In other words, those two marks are supposed to be flush with the top of the bulwarks. That necessitated removing material from the bottom of the frames. The red line indicates where I have already removed the required amount, while the black lines indicate the portions that need to be removed on the rest of the frames. The two black dots also serve a very important purpose. The idea is to pre-break, pre-cut, pre-saw (whichever your preferred method of operation) the frame at those two points to allow it to follow the curvature of the hull. I used my little saw to saw halfway through the triplex.
After I had pre-sawn the frames, I could easily bend them into their required positions.
NOW FOR THE CHALLENGE!
Men and mice who have built the Willem Barentsz, have mentioned that with the side frames in their designated places, the front roof beam is too short and does not reach both side frames simultaneously. In other words, if it fits into its designated notch on one side, it doesn’t reach the other.
The reasons are obvious – either the kit-provided roof beam is too short or my predecessors have all built the ship too wide at that point. With that in mind, I have consciously tried to build as “narrow” a WB as I could. However, after carefully measuring out the position of the two side railings (using both the plan and gun port No 5 as reference), I experienced the exact same problem. Luckily for me, I had @pietsan Piet’s brilliant log to follow. His solution: add another layer of inside planking to both sides of the bulwarks at that point and if that is not enough, move the railings further forward to the bow to gain those final fractions.
Now if you know Piet Sanders like I have come to know him through his builds, this is one man you do not second guess - never!. I immediately added two 1.5mm x 6mm walnut planks (on top of each other) as interior planking to both sides of the bulwarks which moved the frames 3mm closer to each other. That did the trick and did not require me to move my railings forward – and strictly speaking - out of position. After the inner planking had been added, a dry-fit showed the front roof beam to fit perfectly.
The photograph which I posted last night (below) shows the first of the inner planks being glued into position.
When that was done, I could now glue the frames to the inside of the bulwarks.
Starboard frame glued into position (exterior view).
Port Side frame glued into position (exterior view).
In addition to the outer planking that will cover the frameworks, I have followed Piet's example and have also opted also to add a further layer of inner planking. The result is that when this is finished nothing will be visible of the frameworks.
Inner planking in progress on the starboard side - viewed from the port side.
And this is what it looks like from the outside. Obviously, the whole area in green will be covered by the exterior planking in a shape roughly equal to that of the green outline. The red arrows indicate the pre-sawn parts that facilitated the easy bending of the frameworks.
And after all this paraphernalia was completed, I now had a front roof beam that fits perfectly into its two notches and two frames in their correct positions. Now it's just a case of slowly finishing off the whole assembly - time consuming, but hopefully, pretty much routine.
And that is all for tonight dear friends. Enjoy your time in your shipyards and hopefully I can soon post a next update!
Finally !!! Yesterday I mentioned that the new shipyard has opened with baby steps, but today it really opened to full effect.
Next on the agenda was the construction of the front canopy or “bovennet” in Dutch (part circled in green on the picture below.) And – let me tell you right from the outset – I knew this was going to a challenge for reasons I will mention later.
Photograph: Piet Sanders
The kit-provided parts for this section comprise of the two side frames (black arrows) , the uprights that will fit underneath the roof beams at the front and rear for support (green arrow) and the roof beams themselves (red). The shortest roof beam (indicated by the two psychedelic green lines) is obviously the one that goes right at the front.
The two green laser-scribed marks indicate the correct height of the side frames. In other words, those two marks are supposed to be flush with the top of the bulwarks. That necessitated removing material from the bottom of the frames. The red line indicates where I have already removed the required amount, while the black lines indicate the portions that need to be removed on the rest of the frames. The two black dots also serve a very important purpose. The idea is to pre-break, pre-cut, pre-saw (whichever your preferred method of operation) the frame at those two points to allow it to follow the curvature of the hull. I used my little saw to saw halfway through the triplex.
After I had pre-sawn the frames, I could easily bend them into their required positions.
NOW FOR THE CHALLENGE!
Men and mice who have built the Willem Barentsz, have mentioned that with the side frames in their designated places, the front roof beam is too short and does not reach both side frames simultaneously. In other words, if it fits into its designated notch on one side, it doesn’t reach the other.
The reasons are obvious – either the kit-provided roof beam is too short or my predecessors have all built the ship too wide at that point. With that in mind, I have consciously tried to build as “narrow” a WB as I could. However, after carefully measuring out the position of the two side railings (using both the plan and gun port No 5 as reference), I experienced the exact same problem. Luckily for me, I had @pietsan Piet’s brilliant log to follow. His solution: add another layer of inside planking to both sides of the bulwarks at that point and if that is not enough, move the railings further forward to the bow to gain those final fractions.
Now if you know Piet Sanders like I have come to know him through his builds, this is one man you do not second guess - never!. I immediately added two 1.5mm x 6mm walnut planks (on top of each other) as interior planking to both sides of the bulwarks which moved the frames 3mm closer to each other. That did the trick and did not require me to move my railings forward – and strictly speaking - out of position. After the inner planking had been added, a dry-fit showed the front roof beam to fit perfectly.
The photograph which I posted last night (below) shows the first of the inner planks being glued into position.
When that was done, I could now glue the frames to the inside of the bulwarks.
Starboard frame glued into position (exterior view).
Port Side frame glued into position (exterior view).
In addition to the outer planking that will cover the frameworks, I have followed Piet's example and have also opted also to add a further layer of inner planking. The result is that when this is finished nothing will be visible of the frameworks.
Inner planking in progress on the starboard side - viewed from the port side.
And this is what it looks like from the outside. Obviously, the whole area in green will be covered by the exterior planking in a shape roughly equal to that of the green outline. The red arrows indicate the pre-sawn parts that facilitated the easy bending of the frameworks.
And after all this paraphernalia was completed, I now had a front roof beam that fits perfectly into its two notches and two frames in their correct positions. Now it's just a case of slowly finishing off the whole assembly - time consuming, but hopefully, pretty much routine.
And that is all for tonight dear friends. Enjoy your time in your shipyards and hopefully I can soon post a next update!
So, it's a bit like unpacking a surprise packet each time!
