School for Shipmodel Building School for model ship building

[Fangorn]

where is classroom 2

never mind.. its here: https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/forums/class-2.384/

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

where is classroom 2

SHARPIE

A NEW PROJECT! this class will be headed by Roger As everyone must know by now, Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of of the Declaration of Independence this July 4th. So why not celebrate by building a model of the All American Boat. No, I’m not talking about an aluminum Lund fishing...

shipsofscale.com

 

[DAWarden-(Jaager)]

->

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

so i was told one eye at a time i have to totally recover from one eye and go through it again. Next Tuesday i have to go through a 3 hour exam

i woke up yesterday looked out the window and could not see across the street. panic did it get that bad that fast! no it is the smoke from Canada

but yes i noticed my sight getting cloudy right eye not so bad the left eye not so good.
My wife went through this a few years back and said no lie what they put in your eyes during the exam is like squirting lemon juice in your eyes hurts like hell. the actual surgery not bad got to go through with it.

 

[Roger Pellett]

Sorry, but we’re sending you some smoke too. 15 fires north of Duluth in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. By 5pm yesterday they had burned 55,000 acres. They are burning in areas where there a lot of dead spruce trees killed by the Spruce Bud Worm.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

no school today as i posted eye problems, it was a struggle working on the model and finally got to he point ok i go to do something

 

[OlivierF]

Sending good thoughts for a speedy recovery and 20/20 vision!

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Class is now in Session

i left off with installing the railings and making a pattern for the knee that ties the side railing to the stern railing.




Using that pattern i cut and fit a piece to fit the corner. At this point in the build all the joinery stands out so it is important you make sure the fit is as good as you can possibility get even if it means doing it over and over. You do not want to cut out the knee and try to fit it into the corner, chances are you will end up short so i used a large piece and made the fit first.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

when i am satisfied with the fit i went ahead and rough shaped the knee before i glued it in place. Notice the copper pegs they both blend in and when the light is right they pop out at you.



using the pattern i placed it over the corner piece. There are a few ways to give the knee a final shape one is to use a small sanding drum on a Dremel tool. I would advise slowing the Dremel tool way down so you do not over sand the piece. Another way is to wrap a piece of sandpaper around a dowel or your finger. It does not take much to shape the knee.



finally the knees are shaped and flow into the railing.




There is one more piece that finished the railings at the ends.
but first as you can see there is a scroll at the end of the cap rail that should go in first.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

A lesson on scrolls

there are all kinds of scroll work from a basic scroll to very fancy. This is part of a build that scares first time scratch builders. It requires "carving" and i heard it many times "i am not good at carving". Well you do not have to be an accomplished carver to do a basic scroll. I have also read in forums you have to use a very fine-grained wood for carving small parts that might be true in some ultra fine carvings but this is a basic scroll and i am using Walnut to match the cap rails. For this build you will be carving 12 scrolls and once you get the process down each one becomes easier.
so lets get started.

the cap rails extend a short distance beyond the ends of the bulwarks and the scroll fit under and against the ends of the cap rails.



first step is to prep the blanks these are sticks of Walnut sanded to the width and height of the scrolls.



First get a nice tight fit under the cap rail and tight to the end of the bulwark. This is critical because you do not want to remove material once you shape the scroll.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i am using masking tape to layout the scroll



I use a circle template to trace a circle



with the outer circle and an inner circle i tapped a starting hole with a small wood screw



This will be the actual shape of the scroll and once the scroll is marked out i cut the outer shape



This looks bad because the drill ripped the masking tape


Once i peeled off the tape and touched up the edges i got a nice clean cut



You do not want to drill to deep just a shallow hole is enough so i did not use a power tool i used a pin vice and it only took a few twists to get a hole.



The trick in getting a nice-looking scroll is making sure everything is "round" from the start. The final cut is making the end of the scroll.



There you have it the scroll in place. It is a basic simple scroll that looks good. After you have done 12 of them it gets easier and easier.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

The model with the finished scroll work. It was all done with laying out an accurate shape, a drill and diamond burs.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

next class will be this piece at the ends of the railing. Take note the scrolls Harold Hahn did are fancy what was done here is a basic scroll because this is meant to be a first-time semi scratch project and not to jump to far ahead. Learning the basics is important. Next project will get a bit more refined.

Note:
This applies to scratch as well as kit building many model builders are tempted by those big projects and jump into the deep end. That is not wise to do, you may very well drown in complex details. Start simple and work your way up to harder and more complex projects. You really have to understand the methods and the how to first. Develop your skills first if you intend on sticking with the hobby or wanting to advance to a finer art. However, if you have God given skills then by all means jump in the deep end but for the rest of us it takes time and practice and understanding the subject material.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Good morning time for another class in model ship building today we will be making the end piece of the railing shown in the above post. Throughout the build i used cardboard from product packaging to make templates and for larger pieces that works out fine. For small delicate pieces where accuracy is important i switch from cardboard to plastic for making patterns. The plastic i use is from food containers.



the problem with cardboard is the difficulty of getting a clean edge no matter how sharp the blade is.



In comparison using plastic and cardboard as you can see you get a very sharp edge and the plastic is stiffer. you cannot sand cardboard the edge rolls but you can sand plastic.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

I have read posts where only very close grain wood should be used such as fruit woods Boxwood and other close grain hardwoods. There is some truth to this, but it is not a hard rule, i use Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple, Hawthorn and others i find locally. Here is a lion figurehead i carver from Walnut.



Getting back to the railing piece watch how you place the pattern on the wood. you do not want the grain crossing the piece because your setting yourself up for a break.



Try to set the pattern so you get the longest run of the grain.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i never trace a pattern with a pencil because it is the inside of the line you cut to so as you approach the final edge the pencil line is getting thinner and thinner. i will use electrical tape or masking tape to trace the shape. I gives me a clear sharp edge to work to.



One edge at a time i cut and finished the inside edge flipped the wood over and took a peek at both sides.



Or cut the piece out rough and finish it as one pieces working both edges.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

You may say to yourself "but i do not have a scroll saw or small bandsaw so fabricating pieces are beyond my available tools." That is not so! if your just starting out with a limited number of tools to cut this piece out all you need is this. As you grow in the hobby over time you can build up your tool chest.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

what we have here is the 3 different genres of model ship building. first is the hobby kit building for this part you find it in the box and glue it in place done. The semi scratch builder finds a piece of dimensioned wood sized for the part, you have to take the shape from a provided drawing and fabricate the part, a scratch builder has to first draw the part, go in the shop and cut and dimension a pieces of wood and fabricate the part.

model ship building requires you to teach yourself the finer skills of wood working, what is wrong in this picture? The oops! is the upper curve it is to narrow. Yes, it is a mistake and at the very end of the fabrication of the piece. i see it and chances are no one else will notice it when viewing the overall model. but i know it is there so do i start over?



Yes i start again remember the second time around is always better. My long goal is to improve and hone my skills so the next project is better than the one before it.



now i am satisfied with the results and moving on to the second one for the other railing. I always consider the first try as a test if it comes out right then great! if not so what it was just a test.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

When adding a piece to the model there are no second chances or if you do mess up the entire railing has to be replaced. That is the thrill of the build the rush of "i did it" so you carefully plan your move take care in every cut, focus on the task at hand knowing a mistake here can be costly in time and redoing.

first mark and cut the piece to fit the model



The joinery here will be a lap joint so once you cut the piece to fit scribe a line and deepen it to make a stop cut.





you do not want to slip and chip the railing or cut beyond the stop cut so to insure your joinery cut a V toward the stop cut.



now cut outward not inward this way there is no chance of messing up the installed railing



A file will flatten out the joinery surface. You now have half the lap joint. You have to do the same on the end piece.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Lets take a look at the final piece on the model.