Scratch building the Alfred Stern

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

anyhow where is where the project stands
the pictures are screen captures from the 3D model created in fusion360

At this point i finished all the framing and transoms now it is time to build the stern structure up from the top wing transom.
First i have to figure out how to actually do it.



the stern timbers slant inward toward the center



So i will approach setting the timbers by using the two upper transom pieces tinted red, looking at the inside of the stern.



once the transom pieces are in place i will have to cut away the 5 stern timbers where the balcony goes.



i can see this is going to be a delicate structure, the stern also has a slant back exactly at the correct angle and there isn't much holding everything in place.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

there is no doubt about it Harold Hahn was a master builder he did the lower row of windows, moldings and pillars in 1/8 scale now that is extremely tiny and delicate work.



my goal is a reproduction of his model and not to recreate the methods and materials he used. So i turned to 3D modeling and 3D printing. when finished the 3D print will blend into the wood structure, and you will not be able to tell what is wood and what is printed. My thinking here is to use the 3d printed part as a belt to hold the stern timbers in place until more of the structure is built.



the stern also has an arc which is designed into the 3D model

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

WoW! the last post was back in August
i have not abandoned the project major home repairs had to be done, cleaning out a room used for storage yup just a lot of things needed to be done. i do hope to get back on the project soon.

you would think being retired would give you plenty of time to do all the things you want. But the reality is time is slip sliding away.

lucky for us in Ohio we do not have to deal with extreme weather events. No hurricanes. temperatures over 100 degrees just a cool summer breeze off lake Erie. but it is fall and winter is coming. Last few winters have been very mild so lucked out again.
More indoor time coming up

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i took the Alfred stern project off the shelf and dusted it off. It has been a while so i need to refresh myself as to where i left off and where to start again.
i decided to build the stern off the hull., but i need to make sure what i build will fit back to the hull one it is finished. The stern timbers slant to the center so i measured the end timber notches in the transom and cut a scrap piece to fit between the two outer timbers, also making a notch for the center timber. This gives me the location of the timbers so they will fit back on the main transom. Using the upper most transom piece i set the tops of the timbers in the notches.
The timbers fall between the windows so i used the 3d printed window piece and glued it in place.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

looking at the inside of the stern. Placing the two deck transom pieces in place gives me the shape and structure of the stern. i am building the stern off the hull because it is much easier to handle, i can turn it in all directions and it makes it easier to clanp pieced together.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

in order to strengthen the timbers so they do not break off from the windows i added pieces for the lower moldings and filled in between the moldings. i left this section long so when i fix the stern to the hull i can trim it back.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

The project started off as a scratch built stern from the original plans. Well, that did not work out very well and i had to redraw all the frame shapes. But at this point i was not going to break down the new frame drawings and create a laser cutting file. I learned from the first time around. So i built the second set of frames by hand to test the new drawings. The project went from a stern build to a test mockup so i can try a "how to" build the stern and fitting parts and figuring the sequence of building so i do not build myself into a dead end and have to rip things apart.
So now it is back to the drawings to create the next section which is the balcony. This was modeled in 3D

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i printed out the balcony and glued it to the stern above the windows,



when you look from the bottom up there is no floor to the balcony. That is part of the deck structure and will be added once the stern pieces is attached to the hull and the deck beams are put in.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

the next section of the stern is the upper arched piece that goes above the balcony and the two upper windows. Once again it is back to 3D modeling to make the pieces.



each one of the sections has an arch to it



setting the piece in place on the stern.



the stern timbers behind the balcony have to be cut out and the back wall of the cabin installed. The back wall sits on the deck so it will be done once the stern is fitted to the hull and the decks built.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

so far so good

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i will model and print the upper section and the cap rail view from the front and top showing the arc of the stern.





the cap rail cutting that piece out of wood is something i would have to think about. The complex profile shape is on thing but it also has an arc to it.



wait a minute am i building a wooden ship model or a plastic model? so far the stern pieces are all 3D printed. I am calling the build a mockup of the stern. So it is a little of both. right now it is an exercise in how it is built rather the what it is built out of.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

the final top section is now in place

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

this project has evolved from scratching building the stern of the Alfred from plans by Harold Hahn to an exercise in how many things can go wrong and it is no longer about a finished display model. The project took the first turn when i realized the original 1/8 scale drawings blowen up resulted in the small errors became big errors. At this point i had to redraw all the frames then break them down into laser cutting files and rebuild the frames. This set back was well, discouraging, everything i did to this point was scrap and it would be a lot of time and work to start over with building frames and a new hull. Because the main concern with the new frame drawings was not how the frames are built but rather the shape of the frames and if the drawings are accurate enough to produce a fair hull shape. The second time around i cut the fames as one piece, thinking about it a built-up frame vs a one piece frame is a detail the average person would not notice.
Building a fine crafted display model is out the window it is now a prototype of how to go about building the stern.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i built the stern off the hull which was easier to handle and now that the stern was built it came time to fix it to the hull. The problem i ran into is how to attach the stern to the hull? The stern section has an angle to it and having to rely on the small area where the stern timbers set on the transom was far too small and the slightest movement made a drastic change in the angle of the stern.



Harold had already solved the problem so here i am trying to reinvent the wheel.
The location of the tops of the stern timbers are marked on the framing jig and the bottoms of the stern timbers set in the transom notches. This located the timbers and sets the angle of the stern.



adding the upper transoms and molding pieces lock in the timbers.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i ended up creating my own problem so i needed a solution, here is what i did

going to the drawings i took a measurement from frame Z to the stern timber



then i cut a piece of scrap the width of my measurement and wedged it between the stern timbers and frame Z



using a rubber band i secured the stern to the end of the hull



then i used clamps to hold the stern timbers to the transom



this worked out great and i got the correct angle of the stern and it was held in place until the glue dried. However, the only thing holding the entire stern is where the timbers are glued to the transom so at this stage the structure is quite weak so i had to be very careful not to break the stern off the transom.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

with the stern held in place just where the stern timbers sit on the transom i started to build the deck which is actually the cabin floor. The piece tinted red ties into the transom and to the inside of the frames which will help stabilize the stern structure



here is the same piece in Hahn's model



the deck beams are notched on the inside of the timber

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

moving on i have to install the deck clamps

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

with the deck clamps in place i set in the deck beams



what lies below

There are different styles of model ships depending on what you want as your final outcome. In the case of plank on bulkhead hulls the framing and structure of a wooden ship is not relevant it is the final appearance. In a number of cases Harold Hahn simplified construction in areas that will not be seen in the finished model. For example, when he planked a deck, he did not include all the lodging and hanging knees sometimes leaving out ledges.
In a case where you're building a scale ship model to show how a wooden ship was constructed then yes you would add as much as the structural components as you can.

This stern model is not about how an actual stern is built showing all the structural details it is about how the stern looked. so with that in mind i planked the deck with 3 sheets of wood creating a sub deck. You can see in the pictures the deck ran all the way to the stern balcony creating the floor of the balcony.



the reason for planking the deck with sheets rather than deck planks is because the cabin floor was parquetry which is a technique of applying wooden tiles or veneers to create a decorative geometrical pattern on floors. This would require a sub floor so this is why i used sheets rather than deck planks. The sub floor will be covered over. The actual pattern of the parquetry can be anything you want it to be. Here is the pattern Harold Hahn used.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i was wondering about that cannon in the cabin. A parquetry floor is made up of thin pieces of wood and i do not think it would hold up to the weight of the cannon or the cannon rolling back from a recoil.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

with scratch building there are no instructions to follow so to move on you have to stop and plan out the next move.

turning my attention to the gallery



i created a print file for just the gallery now what i can do is just attach it to the hull and be done with it