Broad Ambition - The Model

[grendel]

more deck support work, plus a couple of overall views of the dockyard.

[Bound2Please]

Its hard to believe how quickly this is coming, still watching with great interest .

Charlie

[grendel]

showing some of the work on the front decking beams.

[grendel]

another deck beam in place, 1 more to fill the gap, and I have been looking at the bow, I have cut the oak for the bow in two pieces, I may have to widen the oak block, but as it will be tapered, that can be achieved by cutting the taper and sticking the offcuts back on wide side up, its only a fraction too narrow, so the glue line will be barely visible, I will see how the first one does before tackling the second. this will be shaped much in the same manner as when Charlie did Broad Ambition, with a chainsaw, well in the modelling world that is a coarse sanding belt on a finger sander, I might temporarily screw the block onto the model for initial shaping, eventually it will be screwed in and glued. maybe a job for tomorrow.

[grendel]

This morning after a trip to a disappointing damp boot fair, I set to the task of shaping this part on the table saw. first the split through the thick direction, then clamping some of the offcuts to the sides as I dont need a lot more, just to make it about 6mm wider each side, the taper soon gets past the point where this extra is needed, I thought I had allowed enough extra width, but didnt allow for the extra width of ribs and planking, so  my block came up short.

[grendel]

the last forward deck beam has gone in, precision cuts here as there is no way of clamping, so the spacing has to be perfect to fit tight with 2 spacers fitted between this and the last beam, this has to be tight enough to prevent the beam moving while the glue sets, the answer precision.

The next pair of deck supports are in and clamped - more precision cutting here too.

the final picture is the former for the roof beams being prepared, due to a lack of space, I have glued some pieces onto the two halves of the former, these will be used to clamp the formers together, rather than using wedges. 

[grendel]

a rib has been glued in place and a new rib steamed and formed, I have not started the first roof beam yet, as I want the pieces I added to set the glue for a bit longer before I start using them. now all I need to do is wait for glue to go off properly

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Grendel,

I hit the wrong button and saw again the start of this project where you showed us your work space and your plans on the wall.

You have come so far from those early stages.

I am interested in seeing the decking being fitted and upper deck.

Keep up the good work.

Regards

Alan 

[grendel]

While waiting for the glue to dry I have trimmed the rudder shaft (outer) as long as I can fit, adjusted the length of the inner shaft. just for fun I dry fitted the skeg and prop shaft (they wont be finally fixed in place - nor the rudder, until a later stage.) the last picture shows the clearance to the underside of the floor to the tiller bar.

[grendel]

so, after inserting some dummy sides into the rear cockpit, the floor has been measured made and trimmed for a perfect fit, this is in lightweight 1.5mm plywood, most of the interior detail will be done using this material to keep the topsides weight down. now I have the floor, I will need to make the flooring details, a faux hatch for access to the steering gear, and the holly / teak flooring, this will call upon my draughtsmans skills as the darker stripes will be lined in with a drawing pen of the right thickness, I think the wood will need to be sealed first to stop the ink bleeding into the wood, the hatch edges will be made with some aluminium tape, and then the whole sealed in place with some more varnish, I will be practicing with some scrap before I do the finished article.

I have Charlie's pictures showing the detail of how it should look.

the only difficulty I can see is the steps on the sides of the cockpit, if I fit these the floor wont fit past them, a problem I will think on.

[grendel]

just a quick update, I have worked out how to do the steps, they will in fact be fixed to the floor of the cockpit, not the sides, so will lift with the floor (they will actually provide a good handle to lift the floor) the red line denotes the extension of the side to support the step, the false wall being disguised by the step brackets that will be extended slightly to the top of the skirting rail to hide the 'edge' a 5 degree slant cut onto the rear edge where it abuts the transom will give the necessary clearance for the edge of the floor where it goes under the skirting on the transom to positively locate the floor in place.

[grendel]

tonight the bow block was temporarily screwed in place, and shaping was started. yesterday I trimmed the prop shaft support, this meant mating 2 P supports to make a single shaft support with the prop shaft in the middle, then another rib was fitted, and a further one steamed, a roof beam was steamed, and while the steamer was doing its job 2 more deck supports went in. quite a busy evening all in all.

[grendel]

photos still arriving I guess, anyway heres a few more, shaping resumed on the bow block, lots of sanding dust everywhere (oops). a rib glued, and another rib steamed along with another roof beam. some more deck supports glued in place, I will rough out the other side tomorrow night, down to a mm or so of the final shape, then it will be a finer sanding belt, eventually going to hand sanding

[grendel]

A few more pictures of the bow taken this morning.

[Hockham Admiral]

Grendel, Hi

Your feet give a good idea of the scale of this, don't they?     

[grendel]

LOL, yes, I have to admit that like many who take selfies, I dont even pay notice to what else appears in my pictures, but that one actually makes the model look bigger, its all a matter of perspectives.

[JennyMorgan]

Did anyone else find themselves counting just how many toes Grendel has? Just being curious?

[grendel]

do you want me to prove they are not webbed and I dont hail from Norfolk?  

[JennyMorgan]

I was expecting less than six.

[grendel]

Well aside from gluing a rib and some steaming, a lot of the rest of the work ground to a halt this evening as I had some serious sanding to do, a lot of rough shaping is done, now I just need to go through the grades of sandpaper to bring this chunk of oak to its final silky smooth oak finish. as Griff would say, I am right chuffed to get this shaped up.

[grendel]

I wasnt quite happy that the bow followed on from the lines of the hull, so just for a change, nothing else got done, instead I spent nearly an hour working on the bow of model #1.

Compare the first and next to last pictures, the hull now flows into the bow a lot nicer, I then went down through the sandpaper grades, 60, 80, 120, 400, 600 getting a good finish on the bow, there are still a few scuffs that can be sanded out, but the timber looks gorgeous, nice grain and figure, once that is coated in some nice varnish I am hoping it will look as good as the real thing, adding that bow on has really brought this hull to life. 

So while I am disappointed I got nothing else done, I am really happy I took the time to concentrate on that one detail.

[BroadAmbition]

That's me caught up once again, I was waiting for the photo's to be revealed.

Great progress once again Grendel

Griff

[Hockham Admiral]

6 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

That's me caught up once again, I was waiting for the photo's to be revealed.

Great progress once again Grendel

Griff

May I add to that, please, Griff?

Just awesome, Grendel, I marvel at your expertise and patience!       

[deebee29]

I've not commented on this before but have been following with great interest. I marvel at your patience and workmanship.

my dad would have loved this thread, he loved working with wood

[grendel]

I was looking at this last night and comparing it to the photographs I have of Broad Ambition, I have come to the conclusion that there is still more work to do here, I think I need to flatten off he nose somewhat, as BA is more rounded, and this prow is a bit too angular still - going to too much of a point, this will be my task over the weekend, as it is at the moment the prow badge would be too flat to fit across the bow, and would have too many gaps, so the prow will need flattening back to a gentler curve- at least at the top - more sanding to come, a shame as the wood feels silky smooth at the moment. Not to worry though, it will get back to that again, maybe I will try with the small planes first, though this oak is mighty hard stuff.