1776 Lexington, Continental Brig of War

[Jeff B]

Hull. 

Did bulwarks and gun ports but looked so hideous I removed them and sanded down. Rethinking. 

[DSiemens]

Great set of plans.  This will be a fun build. 

[Jeff B]

Tried bulwarks again. Splitting and slicing Popsicle sticks. "Breaking the grain" for the foc'sle. 

I layered up the poop deck.There's  going to be a dark rail above the gun port wall, then a flared rail above the poop deck. 

Struggled again with gun ports. I'm gonna practice painting little squares (Plan C). 

Thanks for reading.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Jeff B

[Jeff B]

The Gunnels are on, top rails on. I did a bottleneck fit check. It was a "cork."

I just finished trimming and sanding. It fits now.

Back to the paint shop. 

J.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by Jeff B

[Jeff B]

I sanded and repainted. Then decided to cut in with nippers some gun ports. Bad idea. Had to reconstruct.

Decided to try to put in cut gunnels one-by-one. They looked good but we're breaking with handling after dry. 

We all know this hobby has many frustrations and setbacks. Sometimes you gotta walk away, and come back later. 

I cut everything down to beginning, sanded, and started gunwhales again. Going back to old plan. 

[Jeff B]

Finally recovered the mishap. Drilled my gun ports and notched out the top rails. 

Im glad the days of bending Popsicle sticks and flat toothpicks are behind me. 

[DSiemens]

I don' think I realized how small this one is until I saw it sitting on what looks like a tooth pick.  Great work she's looking good. 

[Jeff B]

It's a bamboo skewer

dimension right now 

7.5 cm Long 

2 cm wide

J.

[Jeff B]

I just put a white thread along the hull in the gouge I cut above the waterline. No photo. 

J.

[Jeff B]

Cut and shaped a bowsprit from small  bamboo skewer. 

I don't like that at the angle it can't be drilled through the hull, yet it needs to be on to of the rail.

In the photo it is drying in place.

Edited July 11, 2019 by Jeff B

[Jeff B]

Aww man, I just realized looking at the photo- some of the top rail is missing!!! 

But then I felt something on the bottom of my barefoot! Top rail!

next assignment: Glue top rail. 

Thanks for reading.

J.

 

 

Edited July 11, 2019 by Jeff B

[DSiemens]

You know what I've found helps keep the bowsprit in place when you can't drill a hole to put it in is drilling a hole through the top of the bowsprit and out where the bobstay connects to the stem.  I then tie a bob stay line around the base of the bowsprit through the hole and out to the end of the mast.  This way when pressure is applied that pulls the bowsprit up such as tightening stay lines it simultaneously pulls the connection of the bowsprit to the hull down reinforcing the glued connection between the bowsprit and the hull.  Since you already have it glued down you may not be able to tie the line around the bowsprit but you still might be able to use a stopper knot.   

[exwafoo]

Jeff,

At least you found it. A future archaeologist is going to have a real head scratcher when my work area is dug up. A black hole has nothing on my floors.

Cheers

Alan 

[Jeff B]

Today's progress. For lack of nautical term, I made that thing on the front of the bow below the bowsprit by carving the tip of a Popsicle stick.

Painted the bowsprit.

Drilled hole into that "thing, with a #71 bit.

I then cut ran some 3/0 fly tying thread through a chunk of beeswax and tied it around the bowsprit, baking careful note to be sure it matched the plans. I put the knot on the underside and put a drop of cement on it.

I then painted the over the line. Twisted the thread together, threaded a needle and passed it through the hole in the "thing", and tied it off, applying cement. Later, I cut the excess line. 

When there's more me time, I'll paint my 16 gun mounts, in preparation for installation of guns. 

Baby steps. 

Thanks for reading,

J.

Edited July 12, 2019 by Jeff B

[DSiemens]

Great work Jeff. 

I think the thing you describe is the "stem".  That's where the phrase from stem to stern comes from.  

[Jeff B]

I tried to drill a hole into the bowsprit with a hand drill and I can't.  I'm using bamboo skewers. I'm wondering about the hinges on the masts.  I might have to bring out the power drill. After an hour and 2 different bits, all I had was a divot. 

So I went with deadeyes.

J.

[Jeff B]

Whilst surfing the interweb today,  I found the plans for this build @Folkartinbottles.com, the maker is Clay Rakes. There''s no name on the plans. I forget where I found them years back. Props to him! 

[Jeff B]

I soaked the skewers in hot water and left them for a day and a half in the water. I found them much easier to drill. I also put a dab of superglue on the tips prior to drilling the mast top holes and at the mast foot for the hinge, so the wood doesn't crack while drilling. 

Edited July 14, 2019 by Jeff B

[Jeff B]

More progress. Masts assembled. Wound with thread and coated with superglue to form. Crows nest or trucks made from cardboard. About twice as thick as a cereal box (learned on this forum) and painted accordingly. Holes drilled fore and aft and athwartships, AFTER painting. Holes tested with needle to be used for threading lines. 

Edited July 17, 2019 by Jeff B
Sp

[Jeff B]

Holes for stays and back stays are drilled cleanly into channel and exit out the bottom of hull. 

[Jeff B]

Cannon mounts, just little painted blocks, drilled, large holes in mast doublings for stays. Deck hatches cut from paper plans, shaded with pencil, glued on,. Also stern windows. Hinges from paper staples, not cut. Flattened with pliers. Inserted into mast truck, and folded tightly. To shape so as to not allow annoying side away experienced in other builds. 

I cut cannons from a paper clip. They are under the black marks on the board.I'm gonna concentrate on those until well blackened before moving on. 

Thanks for reading, 

Jeff

[DSiemens]

Love the choice of materials.  Cheap, available and effective.  It's reminiscent of the same type of ingenuity as the sailors that started this craft had.    

[Jeff B]

OI oCannons are in. Oyyyy! The install was a PITA. My pliers wee taking off the paint, the cannons wouldn't go on top of the blocks, as the blocks were blocking the ports. 

Wound up cutting black vinyl rib from flyting box to make the cannons look longer on some of the blocks. So much fun. 

A picture is worth a thousand words. Look at that bad smudge on the starboard side. Chisel is out. Maybe.

[Jeff B]

After chisel.

Edited July 19, 2019 by Jeff B

[Jeff B]

16 hours ago, DSiemens said:

Love the choice of materials.  Cheap, available and effective.  It's reminiscent of the same type of ingenuity as the sailors that started this craft had.    

I told my wife this hobby wouldn't hobby wouldn't cost any money. I would use  every day materials found around the house. Haha. At one time I was a "sailor." Now I'm just "old salt." 

I can assure you- there's no time onboard a ship (at sea)  to make ships in bottles. 

BR

Jeff

Edited July 19, 2019 by Jeff B