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| Brigantine Maggie Belle (1904) on 1:72 scale | ||
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Moderators: Winston, aew, bikepunk
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| Gene Bodnar |
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  Registered Member #126 Joined: Tue Jul 21 2009, 11:20amPosts: 1782 | BRIEF DESCRIPTION (copied from www.modelshipbuilder.com) Brigantine "Maggie Belle" was designed by John H. Zwicker, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. Built at the Zwicker Shipyard for Abraham Ernest a merchant and Freeman Smeltzer a mariner of Mahone Bay Nova Scotia. The "Maggie Belle" was launched on November 8, 1904. Length on deck - 100' 6" Length at waterline - 99' 5" Beam - 25' 8" Depth in hold - 10' 0" Gross tonnage - 134.16 Registered tonnage - 99.25 The "Maggie Belle" served in the mercantile trade until March 17, 1917 when she caught fire because of an exploding lantern. The vessel burned to the waterline and sank at St. Michaels, the Azores. The Plans The model will be built from highly detailed plans drawn by the late Philip Eisnor. The plans are available for purchase on this site. They consist of 5 sheets of highly detailed plans drawn on 1:72 scale. The model will be built on a scale of 3/16” = 1’ (1:72) using basswood as the primary material. I will be following the POB plans meticulously. The Spline The spline, which is the board to which all bulkheads are attached, was cut with an X-Acto knife from a 1/8” sheet of basswood. The mast holes were cut out, and the location of all bulkheads were marked and identified right on the spline. [ Edited Thu Jan 16 2014, 09:57am ] | ||
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| Gary M |
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| Registered Member #4198 Joined: Tue May 07 2013, 10:50pmPosts: 908 | Gene, I look forward to following along! Gary | ||
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| Mike 41 |
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 Registered Member #702 Joined: Fri Feb 05 2010, 10:37pmPosts: 1238 | Hi Gene, The Maggie Belle will be an interesting log to follow. I was wondering why you have chosen to use bulkheads instead of frames. Mike | ||
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| Gene Bodnar |
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| Registered Member #126 Joined: Tue Jul 21 2009, 11:20amPosts: 1782 | Mike, I'm building the Maggie Belle as closely as possible to the way the plans were drawn by Philip Eisnor, so that a series of photos can be produced to accompany the further sales of sets of plans, as per Winston's request. I'll also be writing a fairly detailed building log as well that could be used by a newbie who might wish to buy the set of plans. Incidentally, the plans could easily to modified for a POF. This is the first POB I've built in many years. Gene | ||
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| Mike 41 |
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| Registered Member #702 Joined: Fri Feb 05 2010, 10:37pmPosts: 1238 | Thanks Gene, Your building log will make a great tutorial for someone wanting to get into scratch building and the Maggie Belle will make a nice model. I just did not remember seeing any of your models that were not plan on frame. Mike | ||
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| Gene Bodnar |
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| Registered Member #126 Joined: Tue Jul 21 2009, 11:20amPosts: 1782 | I. BUILDING THE HULL A, Making the Spline The spline, which is the board to which all bulkheads are attached, was cut with an X-Acto knife from a 1/8” sheet of basswood. I used the Profile Plan on Plan Sheet #1 for a pattern, cutting 1/16” below the existing planking line shown on the plan. The mast holes were cut out, and the location of all bulkheads were marked and identified right on the spline. Since the bulkheads will be a total of 3/16” in thickness, I cut slots into which they will be glued onto the spline. Note that these slots are NOT at a 90-degree angle to the base of the spline; instead, they are at a 90-degree angle to the BASELINE shown on Plan Sheet #1. B. Making the Bulkheads Each bulkhead is composed of two pieces of wood glued together: (1) A 1/8”-thick piece cut out to the shape of the hull and to the location immediately below the cambered deck planking, and (2) A 1/16”-thick piece cut the same way but with bulkhead stubs included. The bulkhead stubs are used for planking the bulwarks and will be cut off after that process is completed. The piece with the bulkhead stubs should be cut with wood grain going vertical so that the stubs will not break off easily. I used an X-Acto knife to cut the 1/16”-thick piece and a band saw to cut the 1/8”-thick piece. Glue the two laminations together and clamp together until the glue has dried. Trim the edges and the tops so that both match. Glue into appropriate slots in the spline, ensuring that the top edges match the top of the spline and the bottom matches the bottom. Make sure all bulkheads are glued in place so that they are all perpendicular to the spline, and that all are perfectly even with the top edge of the spline. Incidentally, I did not use the bulkhead plans provided by Eisnor; there were some minor discrepancies, so I decided to loft my own bulkheads from the Body Plan and Profile Plan. C. Making the Filler Blocks Small blocks of wood are shaped and installed at the bow and at the stern, as shown on Plan Sheet #1. The purpose of the blocks is to allow a good surface upon which to glue the planking material. They can be formed from pine or basswood and shaped approximately to fit. They will be faired in the next step. D. Fairing the Bulkheads The next step is to smooth out and bevel the bulkheads (along with the filler blocks), where necessary. The purpose of this step is to provide a smooth and continuous surface for the planking material to rest upon. It is best to take a 1/8”-wide piece of planking as long as the model. Place it all the way across the model from stem to stern, approximating the way a very long plank would lie. At every point where the batten touches a bulkhead, that point should be beveled and smoothed out, so that the batte rests directly on the whole width of each bulkhead’s thickness. Of course, bulkheads located amidships won’t require any bevel (or very little), but the closer the bulkheads approach the bow or the stern, the greater the bevel. Use a sanding stick to sand these bevels, and constantly verify the bevel with your batten. I don’t recommend using Dremel drum sander because of the danger of sanding off too much of the bulkhead. Take your time and get it right. Yes, it’s rather time-consuming, but the time you spend will be well rewarded at the planking stage. Note, too, that the bevel on any given bulkhead will vary all along its surface. Make sure you take this into account as well. Move the batten up and down the bulkheads, and keep checking for unwanted bulges or areas that are not in perfect contact with the bulkheads. Remember that the object of all this fuss is to attain a beautifully smoothed hull.    [ Edited Wed Jan 22 2014, 03:43pm ] | ||
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| Tim C |
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 Registered Member #4126 Joined: Fri Feb 15 2013, 05:19amPosts: 1109 | Gene Nice start. Later Tim [ Edited Sun Feb 02 2014, 10:39pm ] | ||
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| Gene Bodnar |
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| Registered Member #126 Joined: Tue Jul 21 2009, 11:20amPosts: 1782 | E. Making a Jig to Hold the Model It is not necessary for this jig to be an elaborately constructed piece of artwork, for its only purpose is to hold the spline and bulkheads in place while you are working on installing battens and planking, and it prevents the bulkhead stubs from breaking off. Some folks employ a pillow or a few blankets or a piece of Styrofoam for this jig, but I like something more substantial. My crude jig is a length of 2x4 cut to the general shape of the deck (see Plan Sheet #1). Down the center, I cut out and glued a strip of wood that follows the general sweep of the deck from bow to stern. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just suitable. F. Installing Temporary Planking Battens The purpose of installing battens is to facilitate the sizing and shaping of individual planks in a given area of the hull. As you will soon see, no two planks will be exactly the same size and shape. The planking battens divide the hull into four or five bands of planking from bow to stern, with each band being fairly uniform throughout the shape of the hull. A single batten is simply a piece of 1/16”-square wood that is long enough to extend the full length of the hull. You will need about 8 strips. The planking on our model will average about 1/8” in width (some a little more, some a little less), with those at the bow and stern having tapers, as will be shown later. It is best to begin pinning your battens with the one next to the garboard strake which is the first plank on either side of the keel. It is important to start with this batten, because this one will control where all other battens will lie. Lay the first batten about 3/16” from the keel at the midship bulkhead. Pin it in place at this bulkhead. Let the batten form its own shape; do not force it into a curve if it does not wish to go that way. Pin it to each bulkhead. When you reach the bow, it will natural curve slightly upward into the stem of the model, and when you reach the stern, it will do likewise. Pin the batten to all bulkheads. Thus, the gap between the keel and this batten will be about 3/16” at the midship bulkhead and progressively grow wider as it reaches the bow and the stern, just the way a natural plank will look. Now that you have positioned the first batten, use the following procedure to place the remaining battens. All other battens should be spaced apart approximately equidistantly from each other. Using a pair of proportional dividers, determine the midpoint on each bulkhead from the garboard batten to the rail of the model. Mark each bulkhead, and then pin another batten on these points. Then find the midpoint between this second batten and the rail, and repeat marking these midpoints on the bulkheads. Do this on the port and starboard sides, and also check to ensure that the battens at the bow and stern at located at exactly the same points on both sides. When you’ve finished installing all temporary battens, sit back and examine your work. About 5 or 6 strakes of planking should fit nicely between each of the battens. All battens should be graceful and pleasing to the eye, and all lines should be smooth-flowing. Now mark the location of all battens with a sharp-pointed pencil. Mark every point on the bulkheads where a batten comes in contact with it. Do this on the same batten edge, top OR bottom throughout. Finally, remove all battens. The pencil marks will be your guide to determine where each band of planking will be installed.     | ||
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| Gene Bodnar |
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| Registered Member #126 Joined: Tue Jul 21 2009, 11:20amPosts: 1782 | G. Making and Installing the Keel Assembly The keel assembly consists of four pieces of basswood 5/32” wide. There are two scarph joints at the lower end of the bow that make up the stem. These stem pieces should be cut to follow the grain of the wood around the stem. The sternpost is a single piece shaped and glued to fit aft of the spline. I recommend that the entire keel assembly be doweled onto the spline for added security. Make sure it is perfectly aligned with the spline. H. Planking the Hull I used 1/16” basswood for all hull planking. Some folks plank the hull in two layers, but if you use 1/16” material and are careful throughout the process, this is unnecessary. The bulkheads are spaced sufficiently close together so that unwanted bulges or depressions can easily be avoided. 1. The Garboard Strake is the first plank to install. Use a piece of basswood longer than the model to make this strake. I usually mark these on a full sheet of basswood. Now we will mark the width of the strake at each point that it rests on a bulkhead. Do this by using a pair of proportional dividers, stretching them open so that one point is at the base of the keel and the other is on the point you marked for the location of the garboard batten. Transfer this measurement to your piece of basswood by extending the points from the flat edge of the basswood into the wood, pressing the point into the basswood to make a small mark. Do this for all bulkheads, transferring the measurements onto the basswood at the same spacing as the bulkheads. Now use a ruler and a fine-pointed pencil to draw a line to connect all the dots on the basswood. Next, using an X-Acto knife with a No. 11 blade, cut this piece of basswood off the sheet for its full length, following your line as closely as possible. This is your garboard strake. Place if on the model where it belongs to see if it fits properly, resting snugly against the keel and resting on each bulkhead throughout its length. It should also fit perfectly at both ends, at the sternpost and at the bow. To fit perfectly it may require a slight bevel in some areas. Sand the bevels with care with a sanding stick. Now you are ready to glue and pin the strake in place. Of course, no strake ran the full length of a ship; they were usually installed in lengths of about 20 feet or so. Furthermore, there are rules for the location of the butt joints. I will not discuss them here, because they are available on the internet from several sources. Keep these rules in mind as you plank your model. I used Elmer’s Carpenter’s Glue to glue all planking. Place a small amount of glue at each bulkhead. Place the garboard strake in position, and carefully pin or clamp the strake in place at each bulkhead throughout the length of the model.    | ||
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| Gene Bodnar |
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| Registered Member #126 Joined: Tue Jul 21 2009, 11:20amPosts: 1782 | 2. Band of 6 strakes. Adjacent to the garboard strake is a band of strakes running between the garboard batten mark and the next batten mark going up. Using an average of 1/8” per strake, you will find that 6 strakes will fit nicely in this band. Place a length of basswood at the keel from bow to stern. Set your proportional dividers to “6” (the number of strakes). Open the larger side of your dividers so that one point rests against the garboard strake, and the other point rests on the next batten mark on the first bulkhead. Turn the dividers around and mark this distance on the basswood by pressing the point of the dividers into the wood. Do the same thing for each of the bulkheads, transferring the measurements the same distance apart as the bulkheads. With a ruler and pencil, connect the marks. This is the shape of the strake adjacent to the garboard strake. Cut it out with an X-Acto knife and carefully glue and clamp it in place on the bulkheads, pressing it firmly against the garboard strake. For the next strake in the band, reset your proportional dividers to “5,” which is the remaining number of strakes in the band. Repeat the process described. For the next strake in the band, reset your dividers to “4.” Repeat for the next strake. Keep doing this until you have exhausted all strakes in the band.   | ||
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