Irish Royal Mail Steamer Connaught build

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's......Stuart......without any understanding the signifince or the two inboard funnels having a taller belley...they look fine

  ..just give the top of each funnel an internal surface of matt black as far down as the eye can see : . ...Derek

[Stuart Badger]

Good idea Derek - and thanks Eddy - I'm Soooooooooo pleased they're finished!~

[Tug--Kenny]

They look superb. I agree with Eddy, that you know how they were built, and how long they took. They're still better than anything I could produce. Well done.

Ken

ps :-  can't wait to see some more wood. (as you put it) 

[Stuart Badger]

Hi PDs

well today I had a relaxing and pleasant afternoon making the rear grating for the forward turtle deck. I chose walnut and boxwood because I like the contrast in the wood colours. It may not be scale but it looks smart!

When you buy gratings for model ships they come as a set of strips that 'eggbox' together - This is purely a model ship thing. The real thing is made of one set of pieces with the slots cut in it, while the cross pieces are simply square sections dropped in the slots. This is the way I made mine as it's easier. I used my milling machine to put grooves in a sandwich strip of 6 X 2mm walnut and then used 2 X 2mm walnut strips in the grooves. I then cut out the individual gratings from the large strip I had made and framed them in Boxwood.

All the best
Stuart

[mjt60a]

funnels look great, they were looking good before but now they're painted and with the 'tubes' in place (safety valves?)- perfect 

[djcf]

Yep like the funnels, Stuart. I can't think of a more awkward design to replicate on a model....with the horizontal tops & flared caps...they certainly look the part.
 I remember the grief I had getting 2 simple funnels together for my Waverley, never mind 4 of those!!!

[Stuart Badger]

Thanks so much guys. They really were a problem and I was, frankly getting just a bit depressed about them!
I like working with metal - but I have to say the 'woody' bits are much more fun!

All the best

Stuart

[Stuart Badger]

Hi PDs

Today I finished the forward turtle deck grating with the mast ferrule. That's about all the bits I can usefully make before the major jobs apart from the small fittings.

So I think it's time to start on the hull itself. It would appear that my local Naxos hardware shop hasn't got a 5/16 inch to the foot GRP Connaught hull in stock - so wood it has to be!

This will be the largest non solid hull I have made and to be honest, I'm just a little nervous.

I would like to know how detailed you want the build log to be - do you want me to explain the whole process and the decisions about construction methods etc - or do you just want me to take a few photos during the build? It's up to you. Let me know please. If you think it would be useful to have all the info you need to build a wooden hull (I know some of you have made the most beautiful wooden hulls) then I am more than willing!

All the best

Stuart

[Eddy Matthews]

Personally I'd like to see the hull build in detail Stuart - I have a couple of wooden hulls that I'd like to build that are only coated in resin/varnish, so they need to be done well as there's no paint to hide all my bodges!

Regards
Eddy

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's...mmmm I would have to agree with Eddy here Stuart....there are many members who would love to see & read of a detailed planked hull build...................good ideas = good training & something we can aspire to......Derek 

[Stuart Badger]

Hi PDs

Today I started work on the hull. GRP hulls are probably the best thing to happen to the model boating world, but you can’t always get the exact hull you want and to make your own GRP hull involves making a master and mould, so unless you HAVE to have a glass hull - wood is the way to go.
Connaught’s hull is quite a complex shape but the method I’ll be using applies to any hull form. The only difference with mine is that due to the size I’ll have to adopt some slightly different methods.
The structure of a wooden model hull consists of 3 basic components; the keel, the bulkheads or frames and the planking or hull outer covering.
BULKHEADS
Most ship’s plans have a lines drawing, sometimes if you are lucky accompanied by a set of sections taken at regular intervals along the length of the hull. If you don’t have a sections drawing you can create them by ‘lofting’ from the lines drawing. The lines drawing divides the hull in regular intervals vertically in side view and gives the hull widths at those heights in plan view - so to create one section (which you can use as a bulkhead) you need to draw a series of horizontal lines the same distance apart vertically as the lines drawing for the side elevation of the ship. Draw a centerline vertically in the middle of those lines and then measure off the hull widths for each horizontal line at that point from the plan lines drawing – you will then be able to join up these points using a French curve to produce each and every bulkhead.
KEEL
This can generally be taken directly from the side elevation or general arrangement drawing from your plans.
HULL PLANKING
You will need to decide on the thickness and widths of the planking depending on how big the hull is overall, how complex the shape is (you need to use narrower planks the more ‘curvy’ the hull is) The choice of wood to plank with has to be a compromise between flexibility and strength.

I have a full set of sections which I have manipulated on the computer to produce a set for the bow and stern halves of  Connaught (most sections drawings only show one half of each section, usually half bow sections on the left and half stern sections on the right about a centre line, so you need to either flip the image and stitch it to its reverse half to give a complete section, or use the one half, make a pattern and turn it over on the wood to get a full section)
At his stage you MUST decide on some of your construction methods. Before you cut out the bulkheads you need to reduce the profile of the sections by the thickness of the material you are going to plank the hull with (see sketch) You also need to reduce the overall height of the bulkhead sections by the thickness of whatever material you are going to use for the waterway (This is the lower ‘channel’ that runs around the ship between the deck and the bulwarks or side rail) Also bear in mind that you will need to turn the hull over to plank it. Ship’s decks are never level and rise towards the bow and stern (sheer) so it’s no good planning on just flipping the hull over and planking – you need to ensure that you have some method of supporting the hull so that the keel is parallel to the building board and that the hull cannot bend as you start to plank.
In preparation for the build I have made a ‘hardback’ to build the hull on. If you are going to build a wooden hull you really MUST have an accurate jig . I have taken a piece of MDF longer than the hull and marked the bulkhead positions on it. I have routed a slot the width of the keel along its length (if you don’t have a router you can simply screw 3 lengths of MDF together leaving a gap the width of the keel between the top two pieces) MDF is very stable and won’t bend or twist over time – so you won’t get a nasty surprise and build a ‘banana’!

I think that’s enough for now!! Next time I hope to have the bulkheads cut out and I will go through the process of deciding how to attach them to the keel and how to decide how deep the keel needs to be

All the best

Stuart

[Eddy Matthews]

I'm glad to see you've started to document the hull build process Stuart, despite the mediocre response to your question! 

I'm looking forward to seeing it progress, and see how you tackle the various areas as you go...

Regards
Eddy

[derekwarner_decoy]

 ...we were talking last night with a few  .... but none could remember seeing hull frame spacing as alpha + numeric 

Like 1 > 15 = 15 frames
Like A > R = 18 frames

  .....that is certainly a thin waisted waterline............Derek

[djcf]

Yes, that last pic of the "lines" shows just how slender she is.

The only "hulls" I have scratchbuilt are smaller waterline models, so I am watching your hull build with interest, Stuart,...I'm sure the day will come when I run out of fibreglass examples & will have to build my own   

regards
Clark

[Stuart Badger]

Hi PDs
Thanks for the interest guys.
Derek - I've seen that sort of Alpha/numeric annotation of frames before always pre 1870ish and only ever on 'illustrative' drawings never ship builders drawings - strange.

I think you can see now Clark why I'm a little nervous about the stability! She is VERY skinny -  a sort of Kate Moss of the Paddler world (Hmmm just as elegant too!)

All the best

Stuart