The Ship Model Forum

For the keel I used the profile on the Sheer Plan portion of the Lines Plan (after first comparing it with my GA plan to make sure that both absolutely agree.) I also reduced the dimensions of the keel shape to account for the thickness of planking and coating. The keel will be ¾ inch deep, except for an aft portion which is slightly smaller to provide clearance for the stuffing tube.

The majority of the keel is a straight run and could be drawn directly onto the ¼ inch plywood. I also marked the frame stations on the plywood before cutting. The bow and stern portions of the modified keel plan were copied onto heavy paper and glued at the proper place on the plywood, resulting in a single-piece keel.

The bow and stern parts were cut to shape by hand with a coping saw, as I was afraid that I would have difficulty maintaining fine control over the whole piece (six feet long) while trying to cut the curves with the scroll saw. I later sanded it to final shape.

After cutting the “shaped” parts (bow and stern), I then cut the long, straight run of the remainder of the keel—this part with a band saw. I also left tabs on the bow and stern section for the hull to rest on when flipped for planking.

The stern is somewhat different from a “normal” ship in that there will be a large opening (the stern ramp) where a centerline stern post/keel would normally be. I left a temporary piece here that will hold the after-most (transom) frame at the proper angle while it is being glued. This piece will be cut off once the hull is fully framed. As with the frames, the after part of the keel was cut down a bit to provide clear room for the main deck cargo space aft.

Once I was happy with the overall keel shape I sanded the extreme bow so that the planking at the bow comes together more smoothly. One thing I would do differently would be to do this fairing step after getting the shape of the bow but before cutting the rest of the keel to it’s ¾ inch depth. This would keep the whole structure more rigid while doing this sanding. I would also be more careful to try to match the angle of the bow for the upper part—the bow is fairly blunt here and the keel did not need to be made quite so fine closer to the deck level.

As with the frames, The depth of the keel is slightly less aft to give full clearance for the stuffing tube.

My original intention was to use just one piece of ¼ inch plywood for the entire keel, and perhaps brace the hull internally after all of the frames and stringers were in place. But the more I handled the keel the more I thought that I should make it stronger from the beginning. I cut two additional pieces of ¼ inch plywood to glue to the keel piece to make a three-ply keel for all but the extreme bow and stern (roughly frames 2-17). This will be a substantially stiffer and stronger keel. Maybe over-kill, but I will feel much better about the strength of the hull, and probably make it a bit easier to keep everything square when assembling the frames to the keel. I also remembered to mark the frame stations on the top of the center part of the keel, as the extra keel pieces would cover the markings I had made on the side of the center keel.

I glued the keel parts together with wood glue on a surface that I knew was absolutely flat, using wax paper to protect the building board. Lots of clamps used and also used a long level to keep the keel straight (side to side) while the glue dried. Note that I was not trying to line the keel up on the building board-that comes later.

It occurred to me as I did this that this was the very first step that was not planning, copying, sketching, cutting or sanding—I was actually gluing parts together for the first time—essentially the keel laying for my model. Of course this meant that the notches in frames 2-17 had to be made wider than originally marked.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Notches were marked and cut at the appropriate places on the keel for the frames-most of them with a band saw, a few with a scroll saw. It may not be apparent, but the notches are placed slightly differently forward and aft. The intention was to have the relevant hull line shape exactly at the frame station location on the keel, with the ¼ inch thickness of the frame on the side of the frame station where the next frame is a larger shape. So the notches towards the bow are cut aft of the frame station, and notches towards the stern are cut forward of the frame station. I hope that explanation is understandable-the idea is to make the shape as true as I can.

Once I was happy with the keel and frame shapes, and all notches were cut and sanded, I decided to test-fit all of the frames onto the keel. What a great feeling! I have had this hull shape generally in my mind for some time, based on the hull lines first, then the frame shapes and the keel shape. But actually seeing the hull shape in full for the first time, even if only roughly placed, was a thrill.

wow--that is Huuuge!

I guess 1/100 was the clue !!

Looks sharp!
JIM B

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Hi Jim-Thanks! Yes, 66 inches length overall and 8 1/2 inch beam. As much as I have known those numbers all along, it did seem bigger than expected when viewed "live" for the first time.

I then mounted the keel to the building board. As described earlier, the board had been marked with a keel line and the frame stations. As hoped, this turned out to be very helpful in keeping everything straight and true. First I put down wax paper so I would not accidently glue the whole ship to the building board. I cut scrap plywood "keel blocks" and test fit them and the keel on the building board. I then clamped the wide part of the keel to a long level to ensure straightness and then used 1-2-3 blocks lined up on the centerline to keep the narrow parts of the keel (extreme bow and stern) as straight as I could make them. I then screwed the keel blocks along the keel to hold it in place, removed the level, and then screwed another set on the side where the level had been. Everything seems straight and held securely.

I test fit all the frames with the keel attached to the building board and just like that, it was time to start gluing frames on to the keel. I started with the mid-body as those frames are the simplest shapes, and the broad, flat bottom of the frames will help keep everything level relative to the building board. I will work my way to the bow and stern, gluing the flat-bottomed frames first before getting to the finer shapes. I had thought of and test-tried various methods to hold the frames square to the keel and securely in place as the glue dried and settled on using four 1-2-3 blocks. It was the simplest method I tried and by far the best-and wood glue does not adhere to the blocks, either.

Here’s the first one-Frame 12.

I added 2-3 frames per day, allowing plenty of time for the wood glue to set, starting forward from frame 12 and then working aft, leaving the trickier frames at the extreme bow and stern for later.
I used a quick square (or two) in addition to the 1-2-3 blocks on occasion to make sure that the frames were perpendicular to the board. This became more important as the bottom of the frames got skinnier/rounder towards the bow and stern and I could not rely on the flat bottom shape to keep those frames lined up properly. I also used a plumb bob while setting the first few frames to ensure that the centerline of the top of the frames matched the centerline of the keel. After a few frames were glued I could check this more quickly by laying a straightedge along the upper centerline marks on the frames.


After fifteen frames I had run through the “easy” ones, with only one that dried mis-aligned and had to be cut out and glued again.

I definitely took my time with the after-most frames. Since I could no longer rely on the flat bottom of the frames, I had to be more careful to make sure that the frames were aligned. Besides using the 1-2-3 blocks, quick squares and straight edge on the centerline to keep everything true, I also used another pair of squares, each with masking tape at the exact same height. I lined these marks up on each side with the waterlines already on the frames to give me a fairly quick way to ensure that the frame was true to the building board (and keel).
During these steps I also noticed that the after-most part of the keel was slightly misaligned and determined that the stern-most keel blocks had to be taken up and adjusted.

The transom frame posed its own unique challenges, as the keel there is somewhat free-floating and the transom is angled 13 degrees from perpendicular, towards the stern. First I needed to hold the keel perfectly inline and at the same time hold the frame in place and at the correct angle. I ultimately settled on temporary stringers, in addition to the various squares (mentioned above) to hold it in place. The temporary piece rising from the keel (described earlier in my keel entry) worked very well in holding the transom at the proper angle.


After the transom frame dried I measured and glued the after-most stringers in place in order to help hold the transom frame in place. I cut notches in the transom for an extra stringer to make the after part more rigid. The idea was to hand-cut notches 2-3 frames forward to provide extra strength to tie-in the transom. Right now I am re-thinking that plan, as the whole structure is pretty rigid with the “regular” stringers glued in place.


You may notice that the stringers to not appear parallel when viewed from the side. This is because the A-deck (upper-most continuous deck) used as the upper limit of the frames rises significantly relative to the keel from about frame 7 and aft. So the deck stringers also rise relative to the keel towards the stern.

The frames near the bow posed similar challenges, as they got more and more narrow and they were more difficult to keep aligned. Once more, I took my time and used a combination of blocks, squares, and other tools to keep everything lined up and square.

As I test-fit the forward frames it became more and more apparent that getting the right shape at the bow with just the keel and frames alone would be difficult, because the shape is rather complex as the bow transitions from a fairly fine entry at the load waterline to a broad and rounded shape at the A-Deck (fo’c’sle) level. (If you look at the very first photo I posted in this topic you can see what I mean.) I decided to add some horizontal (waterline) pieces to help get a true shape. To get the needed shapes I copied the extreme bow portion the waterline section of the hull lines. As with the frames, I mirrored this and combined the two images to get a full-width shape. These were then glued onto 1/4 inch plywood. I marked and cut these pieces as I had done with the frames. Once happy with the shape I marked and cut a notch on the forward end of each of the waterline shapes (technically more or less a breast hook) so that they fit onto the keel piece. Because these pieces will be fairly closely spaced, I needed to fair the edges so that the planking runs more smoothly. I marked the bottom of these pieces with the shape of the next one below, and used this line as guidance when sanding them fair.

I cut most of these breasthooks so that they extend aft to frame 19 and I can glue the after end to that frame. To do this easily I glued brackets at the appropriate places on the forward side of frame 19 before installing it. While test-fitting these pieces I truly appreciated having the various body plan lines on the paper glued to the frame as well as the breasthooks. Besides allowing me to cut the correct shapes in the first place, the various lines now provide multiple reference points that will make accurately fitting the pieces together much easier. The photo showing the installation of the first breasthook shows really well how the various body plan lines come together. I also added a waterline piece at the A-deck level, which is where the fo’c’sle will be. I carried this a bit aft of frame 19 because the fo’c’sle deck extends aft of frame 19.

I have seen people carve the bow shape with stacked solid pieces of horizontal wood (bread and butter method) but I am not certain of my carving talents, so will try to plank the bow. We’ll see how it goes. I may end up shaping balsa between the breasthooks (rather than planking), or a mix of both methods. We’ll see when the time comes.

After the breasthooks and fo’c’sle deck were installed I glued the remaining stringers. Looking at the almost-complete keel/frame structure I decided that I needed one extra piece at the extreme bow, in the gap between the keel, frame 19 and the lowest (waterline-8) breasthook. I had frame 19 ½ as well as a breasthook for waterline #7 already marked and shaped, and after test-fitting each decided that using the lower part of frame 19 ½ would work best. After this partial frame was installed the keel/frame structure was complete. Planking the hull will be next, but I expect some further prep work before I start with that step.

Hi folks--started planking the hull. I'm using balsa sheets for the broad, flat expanses. As you can see, I started with the bottom, fitting pieces to cover where everything is flat. I will use thin strips where the hull shape is curved. I'm anticipating needing to use filler in the area around the stern tube, and probably near the bow, also. I'm still debating whether to do the big, flat areas on the sides next, or start with the more curved, complex shapes. With 1:1 small wooden boat building you generally start near the centerline/keel and work towards the gunwales, but not sure that those guidelines necessarily apply here. Regardless, I will try to use long enough lengths of the balsa strips to get a fair run of the hull shape along the frames.

I continued gluing balsa sheet to some of the flat areas, this time on the sides. I will run out of large flat areas pretty soon.

While I still have good access I decided to drill the keel/frame structure for the rudder shaft tube. I will wait until the hull is fully planked before I epoxy it in place, but figured now was a good time to get the hole drilled. The tube I am using now is over-length and will be cut to length when it is time to install it permanently.

I also cut the keel to take the stuffing tube for the propeller shaft. Before gluing the first frame on to the keel I marked where the stuffing tube would be and made shallow cuts on both sides of the keel piece where the stuffing tube would pass through. I also drilled the relevant frame to take the stuffing tube long before I began assembling the frames to the keel. Now that the keel/frame structure is quite rigid I felt that I could complete the cuts without things moving out of place. It was really pretty easy to cut with a fine hand saw, using the pre-cuts as a guide.

Test fitting both gives a good idea of how it will come together. I intend to have the stuffing tube installed before planking that portion of the hull, but have a few more things to do before I am ready for that.

I am continuing with planking, but also working on some other pieces that need to be done eventually, such as the rudder and rudder skeg. I have been thinking of how to make the rudder/skeg operate and also wanted to make it so that the rudder could be removed for repairs if necessary without problems. I sketched out various possibilities as I planned this build and recently built the rudder/skeg combination and they appear to work well.

Like so many things so far, I started with gluing the relevant part of the prints to some scrap wood and cutting out the shapes.
For the rudder I then made a number of different cut-outs where sections of brass tube to hold the rudder shaft would go, as well as another for a cut-down wheel collar. I had decided that using a wheel collar epoxied into the rudder would be a good way to attach the rudder to the shaft in a way that the rudder was still removable. I used a Dremel tool to cut down the wheel collar and then glued the various pieces of tube and the wheel collar to the rudder with medium CA glue, followed by quick epoxy, using a piece of rudder shaft to make sure that everything was in line.

The skeg was much easier, although for strength and alignment purposes I wanted to retain the wood structure as much as possible. To do this I drilled a small pilot hole, and then used a mini rat tail file to slowly make the hole big enough to take the shaft tube. It took a while (and some serious patience) but worked in the end.

As you can see from the photos, the rudder and skeg fit together well, and also seem to operate well.
The set screw holding the rudder to the shaft is not really visible unless the rudder is turned fairly far to the side.

My next step is to coat each piece with thinner epoxy, and fill the gaps around the tubes and wheel collar with fairing epoxy. If I do it right (and after some sanding) I will have rudder and skeg that are smooth, work well and can also take the water, and all of the bits and pieces that went into building them will not be visible.

Great work so far. Very sharp construction work.

I always have trouble with this type of rudders, your method looks good! Thanks for the clear and detailed post about this.

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The merchant shipyard

I also wanted a way to install a similar rudder so it could be removed. My solution is here:

https://www.okieboat.com/Ship%20model%20page.html

Scroll down to the "Rudder" section. It works pretty well, but I have since decided that I won't complete the model for radio control and I really don't need a moveable rudder or a removable rudder.

Phil

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That's a really nice solution and great workmanship, DrPR, and probably allows for a narrower rudder cross section. I do not have plans showing the true width of the rudder for the AMBASSADOR, so went with a solution that was a reasonable size and seemed easier (for me) to accomplish. If the rudder looks much too thick when it is time to install it on the hull I may revisit the plan, using your method.

Hi folks-it has been a little while since my last post, but I have not been idle. But the progress while planking can be incremental and I wanted to wait until I had some real progress to show.

After using balsa sheets on the big, flat areas I started with balsa strips 1/8 inch wide for the more complex shapes, starting at the bow. At this stage I used medium-thickness CA glue. It takes some time to cover any sort of area 1/8 of an inch at a time! Here's how it looked after a number of courses were added.


I installed the planking up to the stem, and as high up the hull as the breast hooks. As the shape got less complex and the curves more gentle I switched to wider planking (3/16-1/4 inch) and covered hull area a lot faster. At this point I was using the CA glue for the curved parts and wood glue (and pins) for the flatter parts.


I'll show how I planked the flare of the bow next.

You may recall from my earlier posts that this ship (like most ro-ros and many modern container ships) has a significant flare at the bow as the shape transitions from a fairly fine shape at the waterline to a broad, rounded shape at the foc's'le deck. To copy this shape as accurately as possible I used a series of waterline shapes from the load waterline up. I planked these areas vertically, starting at the after end of each side, using 3/16 width planks, with a few wedge-shaped planks to keep the shape true.

I stopped with these planks when the turn of the waterline shapes became more rounded, and then began vertically planking from the stem, working aft. Because there was much more turn at this point I used 1/8 inch wide planks, tapered to a near point at the bottom. (Except the very first two at the blunt stem, which were 3/16 wide.) As the curvature eased I used less taper and then eventually filled the remaining gap with a wedge shape.

After the extreme bow planking was complete I continued with the hull planking, extending 2-3 feet aft from the bow. These were primarily 3/16 wide planks, with a few 1/8 inch wide where the curvature required. I also had to fit a few wedge or diamond shaped planks at various places to fill gaps.





As you can see, there will be some sanding and filling to do, but overall I am happy with how the horizontal/vertical bow planking worked out, and believe that it resulted in a true shape.

The shape of the hull is becoming more and more apparent, especially when it is turned upright.

Planking the stern is next, and I have been considering a number of different ways to get the narrow shape around the propeller shaft, as well as the transition from that area to the broad, flat stern at the after end.

Hi Folks-Happy New Year!

Wow, another big gap in posts. Lots going on so the ship model was put on the back burner. But I have not been idle, and am getting close to having the entire hull planked. One thing that slowed me down was figuring out how to best reproduce the rounded shape of the hull near the propeller. I eventually settled on gluing balsa block that had been roughly pre-shaped to hull and shaft tube, and then filing/sanding to get a reasonable shape. It's just about done, and no doubt I will fair it more before I epoxy the hull.

I also test fit all sorts of "planking" patterns to try to get the best shape for where the hull flattens out towards the stern ramp. I finally tried just a single sheet on one of the sides and it gave me the best look. Sometimes the simpler solution really is the best!

Lots of fiddling with oddball plank lengths and shapes to finish the stern area, including a number of wedge shapes as the longer plank runs were closed out.

I also started doing an extra step to hold the planks in place more securely, as occasionally the thickened cyanoacrylate (super) glue popped loose after the pins were removed. After finishing a particular planking session I would turn the hull upright and brush wood glue on all of the joints where the planks made contact with the frames. I never had planks coming loose after starting this extra step.

Just a small bit remains right along the keel, and then time to plank the stern itself--and begin on the stern ramp!

With the planking of the hull done, it was time to “plank” the transom. The first step was to install vertical members on either side of the stern ramp opening. Scrap plywood was measured and glued in place.
Once the glue was fully dry, I could cut the upper horizontal part of the transom frame at the stern ramp opening. The hull is set-in here where the stern ramp closes, so this part needed to be removed. A narrower cross piece will be glued in later, on the forward side of the transom frame.

The next step was to measure, cut and glue the transom pieces in place. After this a small piece was glued below the stern ramp opening to make everything flush.

Here’s a photo of some cargo and a yard hauler truck staged on the main deck inside the ramp opening.

I have begun sanding and smoothing parts of the hull for eventual epoxy coating, but will build the stern ramp first to make sure that the stern ramp opening (especially at the lower hinge area) is good before I epoxy anything.