I have built several ships from Swampy and Battlers and am going to try my hand at building one with the BDE pattern set of the Renown. The plans are pretty straight forward and I have my wood and scrollsaw ready to go. What is the best glue to utilize when putting it all together? And are there any articles with pics to review on the website? I reviewed Clarks 'HMS Vanguard' build and will be asking for advise along the way. Thanks for any suggestions you all may have.
Check out some wood hull info at: http://workspace.wamnet.com/~pellison/MWC/USSEllison.html http://workspace.wamnet.com/~pellison/MWC/LibertyShip.html http://workspace.wamnet.com/~pellison/MWC/DMKEllison.html http://www.portpolarbear.com/reports/Inside%20the%20USS%20St%20Paul.htm Someplace on this forum a bunch of postings done by Mike Magnus when he built the FN Bearn but I can't find it. It was a wood hull he went into a lot of detail on.
Thanks Bob, I will probably be able to get the framing done fairly easily. The next step, using fiberglass may be tricky as I have not worked with that substance before. I have seen it done at a couple of our build sessions and will have to find info on that too. It was funny as the two individuals I watches had different methods of applying the process. One guy wore his gloves and dust mask while the other wore no protective gear at all. This person had been working with woods and adhesives for years and simply "slapped it all together". Hmmm....it would explain why he slurred so much, ehh? Now that the weather has changed, cooling down here in Northern CA, how does that affect the glassing of the hull? I had heard that the weather temp makes the process more time consuming. Thanks again.
Good luck with your build. But really those fumes are noxious, and dust from cutting fiberglass is bad too. Always wear protection.
Wind, be sure to check the pattern set for compliance with your club's rules. BDE pattern sets are for Big Gun, and might not meet the requirements of Fast Gun combat. As for fiberglassing, my question is "why?" It's entirely not necessary, as long as you put SOMETHING sufficiently tough on the bottom. A layer of planking, or some 1/32" aircraft ply with epoxy over it will provide plenty of strength. The fiberglass serves to increase the biohazard level of your ship, without major benefits. As long as you don't drop your Reknown on the freeway while moving 75 mph, any fiberglass coating will be unnecessary.
I disagree on fiber glassing. It adds strength and ding resistance to the wood with minimal weight. Done properly, it'll last longer than the wood in the ship. It also gives a nice smooth surface to prime and paint on. Look here at Visit this site on how to do a good fiber glass job on a wood ship. In fact, I recommend going through the entire thread for any thing that might help you build a wood ship. It's not all inclusive, but the techniques in the thread work.
Fiberglass is one way of reinforcing the bottom, but it isn't the only way. I have planked boats with mahogany, wrapped boats with 1/32" ply, and I know one person who wraps 1/8" balsa on the bottom (no worries about the bottom edge of the penetrable area).
Great advise all! I had bought the BDE pattern set a couple of years back as a winter project They are very good as everything is visible and appear ready to transfer to the ply. I must admit I tried to build a ship from scratch with just regular plans and was frustrated by the outcome. That's why I was going to use the pattern set for my second attempt. Any suggestions for plans to review that would be just as clear for the hull sections and bottom that I may try instead? The article metioned above was great and very informative. Thanks for all the advise and I will document the project's build as I go.
If I remember right he had a planset for sale also, if you can not get a hold of him drop me a line ,I have a set I would make a copy for you. Buddy
