Maine coastal Schooner Fanny Gorham 1880 1:96

[jimbean]

Originally Posted by at6

Remember, wood is only known as pre-paper. lol.

Very true AT6. Also all of the plywood could have been replaced by 1 mm card.
Here I am putting on the waterways. I am not sure of their function but it may be to
make a seal between the deck planks and the bulwarks to keep water from
running down the inside of the bulwarks.
The fourth picture shows a little tool I made from scrap to mark the inside edge
from the outside edge. The width is supposed to be uniform 5/16 inch.
Jim

[Michael Mash]

Paper and wood make good partners.
My first two ships had balsa hulls.
Nice work.
Mike

[jimbean]

Thanks Mike

Finally some paper!!!
The port side bulwarks as far back as it seemed to want to follow the frame.
There will be another layer over this but not going so far down. I am thinking
that the bottom hull pieces will overlap the inner piece and butt up to the outer.

The last pic shows the bow. This ship has a very heavy keel
(5/32" or 4mm = 1.25 feet) so the bulwarks don't come to a point.
A laser cut bow frame will be glued onto then flat part.

[jimbean]

Hi all, a little more work on the Fanny Gorham.
The second layer over the bulwarks and upper side straightened out the wrinkles.
Added both layers at the stern. For a working ship that is neither fast nor sporty I still think that she has very pretty lines at the stern.
Jim

[jimbean]

Some more on the Fanny Gorham. The stbd side bulwarks both layers.
Also a start on the bottom covering.
The bow pieces are necessary before the stem can be attached.
Finally using a dummy keel and a dummy bowsprit to line up the stem and
the stem attached.
Jim

[jimbean]

The Gorham is now completely covered. It looks pretty bad but it will be planked over.
The keel is in place with gaps for the mounting spindles, and a trial fit of the base.
The centerboard slot is visible next to the keel and a trial fit of the centerboard.
Note that it is offset to stbd so that the keel is not pierced.
The rudder is set into the keel, I guess for protection in case of grounding.
The ship is designed to use shallow harbors so grounding is a concern.
I am reading up on planking. There are tutorials but they are not simple.
Finally before planking can start the bowsprit will have to be fitted so the bow can
be closed. the last pic shows it temporarily stuck in place.
regards Jim

[jimbean]

Sorry my bad. I omitted half of the pics.

[jimbean]

I had convinced myself that planking could begin but it began to look as if the cap rail
needed to be in place first. In preparation for that the timber heads (tops of frames)
and the catheads had to be installed. These pics show the port side cap rail partially
complete. It buts up to the cathead on each side.
Jim

[jimbean]

hi all,
The cap rails are in place with the "buffalo" rails above them. I have no idea why they are called that.
Above that are short fairlead rails to direct the downhaul lines from the foresails.
Also fairleads on the deck for the anchor lines and a small pinrail for the downhauls.

So now maybe planking can begin. It is a tricky business. There are 21 planks at the
stem which bulge out to 29 planks at the widest and tapering to 24 planks at the stern.
This is going to take some figuring.
Jim

[jimbean]

Not too sure how to proceed with the planking.
I decided to put 4 equal width planks at the rail and keel and then figure out how to taper the ones in between.
It looks like they will be about 25% wider in the middle.
The results are better looking from a small distance.
Jim