HMS HALCYON
mine sweeper
hms halcyon class minesweeper.
fresh hull that i picked up today from our local hull builder at dreadnought hulls
very nice hull that has been made and finished quite nice. i will be doing a pretty much step by step process of building this boat for big gun combat.
I started by marking the 50mm from the bow and stern of the hull as this sets our start point for our peneterable windows.
Next i marked cap rail which is 12mm from the top of hull all the way around.
Next i proceeded to measure up the peneterable windows. starting at the forward line measuring 76mm back and mark a vertical line. then mark another line 10mm line back from this first line this is your first rib. repeat along the boat until you reach the rear line that was marked 50mm from the stern of the boat.
here is the close up of the step down. by increasing the area of the cap rail minimises the weak point that would be created if trimed down to fit closely. this will be increased to give it better strength but this is just how the ribs lined up.after this the water line was marked then a line 25mm down from the water line on every window was marked. this creates the peneterable area of the hull. the only point in which the bottom of the window isn't this far down is at the turn of the keel. this ensures there is adequate area for the balsa to be attached on later.
windows that had been cut out. i drilled a hole in the corner of each window to keep a neat finish in the corners of each window.
after cutting each of the windows with an angle grinder, a dremel with diamond bit also works well.
then using a sanding bit to round the rough edges in each corner.
next is the cap rails for the hull. using aerated 6mm pvc board. cut into 10mm wide strips for the deck to sit on.
Next the cap rail is lined up and clamped to be held in place and the holes for the rivets are drilled.
then using the above glue is spread along the cap rail edge. and riveted in place.