Rattlesnake by JSGerson - FINISHED - Mamoli - 1:64 - Using Robert Hunt’s practicum

[JSGerson]

The stretched view was then printed and compared with the original reduced plan to ensure the height sizes matched. Remember, I only stretched the image horizontally; the vertical dimensions did not change. In my case, I had to reduce the printed image a little bit. Between the scanning and printing the overall size of the image was not maintained. Two final prints (one for each side) were made for templates which were then rubber cemented onto a piece of ¾” x 1/16” boxwood. The boxwood piece was not part of the original wood package but was sent to me from HobbyMill when I was making the two interior bulkheads some time back. The Practicum stated to use 1/16” stock, but did not specify where it came from.

[JSGerson]

The rails have a molding a little different than the cheeks. This subtle difference required that my pseudo router rig be modified. The ball bit was changed to a trapezoidal bit because a square cut was required on each edge. Because the isn’t any mechanism on the rotary tool stand or the X-Y table to minutely adjust the height of the cutting bit, the fixed wedge was changed to a sliding wedge to make those adjustments by moving the work surface vertically a relatively short distance. Using the fixed wedge setup and moving the X-Y table would not have worked to do this because a restrictor pin was required. The pin restricted the depth the bit could cut horizontally into the wood. The X-Y table adjusted the pin relative to the bit without affecting the height of the bit. Hopefully the diagram and photo below will make this clear.

[JSGerson]

Based on the Hahn plans I made the molding cut narrower and shallower than what the Practicum showed. I believe Practicum’s were larger was because of the way I did it versus the Xacto knife method Bob Hunt used.

[JSGerson]

Once the molding was made, the backside of the rail was sanded until the stem end tapered as shown on Hahn’s drawing. I didn’t want to make the tapered end too thin because I was afraid it would become too fragile; so only about .01” was removed. A notch was added where the rails meet the deck and everything was then glued into place.

[Martin W]

Jon -- this is looking really good.  Your strategy for keeping the measurement of the rails exact is very interesting, and clearly effective.  I wasted several pieces that were consistently too short, so I wish I had your geometrical sense. 

 

I also like that full shot of your build.  The contrasts in the different woods comes out well.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[JSGerson]

Thanks. On a change of subjects, did you add the "RATTLESNAKE" name to the stern and if so how? If not are you planning to, and how?

[JSGerson]

Stern Nameplate

 

This is a slight detour from the head rails due to a discussion on the forum by sport29652 (Eric) on his difficulties of applying lettering to create the ship’s name on his Rattlesnake, I realized that I had the same problem: How does one get the name on the model? Eric tried dry transfer (rub on) lettering with satisfactory results, but whether he was satisfied or not, I don’t know. His work surface was larger than mine because I had added some horizontal molding across the transom. Getting lettering straight with proper kerning (spacing), justification, not to mention choosing proper font and sizing is no easy task on a plain, white, flat surface, like paper. Doing this on a wood surface, restricted space and on a model boat is not easy. In my case, I had to rule it out due to the small confined space on my model.

 

A second choice was vinyl lettering. It gives the illusion of raise lettering. The problem here is that the choice of size and fonts is very restricted especially with very small letters. My lettering needed to be about 2mm.

 

I took a third route: homemade decals. The range of fonts is huge and size is not a problem, plus the computer can adjust spacing, justification, and kerning. All one has to do is print it to the proper size on decal paper, spray the decal coating on, let dry, and apply.

 

Here is how I did it. I chose a font that approximated the font used by Model Shipways. Mamoli had a metal part with the stern windows, name, and carvings. Harold Hahn’s drawings didn't show any name. I typed in the name in Word, doubled the kerning to add space between the letters, and gave it a slight curve baseline. This was printed on paper and check for size. 

[JSGerson]

Once satisfied, a piece of decal paper was taped over the hole left by a trial cutout because this is where the name was going to print. Once printed, I let the paper sit for a while to insure the ink was properly dry. Then two light coats of decal spray was added and let dry. The decal was then trimmed very close to the lettering.

 

Instead of applying the decal directly to the model, I elected to make a nameplate, a plaque as it were, out of 1/64” Holly and applied the decal to that. A coat of Micro Sol, a decal solvent, was added to ensure adhesion to the wood as well reduce or eliminate the decal edge.  

[JSGerson]

The lettered nameplate in turn was then glued in place. I knew that ships of that era did that because the actual USS Constitution is done the same way. I chose Holly, a light colored wood, to add some contrast.

[Martin W]

Hey, that looks really, really good, Jon.  It actually even looks as through it had been carved into the holly.

 

Well done.

 

Martin

[JSGerson]

Thanks, and it is surprisingly easy to do!

[sport29652]

JSG, wow that looks great, it reminds me of the constitutions name plate. Seriously thinks about re-doing mine. I think yours is better and probably historically accurate

[Geoff Matson]

Wow it turned out great!

 

I will have to give this one a try when I need a name plate. Thanks. On my Constitution I used the dry letter transfer and was happy with the result

[Kenneth Powell]

Awesome. That's what I'm going to do on mine. With your permission of course.

[texxn5]

I like that concept and thought about doing the same thing. My problem is the lettering on the Morgan is white on black, and includes the home port as well as being only 1/8" tall. Have to figure out how to accomplish this.

[JSGerson]

You can't print white. That is the problem. The only way using the decal method I can think of is to reverse print:

• Paint the plaque white
• On the computer, make an dark opaque background (black or some other dark high contrast color) with white lettering
• Print the decal
• When placed on the white plaque the lettering will be white (because the decal will be transparent there) with a dark background

I did something like this for a logo which had white areas, on the propeller of the Albatross DVa model. In that case I painted a small white dot on the propeller and put the decal over it.

 

If you try it, let us know how it worked out.

Edited September 26, 2013 by JSGerson

[JSGerson]

Back to the Head Rails Again

 

According to the Practicum, there are four cross timbers per side that need to be constructed and installed. According to everybody else there are five. The one that is missing from the Practicum is the timber coming off the Hawse Reinforcement Boards. Why this was omitted is anyone’s guess. Each one must be custom sized and fitted.

 

First rough measurements were taken to form each cardstock template. The template was then traced onto 1/16” boxwood (In my case, scrap pieces leftover from constructing the head rails). The pieces were cut out with the scroll saw. After filing, sanding, and repeated fittings, the parts were finally formed. They had to be custom fitted due to minute dimensional variances on each side plus the numerous angles the pieces had to fit into. Because the head rails were only glued at the ends with very little glue surface areas, one or two were inadvertently knocked off with the most minor hit. The whole bow structure didn’t become truly stable until all the parts were glued together. In the picture below I show only four sets of timbers. I discovered the fifth one after I started to install them.

[JSGerson]

Here is what the bow looks like at this stage.

[JSGerson]

The next step is the construction of the grating and “seat of ease” otherwise known as the “head.” Again, for some reason (I suspect Mr. Hunt was running out time to publish the Practicum and he was building four boats at once), the Practicum is totally silence on its construction. For guidance in this phase, I will fall back to fellow Rattlesnake builder, Pasi Ahopelto’s wonderful but now unavailable build log. Luckily I made a copy of it for reference while he was posting.

Edited September 27, 2013 by JSGerson

[Martin W]

I'll be looking forward to your decision of how to handle those next details.  I still haven't tried doing the seats of ease, since I'm tangled up in rigging (carving sister blocks -- also left out of the practicum), but I'm kinda of the mind that they wouldn't be too hard.  It's the grating that still plagues me.  Pasi's photos show that he cut the notches for the grating before installing the top rail.  I don't know how easy it would be to go back and cut them with the rail installed.  And logically there has to be something for the men to set their feet on while "at ease" on the seats.

 

Your work is lovely -- the carving is very nice.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[JSGerson]

I'll be away from building anything this weekend so the earliest you will something will be at least a week away. For the notches, I think, due to the scale, butt joints would work for you. I'm thinking of using 1/32" x 1/16" boxwood (which I will have to mill myself) for the grating and will either notch completely across the cross beam or butt joint. Remember, Pasi was working to 1/4": 1' scale so he had the luxury of larger scale and therefore more space. The seat of ease does have a place for the user's feet. Using the seat, the sailor is facing inward towards the center-line and Pasi did provide a flat surface there. It should be interesting to see how this turns out.

 

What are the "sister blocks" you referred to?

 

Take care

 

Jon

[bdr449]

Dear colleague! Watching with interest for your work, because the order of the same ship. But go on ways to simplify certain details. Keep up the good work. Igor

[JSGerson]

Welcome aboard! I hope my experiences in building this model helps you to build yours even better than mine. As you may of read early in my build log, this is my first build of this type, so I hope you will forgive any errors I have made along the way. Good luck to you.

[bdr449]

This is also my first model. Finished building started manufacturing the mast

[JSGerson]

As you can tell from my log, I haven't started the masts or yards. In fact I have never made any masts or yards before. I hope you will create your own build log so I can learn from you by following your build and photos.

[JSGerson]

I couldn't follow Pasi’s build exactly as he built his model because he was working to a larger scale: ¼” – 1’. In particular, he used lap joints for his grating which I was not able to duplicate at my smaller scale. I therefore used butt joints because cutting clean, equally spaced, notches in the cross timbers either completely across or half way for lap joints was beyond my ability and it would not be noticed to the casual observer without a magnifying glass.

 

First, the cross beams made of 1/16” square boxwood were cut to size, fitted, and installed. 

[JSGerson]

Then the first of fourteen 1/64” x 1/16” grating slats were installed starting from the center. Following Pasi’s photos, I left a wide space in the center to separate the two gratings. 

[JSGerson]

It appeared that Pasi used Hahn’s plans only as a guide in that he made his slats the same width as the cross timber. I chose to make mine narrower. Even the Hahn plans were not drawn very consistently as to their width. As the installation progressed, it became obvious that this was not going to be easy. Working with an eye loupe on my glasses (I wear tri-focals), trying to hold the model at a steady and proper work angle while maneuvering the delicate slats into precise position, with proper lighting so I could see what I was doing, before the CA glue dried, proved to be a challenge. Oh did I mention that I had to fight to get my work stool from my cat? I mean how can anyone disturb a contented cat? 

[JSGerson]

As the slats installation approached the rails, accommodations also had to made to custom fit each slat around the rail supports and rail angles.  As each slat was placed into position, I waited at least 30 minutes before working next to it for the next slat less I touch it and knock it out of position. Work progressed very slowly. The results although not perfect in the close-up images, I believe will work. Next comes the seats of ease themselves.

[Martin W]

Hi Jon -- That's a lot of custom cutting and fitting, not to mention waiting for the glue to dry.  But the results look very promising indeed.  They make me begin to rethink the possibility of doing something like this for my own build, though I'm about to fit the jib in place, so I'd better decide fast.

 

Your cat looks more than content -- that look could even be seen as a warning:  THIS IS MY CHAIR NOW!  A handsome fellow, though, and surely seaworthy.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin