thibaultron

hello every body
 
I have made some sacks from tea bags I have previously used, the paper  bags are pretty suitable for this job, so is the tea particles inside :-)
 
mehmet

hi everybody
here is the progress so far, sails are furled and attached to spars, I decided all sails to be furled so that rigging and deck details can be seen clearly
mehmet

hello
I am Mehmet from Turkey-Ankara
I have recently started building Ottoman Cargo Boat, I also have applied some weathering, will attach more photos as I progress. I would be glad to hear your suggestions
 
mehmet

When Kitty    gets to the rigging you don't want any glue down in the mast hole, either.

Don't blame the kitty!  It was the dogs, in the library with the candle sticks

As some of you also experienced with your own logs, some photo links were lost during a software upgrade a while back.  The V108 tutorial lost a can-load of pics, too.  But all is well now - the pictures have been restored.  Model on!

I have been using commercially made plastic planking screws for years. They work quite well  but after a while the head of the screw starts slipping in the plastic casing. It is not accessible and super-gluing it on the outside is only partly successful.
 

 
I thought about investing in the Micromark metal clamps, but they are a bit expensive. I then came up with the following idea and made a set of my own planking screws.
 
Sneaking into the back yard under the cover of darkness, I pilfered some of the Admiral's plastic pegs from her peg basket.
 
 
 
I dismantled the peg and cut off the ends
 

 
I then used some 8mm dowel and some 4G by 20mm wood screws to make the `handle' of the planking screw.
4G by 20mm was the thinnest/longest screws I could find so I had to recess them into the dowel so they were long enough to go through the bottom. I had to grind the screw heads a little so they would fit through the dowel.
 
  
 
I then cut notches, using my hobby knife,  into the `wedge' of peg that I had cut off and drilled a hole as close to the end of the notch as possible (this gave the most leverage when screwing in the planking screw)
 
  
 
The pic above shows a peg end with
and without the slot
 
I then fitted the dowel `handle' to the peg `wedge' to create the planking screw.
 

 
It did not take long to make up a set
 

 
They worked quite well, especially on straight runs
 

 
I thought I was very clever until the Admiral questioned me about all the half pegs in the rubbish bin! Gulp, I knew I should have buried the evidence!
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hello Tony,
 
Welcome aboard.
 
There is another topic here about wood screws.
Brian (Problablynot) posted this link http://www.screwsline.co.uk
 
Good luck.
 
Anja

Chesapeake Bay Flattie by Richard L — Midwest—SMALL Scale 1:32
 
This is my second wooded ship/boat kit. My first was Midwest’s Yacht Skiff. I made many mistakes, but learned a lot from it. I hope it will permit me to achieve a better result with this kit.
 
Here’s what’s in the kit:
 

 
This photo shows the keel and the bulkheads. Three of the bulkheads have braces glued in place.
 

 
Test fitting the bulkheads to the keel.
 

 
Attaching the first bulkhead to the keel.
 

 
I have cut pieces of aluminum angle stock to use when clamping to keep the bulkhead square with the keel.
 

 

When Iam building I have a few tools I would not want to be without. There is the hobbyknife, the steel ruler, a sandingstick and... my handdrill. 

I use is a lot but the problem is you have to change the drillbits every time you need another size. Last month I wrote down the drillsizes I use most and I came up with 5 populair sizes. 

So I ordered 4 more handdrills and I made a good looking socket for them and now I never grab wrong when I need a drill.

This one has been tough to get a hold of on the used book market, so glad to see it re-released!
 
The Whaleboat: A Study of Design, Construction and Use From 1850 to 2014 is back in print, and updated by author Willits Ansel’s son, Walter, and Walter’s daughter, Evelyn.
 
The revised edition of The Whaleboat is the definitive source for information on this important workboat type. Written by former Mystic Seaport shipwright Will Ansel, its 147 pages include drawings and specifications of five common whaleboat rigs, as well as whaleboat line drawings and construction drawings.
 
The 2014 edition of the book includes an Acknowledgment written by son Walter Ansel and an Afterword written by granddaughter Evelyn Ansel.
 
8" x 9", 176 pages, 152 illustrations and 8 foldout plans, paperback
 
Cost is $24.95 plus shipping, available via the Mystic Seaport Museum on-line store at https://store.mysticseaport.org/the-whaleboat-a-study-of-design-construction-and-use-from-1850-to-2014.html
 
 

Here you go:  http://www.motionco.co.uk/timing-pulleys-timing-pulleys-aluminium-c-25_35_48.html
 
Good service and a wide range to choose from (usual disclaimer).

I'd like to thank you for this wonderfull build log!! Great writeup, pictures, and clear descriptions.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 1 - Decisions 
I took most of the summer deciding whether I would undertake another ship model and if so, what the scope and subject would be.  I had a lot of time to think about this while catching up on neglected home maintenance and repair projects.  After deciding that I needed the challenge of another ambitious project, the decisions on scope and subject kept me busy through July.  I also had to decide whether I could commit to another Naiad-like build log.  We shall see.
 
I received a number of suggestions on subjects and that input is most appreciated.  Since I expect this project to span a number of years, the decision was a big one.  I have enjoyed wrestling through the process of deciding.  I had a number of criteria:  1) significant design/drafting content, 2) fully-framed construction to further explore my interest in structures, 3) a change from the well-trod path of fully-framed 18th Century Royal Navy subjects, 4) avoiding commonly modeled ships, and 5), I thought it was time to do an American ship. 
 
Before focusing on the extreme American clippers, I considered, among many other possibilities, a 19th Century American warship, perhaps steam-sail, and looked seriously at some of the ships by John Lenthall, built locally at the Philadelphia Navy Yard – examples: Germantown (sail), Princeton (screw/sail), Susquehanna (paddle/sail).  
 
In the end, the idea of the extreme clipper was too attractive to dismiss.  To me, this type represents an apex of achievement in wooden sailing ship design and construction – in terms of sleek hull lines, sailing performance, structural development and sheer beauty.  In the design of the extreme clippers, minimum tradeoffs were made to the one paramount design parameter  - achieving the shortest sailing times between far-flung ports.  Speed meant not only sleek hull lines and a spread of canvas, but also the strength to withstand continuous hard driving, day-in, day-out. 
 
After deciding on the clipper – and an American (meaning all wood) clipper - I chose the work of William H. Webb of New York.  It would have been easier to select something from his more popular competitor, Donald McKay, but McKay’s ships built at East Boston, have long been widely modeled – Staghound, Flying Cloud, Lightning and others. McKay’s papers do include substantial structural detail – very tempting.  Webb, too, has left papers, and these have been explored, with information published in the secondary sources I have used.  There are many gaps, but there is a family resemblance in details to all these ships and many practices and scantlings were commonly adopted.  Webb presented more of a challenge – in more ways than one – as I will describe later. 
 
Of Webb’s ships, I chose Young America, built in 1853, his last extreme clipper.  Less is known about her construction than some of his others, so the task of piecing her structure together is more interesting.  I will discuss this, the ship, and the extreme clipper era in the next posts.
 
Below is a photo of Young America, docked at San Francisco, a frequent port of call for her.  She was built mainly for the East Coast to California trade.  In the picture she is rigged with double topsails - a modification from her original single topsail rig.  There are also some paintings of her.  She was considered Webb’s masterpiece – one of his twelve clippers in a list that included renowned ships like Challenge, Comet, Invincible, Flying Dutchman – all of these examples being 200 to 240 feet in length. YA enjoyed a thirty-year career that included fifty passages around Cape Horn.  She set a number of sailing records and earned a ton of money for her various owners – and for those who made money betting on passage times.  In 1883 she left Philadelphia carrying 9200 barrels of Pennsylvania case oil, cleared Delaware Bay and was never heard from again.
 

 
The model may be fully rigged.  I will decide later.  With the hull length involved (240’) the scale is likely to be 1:72, but that is not yet cast in stone.
 
Structural drawings are well along and I expect to start construction later in September.
 
I hope these posts will be of interest and perhaps draw some attention to this somewhat neglected modeling genre.
 
Ed
 
 
 
 

So here we go... My first build log!
 
First off I have to say after reading through some of the other build logs on this site, my hat's off to many of you self described "newbies" out there who are ambitious (and skilled) enough to tackle a large multi-masted plank on bulkhead/frame model for your first wooden ship build. As I stated in my intro thread, I even found beginners kits such as the Model Shipways "Phantom" to be pretty challenging and so I have decided to take a very gradual approach to learing this art.
 
For one thing, I don't have a lot of time to devote to my hobbies at this stage in my life (job, kids, etc...), and I need something I can finish in a reasonable amount of time. Secondly, I want something that I, with my very entry level skillset, can do a reasonably presentable job on. Lastly I want a project that will teach me basic skills I can use on my next (slightly more advanced) model.
 
With all that in mind, I have decided to start my wooden ship modeling education with several of the Midwest Products line of smaller boat kits. In my introduction, I stated that I would begin with the "Chesapeake Bay Flattie" but after further review, I think I will actuall start with the "Chesapeake Bay Crabbing Skiff"
 

 
The reason for the change is that I believe this to be the simpler of the two kits. Both are skill level 1, but the crabbing skiff has much simpler rigging.
 
So, the first step for me is to set up a work area. I've already been aquiring a few basic tools and I will make those the subject of my next post. Until then... smooth sailing!!!

I purchased the Model Shipway Roger B. Taney kit that I found on Ebay. The price was to good to pass up. I was more interested in the plans than in the kit itself. I have included some pictures of the kit content if anyone is interested.


Lots of tiny parts. Metal belaying pins, wood blocks. The deadeys are either metal or a hard plastic.

Anyone have an idea of what type of wood the hull is?


One discrepancy I noticed is the steering. According to Chepelle, Morris Class Revenue Cutters (Roger Taney was of the this class) were the first government vessels fitted with geared steering wheels. He gives a pretty good description in "The History of the American Sailing Navy".

The scale is 1' = 5/32". If I did my math correctly that is 1:77.
The second descrepency is the length is listed as 73' 4". This tells me the plans are not for the Cutter Roger B. Taney. The plans are for either the Cutters Morris, Alexander Hamilton, Albert Gallatin or the Andrew Jackson.  The Cutter Roger Taney was based off of the plans for the Cutter Morris, but was 74' 6" in length.

The instructions are all of 4 pages.

 
Over all I believe the kit would create a nice model. There are some inaccurate details. The Cutter Roger Taney was based off of the Cutter Morris, but it was 1' 2" longer. At this scale it would be hard to tell the difference. The steering is the big issue. In "The History of the American Sailing Navy" Chapelle describes the geared steering mechanism yet in his plans "Inboard arrangement for Morris and class", he shows the barrel type steering.
 
So which type of steering did the Revenue Cutter Roger B. Taney have?
 
If anyone has any opinions, insight, more or better information please chime in.
 
Till next time, see Ya!

Made up this simple rack for holding clamps when drying painted parts. Pics are self explanatory.
 

 

 

 

Add the acid, ANY ACID including HCl, to the water - NOT the other way around. Some acids can explode if water is added to them!
 
Grant - stand corrected. Keith is right .
 
 Danny

Hi,
Mast and yards tapering with use drill or power screwdriver and sander.
It's work!
Tadeusz

I'm using this practice method myself right now to get down a technique. Home Depot has dowels in the mouldings section that are the exact right sizes for masts and spars, and are perfect practice material.
 
For those that do want to go with block planes or spokeshaves, Lee Valley has a particularly fine collection of mini wood-shaping tools perfect for working with small dowels and wood shapes.
 
http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=70138&cat=1,41182

Ahoy Mates  
 
Here is another really good video that answers many basic questions. Lots of common sense info. He also demos an inexpensive can adapter for airbrushing large areas that might be all some hobbyist need  
 

I use Popsicle sticks, available cheaply in large packs, for the same purpose. The fact that they are wood and they absorb the paint in a similar way as model components helps me with fine tuning.

Ahoy Mates
 
In my never-ending quest to improve my airbrushing techniques and models  I have found this video
 
It is not an airbrushing video although he does use airbrushing paints. Most noticeably Vallejo's new Metal Model Air colors which may be of interest to many here. What he achieves is impressive. The author has also turned me onto a new hobby.
 
Airbrushing plastic utensils.  They are cheap and provide an excellent surface in which to develop painting skills, new techniques or possible color combinations before applying them to your models. I am developing a collection of spoons that are weathered, have panel lines and rivets, depth to color, fades, and even look like their made from everything from leather to metal. I plan to paint a spoon, knife or fork (forks are good practice for covering multi layers objects) before I paint anything on my kits. It only takes a few minutes and confirms my mix, pressure, airbrush and warm up the operator before the main task. 
 

Richard, if you are going to use an oil based varnish you might want to consider getting yourself a cheap single action airbrush to apply it. I bought a very cheap one for $17 an I apply a 50/50 mix of satin polyurethane and low odour turpentine. I find the cheap single action is fine for this job and it is easier to clean out an oil based product from it than it is from my more expensive double action sparmax DH103.

This article by our very own Wayne Kempson is a "must read" for anyone starting out lofting in CAD:
 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/plans_and_research/DraftingShipPlansInCADwayne.pdf
 
I use TurboCAD (for Mac) and found Wayne's article a tremendous help, even though it's not TurboCAD-specific. The commands are all fairly common across software packages (I think). Wayne will also answer any specific questions you might have if you PM him.