steamschooner

Do you ever have one of those days when your shoulders just camp up from too much time at the table?
 
Moving onto the masts, I was going to use brass and redo the entirety of both Masts from scratch. The kit ones are just not that bad, they just have no detail.
 
I trimmed off the yardarms, and started with them at bare poles. At this scale, this is where the sore shoulders began. As you can see the photo of the photo etch, the platforms for the searchlights are planked, but Huff says they were metal plate, so I just glued some on top and filed it down.
 
Using some spare yardarms from my Varyag build, I added proper yardarms and signal rods, plus the other etched platforms required. Rigging this stuff will be a nightmare. I still have to add the 4 lights which are aftermarket as the kit ones are blobs of plastic. I also have to add the searchlight control boxes which sit below them which I'll fabricate from resin. 

Thanks for the tips and support, everyone. It is much appreciated. I will be experimenting with different 'gilt' finishes over the next few days.
 
The first photograph shows the ends finished in gold paint. This was unacceptable, as previously mentioned.
 
The second picture shows the inner side of one end piece and the other stripped of finish. There is a channel running across the lights between the layers which will enable me to slide the frames for the lights and glazing in after I finish the outer sides.
 
The third photograph shows the ends of the coach temporarily in place. After the seating is in place the ends will be permanently installed and the sides constructed to a sliding fit.
 
Next be to constructed will be the seating inside the coach.

Bit of paint and weathering, comes up OK, added some Artwox Chain (Park from Artwox is sending me some Fairleads which are not included). I have not even started on the spare anchor or its' fish davit, nor railings. Long way off. As you can see it is a very small area and adding more tackle will just look too busy. You may notice I have added an ammunition elevator, winch, vents and a hatch mentioned no where else but in the Huff plans.
 
Its a 21 year old kit, so it's getting old in the tooth.

Moving back to the front of the bus, this has probably been the most labor intensive part for such a small area. Cutting off the bollards and re shaping the capstans etc, scratch building the anchor chain brakes, adding the metal deck, it is so bloody small it has become a case of less is more as adding any extra tackle will just look messy.  I have added an open source photo from Eduard how it is supposed to look if you just use the Eduard stuff.

For the coachwork there are numerous repetitive ornamental mouldings. The first of these to produce is a five-reeded column. This is ⅛" wide, so it was tricky to work. I used a micro-milling cutter (Proxxon) on my mill using an x-y table to incrementally cut reeds into the stock. Also required were columnar capitals. Again, two different micro-milling cutters were used. One was a flat-bottomed cutter, the other a very small ball cutter. These produced a fair imitation of the design. 
 
The millwork is gradually being built up on the pattern piece. The pattern will be integrated into the coach, as the assembly will be painted when completed. The outer corners still need to be bevelled. Each column consists of three pieces. The reeds are stopped; that is to say, they do not extend the whole length of the column. Plain pieces of stock are grafted on the top and bottom to produce the effect of stopped reeding. In addition, there are small fielded panels in the column bases. These were cut in using a scalpel and a micro chisel. The panels in the doors and on either side were added using stock a scale ⅜" thick. 

Thanks for the likes, the comments, and the ideas.
 
Carl, I think you might be onto something. I never thought about coming in from the top.  I'll take another look this week and see.  
 
Pat, I seem to recall that build also... too many years ago,.. <sigh>  Oh yes, I'm logging the lessons.
 
 
Here's the rudder in it's not quite or maybe it is, final form.  (Rudder coat notwithstanding).  I've added the strop and the chains.   Now that's back in it's jig, I'm going to attend to several things...  the rudder coat install from the top, the carvings <takes a deep breath>, the quarter galleries, and a bit if finishing up the sanding on the inside of the hull.
 
And the pictures.  I'm pretty happy with it even with some issues that the macro brings up..  
 

 

 

Thank you, Hakån. I now intend to use a toned rather than pure black. The latter would look too intense at this scale.
 
This morning I performed surgery successfully on the planking and frames in the coach section. The end patterns for the coach have also been cut and fitted. Elastic bands hold the model to the pedestals temporarily.
 
There was some hesitation on my part as to the completeness of the draught. The side windows showed no indication of panes. Were they open spaces? In the 1830's modern sheet glass techniques had not yet been invented. Only spun glass was available for glazing, limiting pane size. The height of these openings was 19". Most panes during this time period were only about 15" high at most. I finally found a reference to spun glass panes that said the maximum dimension of these was about 23". Therefore I have the confidence to install single, large panes along the sides of the coach. Of course, these would have been expensive, showing off the Commissioners' importance and rank.

Once again, thank you for checking in and for your positive comments.
 
Progress today was slow. The tholes took more time than expected due to chipping as I parted them off the stock. I suppose about 40 were made, to finally end up with 24 useable ones. So it goes sometimes!
 
It is finally time to consider the coach. I realized that the panelled sides need to be inset, or they would overlap the sheer strake and gunwale considerably. This means cutting down the uppermost strake aft. The is a job for tomorrow when I'm fresh! I gave the aftermost part of this strake a preparatory coat of blue paint, but I'm having second thoughts and may change this to black. The draught indicates a dark color here, but no more.

Quick update
 
I roughed out a boom today it is clear fir
 

 

 

 
I will sit on this for a day or so and see how it feels then/
 
Michael

This week I tried to finish up the Paddle wheels.  I just about made it, just the nuts on the starboard wheel to finish.
 
The buckets for the paddle wheels were 15 to 16 inches wide, 60 inches long and 1 1/2 inches thick.  Each was attached to the spokes with two U-bolts.  The U-bolts were about 3/4 inch in section with a 2 inch nut.  Some of the bolts were entirely square in section, some were round and as in the photo, some were a little of both.  I'm not sure if there was a reason for the nuts being put on flat side out.

 
The area around where the bolts went through the bucket was reinforced with a short plank about 14 inches by 8 inches by 1 1/2.  Sizes varied and the seemed to be crudely cut.

 
I made several attempts to bend the u-bolts by hand but I couldn't get them to sit properly against the spokes.  I made a simple jig to swage each bolt and it worked well.  I was able to make the entire pile of 96 in less than a half an hour.

 

 

 

 
The individual pieces of the buckets going together.

 

 
The completed port wheel (minus the throw-out bearing) and the almost complete starboard bearing.

 

 

 

 

 
Kevin and I had the pleasure of a visit from Mitch Michelson this week.  Mitch, we enjoyed the day and hope to see you again soon.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 154 – Quarter Davits
 
It seems like a while since the last post.  Progress has been slowed by research, documentation and drafting for the rigging.  However, about a week ago the last of the four boats was completed and since then the quarter davits have been made and fitted.  The first picture shows the completed 22’ cutter that will be secured to the starboard davits.
 

 
The 6 sweeps were made from drawn bamboo flattened at one end.
 
The quarter davits were secured outside the hull just aft of the main channels.  The forward davits were supported by the channels.  The aft pair were held by iron brackets.  One of these and its bolt is shown in the next picture.
 

 
This is a top bracket – longer to account for the inward slope of the sides.  The lower brackets are shorter with a hole only in the top.  All were made from the brass rectangular section shown in the picture.  In the next picture a lower bracket is being installed.
 

 
The rails were mortised to fit these.  The next picture shows the top end of one of the davits in the lathe after cleanup of the solder and rounding of the top bearing.
 

 
The ends were fashioned by the method used for the poop handrail stanchions.  The next picture shows one of these shaped.
 

 
After cutting to size, this davit was fitted as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The next picture shows both starboard davits fitted with their hooks installed.
 

 
The last picture shows all four davits.
 

 
These will probably be blackened to simulate iron, but I have not decided.  They appear black in one of the photos.  I will probably put these into storage with the boat until later.  There is quite a bit of rigging to be installed along the rails that will best be done with maximum access.  The above picture shows a break in the belaying pins that extends almost the length of the boats.  Pins forward of the six at the forward end of the space will extend uninterrupted all the way to the cargo opening and virtually all will be used.  There were a lot of sails on one of these ships.  A half dozen square sails per mast, an equal number of studding sails on the forward masts, plus quite a few fore and aft sails.  While I do not intend to install sails, I do plan to install most of their rigging, excluding most of the studding sail rigging and other items like staysail sheets.  I expect access to be an issue.
 
Ed
 

Thank you for the "likes" and the comments.
 
Well.. to paraphrase Clement Moore...  "The rudder was hung on the sternpost with care in hopes that I won't pull out my hair".   Yeah.. bad verse.. Oh well.
 
This part took some sorting out on exactly how to hang it properly rather than sort of cobbled like I did the kit models...   Thank heavens for the Optivisor as the holes for the bolts were pretty tiny.  I've half a mind to build the next one at 1:48 or 1:36 even just so I can see without eyestrain.  Like the Admiralty would be receptive to that.     
 
Next up will be the rudder coat (hopefully), the strop, and the chains.   Thanks to seeing Giampero's rudder coat, he gave me some ideas on how the Licorne's should look.  
 
Anyway, pictures.....
 
  

Hi everyone and thanks for all of your comments and Likes!
 
Just a quick update.  The fit-out of Magellan's main deck's accommodation continues.  However, this time, I've jumped around again and started work on fitting out the main saloon.  Whilst it's still very early days, the galley now has some more cupboards added as well as a fridge.  Nothing's glued down yet, so it still looks pretty rough, but you've gotta start somewhere.
 
Sadly, I still haven't found the TV remote...
 
Cheers and Happy Easter, everyone!
 
Patrick

Thanks for all the positive comments and likes.
 
Continuing on with the goose-neck the filing of the opposite side.and the ends
 

 
I also needed to thin down the tongues a bit.
 

 
Next the holes for mounting to the mast were drilled and countersunk.
 

 
Then some final polishing, this was done with some wet and dry narrow strips and a brass wire hand brush. the piece was now ready to be unsoldered.
 

 
The releasing from the bar did not work in the way I had imagined, I had expected the short piece of bar to drop off because of its weight, but this did not happen, the capillary action of the soft solder was greater that I had anticipated, and by the time the assembly had gotten quite hot I realized that I would need to assist the parting. this I did with a steel scriber.
 

 
I had to work at removing the scale next, more work with the wet and dry and wire brush, the resulting look was now more like aged bronze with actually works for me. the swiveling part of the boom end was made from a couple of pieces of brass rod drilled out to be a loose fit on the pin.
 

 

 
The goose-neck is now temporarily attached to the mast with some dressmaker's pins.
 

 

 
Michael
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks for the compliment Druxey,  and thanks for all the likes.
 
Just a small update after filing the first side to a closer shape I needed to clamp the opposite side but the conditions were now different and it did not want to clamp the same as the first.
 
Here you can see that the base has been thinned down a lot.
 

 
The solution was to soft solder the base to the 9/16 rod this will be helpful also when it comes to drilling the mounting holes for attaching to the mast.
 

 
Michael

Thanks again, folks. No further finish on the surface of the base is necessary, Tom.
 
The latest progress has been slow. Making and installing the gunwale was tricky. It is a scale 2½" wide by ¾" deep. That translates to about 3/64" by 1/64" full size. I cut this to shape from sheet Castello and carefully rounded the outer edge with fine sandpaper. The gunwale was carefully glued to the upper edge of the sheer strake and frame tops.
 
At the bow, where the fore deck is flush to the upper side of the gunwale, revision was needed. I sanded off the paint and applied a very narrow strip of Castello over the sheer strake to match the rest of the gunwale. As masking off the top accurately would be almost impossible, I scribed the line dividing the painted area and re-painted the deck. 

Those poor souls!  I served on a ATF, a little bit bigger ocean tug and was in a few storms at sea. NOT fun I can tell you.

Those poor souls!  I served on a ATF, a little bit bigger ocean tug and was in a few storms at sea. NOT fun I can tell you.

Those poor souls!  I served on a ATF, a little bit bigger ocean tug and was in a few storms at sea. NOT fun I can tell you.

I've several reports over the last week or so but this one is the latest...
 
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/03/23/navy-tug-lost-for-nearly-century-found-in-waters-off-california.html

Thank you, everyone!
 
The next thing to tackle was the 'go faster' stripe along the sheer strake. Old paintings and extant ceremonial barges show either a green or scarlet strake. I opted for green, to contrast with the red paint. Securing the model on its side gently was a problem. Clamping was not an option! I decided to use a piece of dense styrofoam, which worked very well. I simply cut a slightly wedge-shaped piece out of the block and lowered the model into the gap. The masking used is Tamiya flexible tape.

Wow five pages in. There is so much amazing shipbuilding going on in these five pages, so I had to do a lot of reading catching up as I scrolled down looking for my own. Oh I know there is a quicker way, but this was so much more fun and educational
 
Belated thanks to all the comments and likes that I missed here in the last month indeed a whole month has passed where does the time go?
 
In order to get my head back into the Herreshoff mindset if that is at all possible, I went to the catalogues of the replica hardware and looked at a lot of pictures for the rigging. 
 
I have made a start on the classic goose-neck that Herreshoff used for the small boats. The line drawing in the product catalogue shows that they were sized for 3 1/2 to 5 inch diameter. The printed off the page 7 sheet drawing of the goose-neck is exactly 5/8 inch in diameter which is the scale diameter as the low end of my mast. A great bit of serendipity.
 
After doing a small scribble in my sketchbook detailing the steps to create the piece in bronze and what cutters to use to rough out the form. Then rummaging around in the scrap box produced a small bar of said bronze about 1 5/8 inch long by 3/8 wide by 11/32 thick checking the cross section with the plan of the goose-neck it was just a little bit larger covering the plan view.
 
This first pic shows the drill chuck I took the picture after all the first steps of milling and drilling the hole for the pin, I do not want to give the impression that I used this chuck for milling, I have commented on this practice in previous posts, and never mill with the drill chuck. 
 

 
In order then:
 
I set the bar vertical in the mill vice, and milled straight down with a 5/8 end mill so that it cut the resulting chord to match the edges of the 3/8 width.
The mill was retracted and the vernier dials on the mill were all set to zero, the end mill was changed to a 1/4 diameter mill then the edge was lined up with the opposite side and the in out axis reset to zero then offset first to the left by .172 inches next I took .020" cuts into the block for .250" this was repeated until I reached a depth of .3 inches, in retrospect I should have gone .350 deep.
 
The mill was returned to the starting point at zero and then offset to .172 and the same depth cut was repeated on the opposite side. again the mill was returned to zero and then changed up to the drill chuck all I had to do was reset the in out with a pointer to the edge so that I could index the piece in by .062" I then drilled it out to the .3 depth with a .047 drill after using a centre drill to ensure that the bit didn't wander. this concluded the first set up in the vice.
 

 
the bar was reset horizontally so that the gap could be milled out, if I had had a T slot cutter this would not have been necessary as I could have slotted it while still vertical.
 

 
I changed the chuck in the mill back to the milling one and set up a 1/8th end mill and milled the gap and a small relief at the top and bottom.
 

 
Next I switched the bar back to the vertical position and carefully reset the position so that the .047" drill slid easily back into the previously drilled hole it is a bit nerve wracking but I needed to tap the hole in the bottom bar of the body 0x80 and I wanted to make sure that it was all in line, it is so easy to break these small taps the pivot pin for the boom will thread into this later.
 

 
Now comes the work with the files and sanding stick of wet and dry paper. I cut off the milled end of the bar and clamped it in the precision vice. Remember I mentioned it would have been better to go to a depth of .350" on the first machining well the small tab is the reason. I had to file this extra bit off, it can be seen in the next picture. I used a small piece of 9/16 brass rod to act as a clamp jig.
 

 
That's all for now, this evening I will continue with the filing.
 
Michael
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

My question would be " where's the booze locker" and will it be fully stocked?

Nils, They look outstanding!

My question would be " where's the booze locker" and will it be fully stocked?