MEDDO

Riding Bitts are completed and temporary in situ, I decided to show the full length cleats between the upper/lower deck beams. They still need final sanding and finishing to complete later.
Now onto the next set of bitts.
 
ben

Those look really nice especially if you were able to whip em up over the weekend.  Properly scaled figures always add life to a static model and really help with visualizing the scale of the project

Thanks Glenn.  Winston & Newton Galeria acrylic brand with the color crimson.  Although I have never used them my daughter who paints uses Grumbacher brand and seems to like them.  I may try them on next model which may just be the Cheerful.  Following you as you get started has me looking forward to the next one.  I still have  much to do with this one before I make that decision 
 
 
Recent progress

Lotsa progress on the model over last few days.  I added some WOP last night and the cherry really does look nice.
 

 
Tried some test nails just to see how deep I had to drill.  Seemed pretty straightforward.  Also added some Windsor & Newton crimson in 2 quick coats just to see what it looked like.  No real prep of the surface just a quick color check
 

Floors in.  Had to keep sanding down the frames until it fit at the appropriate level.  Fitting the very fore floor was the most difficult part but went smoothly.
 

 
 
Going to WOP the floors and let dry overnight.
 
Deo Volente
 

Was able to get the caprail on.  Instructions were very good especially the reminders to check the smoothness of the tops of the frames.  Took a few revisions until it matched nicely.  Just started to sand the outside flush and then the big job of sanding down the inner caprail and frames.
 
In other news the Governor just cancelled all schools in the state for 3 weeks starting Monday.  Luckily the Admiral is a teacher so we don't have to scramble for childcare like so many others.  Talk about a freekin panic.  She just came home from the grocery and says it was an absolute madhouse
 

Hello from New Zealand. This is Georges Christmas present, Dad has a real life Herreshoff (Buzzards Bay 25). 
 
Planking underway, building a model boat while living on a boat. Keen to hear from anyone else thats built this model.



 

Mike,
 
Schooner rigs were not "normal" with respect to square sail rigs, and virtually every "how to" book focuses on square sail rigs. Most of what the normally referenced sail and rigging books describe just doesn't apply to schooners. Everything about the schooner rig evolved to require the minimum crew and a minimum number of men aloft. The ships often did not have ratlines, and when a man had to go aloft he was hoisted or climbed the gaff sail hoops.
 
If you look at books on schooner rigs you will see that the fore/aft sails have minimal rigging. The masts also have just the basic shrouds and stays. There isn't a lot of rigging aloft to interfere with raising and lowering the upper yards. The lines for the jib and flying jib were usually attached to the fore mast above the spars for the top sail and topgallant. Only the fore stay was in the way of lifting and lowering the rigs. However, on larger ships the jib stay might be attached above the top yard and below the topgallant yard.
 
I have seen descriptions of the top sail rigs, but very little on how they were handled. But just looking at how they are rigged you can see that they had to be maneuvered around the fore stays. The sheets, cluelines, reef tackle, braces, halliards, bowlines, buntlines and lifts would have to be  rigged to the spars and sails on deck. Then the running ends would have to be led around the stays and shrouds or over the fore yard to avoid interference as the spar was lowered or hoisted. It sounds complicated, but if you think about it the process is no different from the procedure to replace a spar on a square rigger. But there were only one or two sails involved on topsail schooners, and they were much smaller than the sails on a square rigger, and the spars were much lighter.
 
It appears to me that the lifts and braces bore the force of the wind on the sails. Because often there were no parrels the lifts pulled on the fore mast and the braces pulled on the main mast. In a similar way the course sheets transfer part of the force to the hull. However, on some rigs parrels were used for the top yard, but these were detached for raising and lowering the yards.
 
Again, I recommend Petersson's Rigging Period Fore-and-Aft Craft as a reference for topsail schooner rigs.
 
Also, you can find some descriptions of modern topsail schooner rigs and rigging practices on line.
 

Thanks everyone for the likes!
 
I ordered some sheets with the correct width so I hope to receive them soon.
 
Small update.  Been working on sanding down the stem and bulwarks near the bow to thin it down to allow the bollard timbers to fit correctly.  Here is a pic of my first attempt of making a bollard timber.
 

 
The top piece, the 1/64" strip, needs to be sanded down but I will do that tomorrow.   I also beveled the outer and inner sides.
 
Its a little hard to capture in a picture but I tried to match the curve that the planks will follow.
 
I will try to start working on the matching pair tomorrow.
 
Thanks!
 
Jeff

Greetings all,
While I am pretty sure posting anything made from a 3d printer is probably bad form here I wanted to share a side project I worked on over the weekend. I personally love seeing crew figures on model boat/ships but always have a hard time finding them in the scales or poses I want. This weekend I digitally drew out 4 "age of sail" style crew in 4 poses in my 3d aoftware. I then printed them in 1/48 ish scale. The awesome part about having these designs is I can size them up to 40mm or down to 3mm tall.   I think they would look at home on a pirate ship or navy vessel depending on how they get painted. In the second photo I have compared my prints to an Amati figure (right) and a 1/48 scale figure on the left. The figure with the saber was literally transposed from a Captain Morgan rum ad! The UV light is used to cure the resin.
 
Has anyone else done this?
 

McMaster-Carr is an excellent source for tubing, sheet, special shapes, fasteners, materials, tools and much more:
 
https://www.mcmaster.com/
 
The prices are usually better than hobby suppliers.
 

Spritsail and spritsail topsail yard arm BANDS and EYEBOLTS
 
From Steels mast making 1794 plate 1, or Ree's plate VIII, we can see the image of the spritsail yard.  There are eyebolts and metal bands at each end of the yard arm.  The bolts measure approximately 1 inch (25mm diameter) which at 1:64 scale is  0.0156 inches (0.04 cm).  The copper wire I used is 0.02" (0.05 cm) diameter which makes it 1-1/4" (3 cm) at 1:64 scale.
 

First I added the metal bands at each end of the yard arms.  The metal band is about 1-1/2" to 2" (3.8 to 5 cm) wide as best as I can measure. The extreme end of the yard measures 7" (18 cm) diameter on the larger yard and 5" (12 cm) diameter on the smaller.  To scale these are 0.11" (3 cm) and 0.08" (2 cm) diameter .  They are much too small for me to roll a copper strip and solder, so I used the method suggested in The Fully Framed Model (TFFM).  I took a sheet of white 20 lb bond paper (regular photocopy or printer paper) and coloured a small portion with black permanent marker.  I turned it over and coloured the other side so the ink would soak through completely.  Having had the ink soak through meant I would not have a white edge after cutting the strip.  I then cut a strip about 1/8 inch wide (3 cm), applied diluted glue to both sides and applied it to the yard. It did overlap to create a bit of additional thickness.
 


To make the eyebolts I wound the smaller wire around a 16 gauge (0.064 inch or 0.16 cm) wire to form the eye.  At 1:64 scale this is a 4 inch (10 cm) inside diameter (ID) eye.  Although the Ree's/Steel's drawing suggests smaller ID, I could not imagine a smaller hole in an eyebolt on a yard arm on a ship tossing at sea.  I pulled this tight against the mould wire with pliers to get a good circle shape.  The overwrap was cut back and adjusted to contact standing end as solder will not fill gaps.

 
I found my parallel pliers were the perfect tool to re-straighten this tiny wire as it grips the complete length rather than pinching one end.  (Thank you Druxey!)  I could have rolled it out but might have damaged the bent eye.
 
I used a copper-phosphorous solder (thanks to Ed T in his post of 4 April 2014 in his build of HMS Terror on this forum) as I had bought it back in 2016 for this build and had not yet used it.... has it been that long?  This will be used in lieu of silver solder as it is less pricy and chemically blackens well as it is copper based.  I do not have silver solder.  I could have used regular plumbing (soft) solder on these eyebolts as they will not be under any stress nor will they be chemically blackened.

 
I hauled out my never used butane torch and GRS soldering station (Gesswein Canada)... It took awhile to realize my first problem was the torch was empty... luckily I had purchased a refill bottle way back when I got the torch.  Thanks to a soldering display by Ray Peacock of our local club I saw the usefulness of the soldering station and so bought one and have had this sitting at the ready for the better part of a year.
 

My first two attempts at soldering were terrible.  I've soldered copper pipe in my home but this is different.  The hole or void in the eye plugged up completely on both and I disintegrated (melted) the first.   I found that if I cut a tiny piece of solder, warmed up my eyebolt and moved the piece of solder against the joint it would get sucked in.  I then turned it over and re-heated to try to eliminate any blobbing.  The copper wire was blackened with permanent marker as I was reluctant to chemically blacken something so tiny as the process is actually oxidation or surface corrosion and I had already vapourized one eyebolt.  Possibly I shouldn't be concerned, but this is what I did and why.

Using a #70 (0.028 inch or 0.07 cm diameter) bit and pin vise I drilled holes into the each end of the yard arms, centered as best I could.  I trimmed the standing end of the eyebolts (about 1/2" or 1.3 cm long) and slipped them into the yards.  Presently they are dry fitted.
 
If experienced modellers tell me the eyes are too large I can take these out and replace them.... should I?
 
I've yet to make blocks, sails, rope, and attach them to the two yards.  The sails will be furled.  The parral trucks and ribs are made for the spritsail topsail yard but I do not have the proper rope as yet.
 
Everything is presently back in the storage box to keep it safe.

If you go the chessboard route, I can guarantee that any light colored pieces you drop will land on white, and any dark pieces will land on - yes, you've guessed it!

Capstan experiment one.  I got bored and burnt out making inventory items.  So I decided to test out my parts for making the lower capstan.  I have had the parts laser cut for a while.
 
I didnt take any construction photos as this was just a test but keep in mind this is way before we will actually need it.  I am always just a little ahead with the design stuff.   So I will make another and document each step.   I want to make the center spindle a bit heavier that goes between decks above the capstan drum.   So I will tweak that before I make a new one.
 
But what I wanted to show you guys is how I did it.  I tried a new design for fitting the chocks into the whelps.
 

Below you can see my very first proof of concept testing to see if I could laser etch notches on both sides of the whelps.  It worked beautifully.  So all you need to do is slide the chocks in after test their fit.   This was a challenge even at this scale because these parts are still pretty tiny.
 

 
The other parts including the capstan drum are all built as usual in layers on a 1/16" x 1/16" stick to register them.  Very similar to the way I designed the stern lantern mini-kit for the winnie.
 
This was a fun mini kit to build and will look great painted or left natural.  I will detail its construction in Chapter 5.....sorry to jump the gun.  I couldnt help myself.  These will be made available as stand alone mini kits in 1/4" scale and 3/16" scale as well.
 

 
 
 
 

Hello to you, modelmaker friends, the construction of the Belle-Poule continues quietly.
Today work is carried out on the hardware of the battery bridge.
This subject is not very followed, I post some photos which brings us quickly to the current state of the site.
For a more detailed follow-up it is possible for who wishes, to follow this construction on the following forum:
 
https://5500.forumactif.org/t3216-la-belle-poule-de-1765-au-1-48-par-guydal
 
Bonjour à vous amis modélistes, la construction de la Belle-Poule se poursuit tranquillement.
Aujourd'hui le travail s'effectue sur l'accastillage du pont de batterie.
Ce sujet n'étant pas très suivi, je poste quelques photos qui nous amène rapidement à l'état actuel du chantier.
Pour un suivi plus détaillé il est possible pour qui le désire, de suivre cette construction sur le forum suivant:

https://5500.forumactif.org/t3216-la-belle-poule-de-1765-au-1-48-par-guydal
 









2019 (45).RW2

good morning, its me again
 
we have lights, phots are poor, but we have lights, 

I wondered for a moment what the 'Pacmen' were for! Nice progress.

Rear cabin wall and rear cabin  windows completed. Mahogany looks OK with the Lime floor.

Yes that is an eye bolt also
 

Smaller topsail schooners (50-80 feet between perpendiculars) usually had one top sail. Longer schooners had a top sail and topgallant, or lower and upper top sails, depending upon the period.
 
The fore yards were supported by slings attached to the fore top, and controlled with braces and lifts.
 
The highest yards usually were supported only by halliards and controlled with braces and lifts, with no parrels or attachments to the mast. They were lowered to the deck for rigging the sails and lines, and then hoisted aloft. This way no one had to go aloft to raise the sails, and you often see drawings and plans with no rat lines on the stays.
 
The gaff topsails were rigged in a similar manner, supported only by halliards and sheets, often with a top spar (gunter) that was hoisted in a similar manner to top sail and topgallant yards. Again, the sails could be rigged on deck and then hoisted aloft.
 
Some of the largest schooners (greater than 100-110 feet in length) had rigs more like the full rigged clipper ships of the mid 1800s.
 
Of course, these are just general "rules" and different masters and owners had their own variations. And in addition the standard sails they had means of hanging a lot of additional canvas in studding sails, water sails, ringtails, staysails, gunter sails, courses, bonnets and drabblers.
 
Howard Chapelle's The Baltimore Clipper is the best reference for these ships.
 
Lennarth Petersson's Rigging Period Fore-and-Aft Craft is an excellent reference for rigging small to medium topsail schooners - Baltimore clippers.
 
Harold Underhill's Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship & Ocean Carrier is an excellent reference for mid to late 1800s clipper ships and coastal schooners, English style. But by then the design had evolved so everyone was building topsail schooners in more or less the same way. He provides very detailed drawings and descriptions for rigging these ships.
 
I have a bunch of the other "standard" references for ship rigging, but most of what they say applies only to large square rigged vessels. Topsail schooners were a breed apart, with a rig that evolved for handling by very small crews. However, these references are handy for deciphering the nautical terminology.
 
George W. Blunt's 1858 revision of Darcy Lever's 1808 The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor described the American way of rigging ships in the early to mid 1800s. Again, it is mostly about square rigged ships, but it does describe how the lines were rigged and has quite a bit that applies to fore and aft rigs.

Fluorescent tubes become slowly obsolete and are replaced by LEDs. The jury is still out as to their relative environmental impact and resources requirement, but one thing is for sure, they only need a fraction of the operating energy.
 
The stroboscopic effect is only relevant in conjunction with rotating machinery or (old-time) computer screens that have a refreshment cycle near the 50Hz/60Hz or multiples thereof.
 
As with all lamps, they have to be designed to diffuse the light in order to avoid too stark shadows.
 
I am currently using an 'architects' lamp for a single bulb, but replaced the bulb with a high-power (100W equivalent) LED-globe. The fluorescent tube in the illuminate magnifier stays until it burns out and will then be replaced by LEDs. These days you can get LEDs with virtually any socket that is used for traditional incandescent bulbs, halogen bulbs, or fluorescent tubes.
 
The architects lamp is good for draughting and working on flat pieces, but still does not illuminate surfaces very well that are turned towards you and it is not always possible to orient parts you are working on with the respective surface up. So I am looking for a light source that comes from my back, but without throwing my shadow onto the table.
 
I have put my writing desk perpendicular in front of the window, so that it is to my left. That's a good arrangement for hand-writing and -draughting (both of which I rarely do anymore), but when manipulating parts, we are typically working with both hands. So this needs to be considered as well.

When learning drafting we were taught that while natural north light is the easiest on the eyes, for drafting it must be supplemented by artificial light due to its inconsistent nature.  Direct sunlight should never fall on the drawing board because it is usually too intense and produces blind spots or highlights on either the paper or your instruments.  Soft natural light from the upper left is the most effective for you if you are right-handed and vice versa if you are a lefty.
    Overhead fluorescent lighting is well-diffused when it falls on your drafting board and produces few shadows when properly installed.  The light intensity should be somewhere between 60 and 100 footcandles on your drawing surface.  One effective source of light would be one of those adjustable floating arm drafting lamps with two 15-watt straight fluorescent tubes in the reflector head with a base that can be clamped to the edge of your drawing board.  Similar fixtures come with a single incandescent bulb or a combination of a 60 watt incandescent bulb in the center of the fixture with a round fluorescent bulb surrounding it. Some of these fixtures even have illuminated magnifiers attached to them which would be a great advantage for doing very detailed work on our modeling projects especially for those of us with failing eyesight.  If you use the fixture with two straight fluorescent bulbs, having one daylight bulb in combination with a white bulb would give the best results.  
    One caution with fluorescent bulbs is that they produce a stroboscopic effect when shiney tools are used under this light.  This can be annoying, but can be reduced by using a light with a higher wattage or by using a combination of fluorescent and incandescent bulbs.  I am not familiar with effects that the newer LED bulbs would have, but as long as confusing shadows are eliminated and the light intensity is sufficient you should be happy with the results.

I have used Satin Wipe-on-Poly on 3 models including my Medway Longboat and I have been very happy with the finish. I have also found that glue will bond just fine over it. I tried some tests where I compared the strength of two pieces of yellow cedar wood glued together with bare wood and on wood that had been finished with Wipe-on-Poly. Both of the joints were very strong. It's easy to use and I think it looks great to me so I'm happy with it.

You need a bigger workbench! Or not. Get two tables the same height and spread them as far apart as you want. You can also simply clamp a plank longer than your workbench to its top and put your ropewalk ends at either end of the plank. Or am I missing something here?