GLakie

Jusy testing proportions and trying to simulate steering mechanism under
 
Maybe to thin wheel a bit?
 
 

 

 

 

 

There am I again.
 
I have tried serving the rope for the stay's but that's not possible.......
Because there are a few ropes that turn in each other.
I have the difficulty that when I put the rope into the machine, the rope will not turn when I use the crank.
I put the rope taut.
I'm afraid that I damage the rope when I continue.
And it looks just great.
So I think I will have stay's which are not served.
 
Sjors

Looks great Dave!  Very nice! 

Just catching up after a couple of weeks away, Glenn.  Senses overload from the abundance of magnificent photos.
 
John

Have you looked at the Capnharv2's build log: Making a Ship's wheel for the USF Constitution?

The lantern looks good Dave. Great job.
 
Bill

Brilliant simply brilliant
 
B V

Dave..... that is simply "AWESOME".........
 
Frank

Looks great Dave!  Very nice! 

Nice job on the carronade Jesse! Steve's got a good idea with using a template as a guide! 

Update - Transom lantern housing:
 
Seems like I've been working and re-working this little fixture for at least a month. Keeping a reasonable octagon shape and matching up the base with the windows and then the top was very frustrating.
 
Finally managed to tweek it enough to live with the results.... dry fitted as seen here.
 

 
My only concern is the overall height of the lantern housing, which is the result of my shaping the radius of the roof. My eye says it should be slightly flatter.
 

 
After looking at it for a few days, and before gluing the fixture in place, I'll decide whether to reshape it or not.
Meanwhile....any opinions and comments from the crew is welcome and appreciated, as always.

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 our Saturday 'fix', Glenn. Outstanding work, as ever.

Interesting. So the buckets were one wide plank, with one U-bolt per spoke. In comparison, both Bertrand and Arabia had two parallel planks, each with two U-bolts per spoke, like this:
 
Arabia: http://janetbtaylor.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/arabia4.jpg?w=300
Bertrand (my model): http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/10356-steamboat-bertrand-by-cathead-187-wooden-missouri-river-sternwheeler/page-7#entry344717
Bertrand (as displayed at the museum): http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/10356-steamboat-bertrand-by-cathead-187-wooden-missouri-river-sternwheeler/page-7#entry348901
 
These two also don't have any reinforcing planks, just the bucket planks, which appear narrower in Arabia and Bertrand than in Heroine, though I can't tell for sure. Your reinforcing plank is 14" wide, which makes the bucket plank a bit wider still, while the others look like 12" or less to my eyes. But the overall bucket would be wider on both the later boats, given the double planks.
 
Any theories on these differences in wheel configuration? Is it just that Heroine is a smaller boat and so used a simple one-plank paddle? Or was there an evolution to broader, two-plank paddles as being preferable?
 
EDIT: additional question: what's the diameter of Heroine's wheel overall, compared to the width of the bucket? On Bertrand, the wheel was estimated at 18' diameter, with each bucket about 2' wide overall. My eye feels like Heroine has a different ratio, but measurements will tell if I'm off.
 
Also, looking back at my Bertrand wheel, it hit me that I never finished one important detail: the U-bolts on the buckets! I'd meant to draw them in with a fine marker, as I didn't think I could get them right with wire at 1:87, but apparently never did and never noticed. Luckily the wheel turns, so I can still do it without too much fuss. Embarrassing.

96 U bolts, that's 192 threaded ends, a lot of threading and tapping on top of the woodwork, you were a busy man this week.
 
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.

You can see a great example of this technique on Blue Ensign's Pegasus build log starting at post 1372

I'm extremely surprised by the amount of work you produce when I see all those builds in their various stages ... What's the next thing peeping out of a box, closet, garage, storrage, which we haven't seen jet ...?
 
Cheers
 
P.s. A ships name ... Popeye's Surprise ...

I can't even get started on one, and you've got a whole fleet going on. I can only bow to your "brassiness".  

Just fabulous!...how you keep everything straight with so many builds, I have no idea, but love following along as the story unfolds!
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Hi Denis

Well done on these great 'state of the fleet' photos. The photos of Experiment 3 are especially interesting and it's nice to see them front and centre.

So, if my maths is correct, that's 7 out of the 9 hulls you've got underway. The other two missing ones are Syborn and Titanic. Amazing capacity you have for hard work, that's for sure.

Cheers and all the best!

Patrick

MILITARY SCALE FIGURES
 
A number of modellers here on MSW show remarkable skills when it comes to sculpting small details to be added to their ships. The following list is by no means exhaustive, but just a few of the amazing sculptors I have seen are:
- NM Brooks
- Sawdust Dave
- Piet
… or, indeed, anyone who has modelled the Wasa, Sovereign of the Seas or any other heavily-ornamented ship.
 
Not to take anything away from the fine work done by these gentlemen, but not everybody (me !!) possesses their level of sculpting talent.
 
For the rest of us, the following idea may prove useful. Seen here, RSchissler shows how he has taken a pack of plastic figurines and trimmed them to create his knechten figureheads. These figures can be purchased in a variety of scale sizes, so choosing a size to suit your own build is very easy.
 
With Randy’s permission, I have lifted these photos from his Golden Hind build log. His steps should be self-explanatory:
 

And Paul's mother said... "fear is the mind destroyer"  I heard Ray Bradbury speak during a dinner under the wing of the spruce goose in 1986 at the ASTC conference.
 
Michael

Mark, I was able to get some chamoise leather (very very thin) from a modelling shop here in Aussie - this might do a reasonable job but I think there were canvas?  For my Endeavour I used some calico (well washed; put it on, wet it with a very diluted PVA/water solution, shaped and let it dry. Not perfect but...
 
cheers
 
Pat

Who me? Can't be. I had a Christian upbringing...I swear!!!