Jack12477

Welcome Michael. Yes, it has taken me a while to start a scratch build.

I finished the basket. Quite challenging trying to wrap 4 different pieces of wood around the template. I started with a 1/4 x 1/8 strip of basswood, then I added as the top piece a 1/8 x 1/8 piece of walnut to the basswood; as a final step I had two pieces (one inside, one outside) if 3-4 mm wide x .5 mm thick walnut veneer. For the "flooring" I cut small strips of veneer and glued then to the floor which is a piece of 1/32 birch plywood cut to the shape of the basket. As a final step I careful cut out using a razor saw the center slot where the basket fits over the backbone., sanding and filing until it fit. For some added strength and extra glue up surface I added the two sq piece of basswood to the underside edge. The thin veneer was especially hard to work with because each piece kept splitting as I tried to shape it to the curve of the basket. It's left over 2nd planking material from several of my Artesania Latina kits. Looks great when sanded and poly'd but splinters easily. Once everything is fully cured I will add a coat or two of high gloss poly.

While I wait for the arrival of some scale hardware from two different sources, I decided to tackle the "basket" next. In some historic documents, notably those of H. Percy Ashley who documented many of the early ice yachts, this is referred to as the "steering box" or "cockpit"; however I've only heard it referred to as the "basket" . The first photo below is of the basket on the Rocket. The 2nd photo is of a basket reproduced by my friend Reid who is restoring an old ice yacht. Note the original side rail in his hand which is from the original boat that was used as a template. To make my scale model basket I took measurements from one of H Percy Ashley's articles on ice yacht which is 8 ft length by 3 3/4 feet in width and 6 inches in depth. Scaling this down to 1:24, I then drew a rectangle on some graph paper 4 inches long by 1 5/8 inches wide. I then found the center line of the rectangle, then used a compass placing it so the pivot was on the centerline and the pencil touched all 3 sides of the rectangle; drawing an arc on each side of the rectangle. Transferred this to a block of scrap MDF and cut out the plug on my band-saw; I then smoothed off the curve on the miniature belt sander. Screwed the plug to a plank for stability and ease of handling, soaked the wood overnight, then used the hair dryer on hottest setting to slowly bend the wood around the plug. This will form the side rail. I will add a layer of ultra thin mahogany veneer left over from one of my Artesania kits to get the mahogany look seen on Rocket. Photos of the jig follow:

Welcome Mark & Steve, still lots of front seats available.

Marcus, go back to the beginning of this blog and look for the link "Rocket Launch - YouTube video" and click on it. You'll get a front seat view of her sailing over the ice - probably going between 55-60 MPH.

The dark spacers on the original are turned spindles - looks like mahogany - on the model I duplicated them with the tops of toothpicks I found in the grocery section of our local Target store. No, you're right on the original Carl, they used a threaded carriage bolt which I am trying to source. I just used to hex nut for perspective. Altho the hex nut bolts are used to hold the runners in place so I can still use them there. I'll post a photo later of the toothpicks I used. Updated for picture of toothpicks used.

Welcome Carl I've been fiddling with the runner plank, actually made 2 of them plus a tiny mock-up half plank to fiddle with. Been trying to match up some scale hex nuts for size. the one depicted below is a 0-80 x 10 mm hex bolt with low profile nut from Scale Hardware. I measured it with digital calipers and it scales up to about 2.2 inches in 1:1 scale, which may be slightly oversized. Next month I will get another chance to get more measurements so I will verify what size the bolts actually are. It's hard to tell from photos. Here's some progress photos to-date. The mock-up half section of plank to test the scale hex nuts. The model dry fit together (blue tape holding two halves of backbone).

Welcome Marcus. One of the <many> contributions from our Dutch friends.

As you can see in the previous photos the backbone is cut from two separate 40 ft long Russian White Spruce or Pine (forget what they said) and stacked atop one another. The bottom portion of the backbone insert thru a square pocket in the truss of the runner plank with the top portion of the backbone notched to fit over the top portion of the truss. The backbone is 8 inches wide and varies in thickness from 6 inches at the bow to 16 inches thru the mid-section to 11 inches near the stern, just forward of the "basket" as seen in the following photos. The backbone is transported as two separate pieces and assembled on site. It takes a lot of crew and heavy lifting to assemble. The overall model will scale out at 25 inches in length and 13 inches in width; haven't calculated the mast height yet. For the backbone I will use two 20 inch long pieces of 3/8 inch poplar which I will taper as needed to match the thickness of the original. For the runner plank I will use 3/16 inch basswood for the bottom portion and 1/16 inch basswood for the top truss portion. The chocks which hold the runners and the runners themselves will be fashioned from 1/8 x 1/4 inch basswood. I'm still mulling over how to model the the iron blades which insert into the wood portion of the runners. I have been purchasing sample scale nuts and bolts in various sizes from one of our sponsors, Scale Hardware, to determine which sizes will match the hardware on the original.

When I posted some articles and photos about an exhibition of ice yachts at the Franklin D Roosevelt Library some time ago (long time ago now) several MSW members suggested that I build a model of one or more of the ice yachts. Drawings with accurate measurements of these historic ice yachts are hard to find and since they spend most of their time safely stored out of the elements, only to be pulled out and assembled when the lakes and or river produces ice of sufficient thickness and quality to sail on; getting hands-on measurements is also hard to do. Fortunately, this winter provided an opportunity to obtain some measurements. But before I begin a little history is in order. About the History of Ice Yachting Sailing on ice began as a utilitarian mode of transportation for the Dutch, who attached metal and wood runners to the bottoms of hulled working boats, beginning sometime in the 18th century. Imported to the Dutch settlements of the New World, there are accounts of cargo in the form of sheep and people being transported on the Hudson River by ice boat from Athens to Albany in the early 1800's. The Dutch are the grandfathers of ice boating. They were the first to add cross planks and runners under sail boat hulls for moving cargo over the icy canals of the Netherlands. Dutch settlers of New York’s Hudson River Valley brought their custom of ice boating to the New World and ice yachting spread across North America wherever there was ice to be found. The recreational potential for sailing on ice quickly took over the imagination of Hudson River Valley residents. Ice boats were redesigned as light frame craft without traditional hulls, but utilizing the traditional gaff-rigged sail pattern of Hudson River Valley sloops for propulsion, and cast iron ice skates (or runners) as media. These became in fact the fastest vehicles on earth at the time, regularly beating the trains racing up and down the shores of the Hudson. It did not take long for the landed gentry of the Valley to compete against one another for the biggest, fastest, most beautiful of ice yachts, commissioned by special builders. The Hudson River led in this vein of maritime history, attracting prominent America’s Cup sailors & investors based in New York City - - along with many others, notably the Roosevelts. The Roosevelts competed with their club, the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club, against members from ice yacht clubs in Chelsea, New Hamburg, Orange Lake, and Athens. John Aspinwall Roosevelt and his neighbor Archibald Rogers were two of the most competitive and successful Captains, successively building many boats, two of which, the ICICLE and the JACK FROST, went on to win the most significant prize in ice yacht racing, the Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant of America - - several times each. John A. Roosevelt’s pennant-winning ICICLE is currently on display, unassembled, at the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston NY. Archibald Rogers’ ice yacht JACK FROST is owned, and sailed, by the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club. About the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club The Hudson River Ice Yacht Club (HRIYC) grew out of the Poughkeepsie Ice Yacht Club, which was founded in 1861 and was the first ice yacht club established in the country. The HRIYC formed in 1885 out of a dispute during a race for the Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant of America in March 1885. Several skippers in the race made a claim of a foul against a competing yacht. When the claim was not upheld by the regatta committee after review, hard feelings resulted, followed by the resignation of many members of the Poughkeepsie Ice Yacht Club. Days later, yachtsman in the breakaway group formed the Hudson River club. The HRIYC was known as having the speediest and finest-built ice yachts in the country. The club book of 1908 lists 52 ice yachts in its roster, including John A. Roosevelt’s Icicle, Vixen and Kriss, as well as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Hawk. FDR served a term as Vice-Commodore of the Hudson River Club. The growth and success of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club in races for the Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant of America eventually led to the demise of the Poughkeepsie Ice Yacht Club. It was all but defunct by 1899, when yet another club was formed, based out of the boathouse of the Roosevelts’ neighbor, Archibald Rogers: the Hyde Park Ice Yacht Club. Many local sailors at the time were members of both the HRIYC and the Hyde Park Club. The sport of ice yachting on the Hudson faded in the following years. The reasons included the passing of many of the older and most enthusiastic ice yacht sailors, the opening of the Hudson River channel to winter barge traffic, the World Wars, and the Great Depression. HRIYC went dormant from 1929-1964. It was re-organized by Ray Ruge, Bob Lawrence and others in December 1964. The HRIYC and its membership currently have the world’s largest collection of historic stern steering ice yachts. While races between the antique “stern steerers” still occur, the boats are mainly used for pleasure. The club is committed to the preservation and restoration of the yachts, as well as sailing the boats on local ice and providing rides to curious onlookers. About the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club The North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club (NSIB&YC), organized in 1880 is the longest standing active iceboat club in the world that has its own club house. The racing capital for ice boating in New Jersey is Red Bank, N.J. on the beautiful Navesink River or as it is called the North Shrewsbury River. Rocket The ice yacht Rocket was originally built by the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club in 1888 My knowledge of its history is somewhat vague, but I do know it fell into disrepair, was found and restored by the NSIB&YC in a project spanning 10 years. More on it's restoration can be found at Rocket Ice Yacht Restoration Project . In March 2014 members of the NSIB&YC brought the restored yacht from Red Bank NJ up to Barrytown NY to join the HRIYC for a weekend of sailing on the frozen Hudson River. This was the first time the Rocket had been sailed in about 100 years. A YouTube video of that event can be viewed Rocket Launch - YouTube . The Rocket measures 50 feet in length with a runner plank of 30 feet with a sail area of 900 sq ft; its weight is 2500 US lbs with a crew of 2 or 3 to sail her. The Jack Frost is similar in size, weight and sail area. I've chosen to model the Rocket first and later the Jack Frost and maybe Franklin D Roosevelt's Hawk, a smaller ice yacht. I will be doing it in 1:24 scale. First some photos I took of the Rocket as she appear this past February (2018) on Orange Lake near Newburgh NY.

Hi Marcus, I'm here too.

Do you also remember playing with Britains Limited LEAD soldiers ? I still have mine ! And yes I drank water from the garden hose too. And I'm also your age.

Pulling up a crate to watch also, Marcus.

Piet, best wishes to Gwen. My wife had that same surgery on both hands, she is also left handed, came out well. Make sure Gwen gets physical therapy post surgery, it helps the recovery a great bit.

I'm here too

I agree ! I have their entire set of miniature planes and use them frequently. Great value.

Piet, I'm here too. Just sitting quietly in the back row.

LCVP => landing craft, vehicle, personnel aka Higgins boats WWII

Chuck, my preference leans toward the Dutch Boeier and the American Chebacco equally. I'm more interested in models of boats that are unusual and not offered by the major model kit companies. Personally I do not have a lot of interest in building cross sections altho I do admire them, just not too interested in building one. I also prefer the smaller boats because I am running out of display space.

Hi Lawrence, haven't been up to much lately - awaiting some ice on the river so we can bring the antique ice yachts out and do some sailing. Next build is still being debated; I've been toying with the idea of scratch building a scale model of one of our club's ice yachts. Been waiting for them to come out of storage and get set up on the ice so I can get measurements. Otherwise it will either be the Constellation or the Picket Boat.

I have used the MS paints with a brush. Kurt's correct. The pigment is too coarse and obliterates any fine detail. I found it also has to be diluted with water to flow properly. I used the artist's technique - put a small dab of the paint on a piece of card stock, dip the brush in water, then into the dab of paint and swirl it around a bit on the card stock, do this repeatedly till it thins to a consistence you want, then pick up paint on the brush directly from the card stock and apply to the model. I agree with others - Vallejo is a good replacement for Floquil

Very nice ! I like your color scheme. Coming along nicely.

Derek, In addition to the above, I recommend using Microscale decal products to set the decal in place, then covering the decal with either Microscale Gloss or Flat or Testors Dulcote spray before you cover it with Wipe-on-Poly. Not sure how the Poly will affect the decal if it is applied directly over the decal. I find it the Microscale products make the decal conform to the surface better and they seal the decal well. Works the same on wood as it does on plastic - the decals on my plastic Armor models have held up well for over 20 years. One other thing the decals go on best over a glossy surface, so I use the Microscale Gloss to cover the area where the decal is to be placed, then after that dries, apply the decal.

Derek, I used Testors decal paper and the Sure Thing Decal Maker: Standard Ediition Software from Decal Gear; both worked well. I used it to create the decal name for the Marie Jeanne and Willie Bennett (see links in signature below). If you have access to a Hobby Lobby store, they carry the decal paper, and Decal Bonder in their stores. The decal paper comes Clear and White. Any good ink jet printer will create the decals; use the Decal Bonder to set the ink before you immerse the paper in water - this is a MUST DO.

Take one of the bolts and go to your Loews or Home Depot stores, in their hardware department on the wall/bin rack they have measuring jigs that will give you the exact size and thread.