Jack12477

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 142 – Mooring Chocks
 
The next planned item of work was to install the brass “monkey rail” that surrounds the poop deck.  I do not know the origin of the term.  However, since the four large chocks that control the route of the mooring lines through the rail from the dock to the mooring bitts are below that rail, they needed to be slipped into the queue and installed first so that holes for their bolts could be drilled.  There are four of these at the stern and four at the bow.  The first picture shows these being installed on the starboard side of the stern quarter.
 

 
A small dab of epoxy is being applied in the picture.  The chocks – sometimes called “comb cleats” – and their bolts were made as integral assemblies as described below.
 
The chocks and the bolts were made from copper.  I prefer this material to brass because I find it easier to blacken using liver of sulfur solution.  The first picture shows a length of copper bar with shapes for several chocks partially cut.
 

 
The first step in making these cuts was to drill two spaced holes for each chock.  The tops were then cut through with a jeweler’s saw.  In the next picture a round, spiral-toothed blade is being used to shape the inner lines.
 

 
The outer contours of the chock cleats were then filed out.  In the next picture the rounded shapes of the chock cleats have been filed and polished, holes have been drilled for the bolts, wire bolts inserted, and the strip of chocks readied for soldering.
 

 
Copper-phosphorus solder was used for this because it blackens well with LOS.  The finished stern chocks are shown in the next picture.
 

 
The bolt heads have been cut back and one of the chocks has been blackened.  In the next picture the locations of the chocks are being laid out with dividers.
 

 
Bolt hole spacing was also set with dividers and the holes drilled through the main rail.  In the last picture the four chocks have been installed.
 

 
The last picture also shows the aft, central section of the monkey rail temporarily positioned and in need of a bit of straightening.  I also not in this picture that the helm enclosure – temporarily fitted at this stage was a bit askew on its pins when the shutter snapped.
 
Work on the brass monkey rail was now able to proceed and will be described in the next part.
 
Ed

Edwin and all,
 
By all means extend a courtesy to the log owner and get permission.   First, I think they would appreciate knowing that someone thinks enough of their log to download it.  Second... as Chuck said, "you should ask permission first".

Another photos 
 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the visits and likes.
 
build part 28
 
The experiment is a go as far as I am concerned I need to make 10 more.
 
step 2 was to cut the ring in half which I did with the jewelers saw with a #3 blade (very fine)
 

 
the next step was to rough shape it with a sanding stick with some 220 wet and dry
 

 
this was then coloured with a Prismacolor dark brown felt marker, then polished up with some Trewax a clear carnauba paste wax.
 

 
I hung it on a varnished paint brush handle to see it is a context.
 
Michael

While waiting for things to dry I remembered a method I used for something else regarding some mast hoops.
 
So an experiment to test the strength and look of some laminated hoops.
 
I have a large roll of Butchers tape or Gummed paper. I cut the paper into 4 strips aprox 1/4 inch wide by 3 feet long.
 

 
I discovered that the green highlighter pen is very slightly tapered, almost imperceptible this worked to my advantage by allowing the loop to become wedged after a couple of turns.
 
I glued the strip on so that the glue was on the outside which made it easy to moisten.
 

 

 
tomorrow when it is good and set I will see how it cleans up and whether it will work as a ring. I might end up making them just a little larger then cutting them with a scarph joint and using a copper rivet.
 
Michael

That's a heck of an carronade assembly-line you've got going Tom. One of the more tedious parts of the build? 

Thanks Popeye and the likes.
 
I continue to build the pieces parts for the spar deck armament. I finished the cannonade sleds and cut the brass screws to size. I made up a small block with a hole in it that i put the screws in then cut them flush with the block, to get them all the same length.
 

 
I cleaned up the metal barrels and trucks to remove the flashing, and made the two quoins for the long guns. I assembled the long gun carriages.
 
I mixed up a new batch of bulwarks red paint for the carriages because the batch I used on the gun deck went bad. I think it is a close match. I painted the carriage parts with it and the wooden trucks black. I cleaned the metal parts with white vinegar and blackened the brackets and brass screws. I need to touch up the brackets with some paint because of the CA glue that covered some of the brass.
 

 
I still need to paint the barrels and metal trucks. I am also in the process of making all of the small parts I will need for rigging the guns, like 170 hooks and 88 ring bolts.

More work on the carronades. I am making the sliding part of the sleds again using pieces cut from some sheet wood and some square stock for the supports to hold the trunnions. I will file slots in these when the glue dries.
 

 
You can also see the brackets I made. These will support the base in the gun port. I made them from some flat brass, then glued a small piece of brass dowel to look like the top of the pin. I should have drilled holes in the gun port sills before putting the rail on so I could actually pin these in place, but it is too late now. I will pin the bases to the deck near the gun ports, though, which will hold them in place. You can also see the new screws I ordered - flat heads and a little shorter than the ones I showed earlier. I am going to use the supplied trucks, but I am using the front trucks in the back of the base. The supplied rear trucks I am not using, as there will be no trucks in the front of the bases.

Some final work on the outer hull is done. I secured all of the support rods for the aft bumpkins into the hull, using eye bolts that I looped the ends of the wire around. A few of them I had to do in place by gluing the eye bolt in first, then wrapping and cutting the wire, instead of the easier ones where I could do the wrapping before gluing the eye bolt to the hull. There was just not a lot of room around the rail in the stern corners. It is hard to see in this picture, but the support arms are there.
 

 
I then added the steps to the sides of the hull. I did this my first making a tick strip of the step locations from the waist rail. I placed a strip of masking tape down the sides at the location of one end of the step, then marked off the locations from the tick strip onto the tape. I ended up using the step that was close to the top of the wale as the reference, since I didn't want this step to be half way across the wale. I then used the tick strip to space the other steps off this one. When I glued the steps in place I lined up the edges with the masking tape, then removed the tape when they were all glued on. I was careful not to let the edge of the step overlap the tape.
 

 
Here is how the port steps came out:
 

 
And here are the starboard steps:
 

 
That finishes the outer hull, except for the fastenings for the bowsprit rigging, which I will add when I rig the bowsprit, the channels and the stern and quarter boat davits, which I will add later. There are probably some other things that I will discover later too. Now I am going to work on the spar deck details for a while, starting with building and rigging the 20 carronades and 2 long guns that go on that deck.

Thanks Greg and the likes too.
 
I glued the bumpkins in place, as well as the anchor shelves and the anchor supports.
 

 

 
The fore bumpkins seemed very vulnerable to me, so after the glue dried I drilled a hole up through the bumpkins into the middle rails, then pushed a small nail coated with medium CA into the hole. When the glue dried, I cut the nails flush with the bottom of the bumpkins and touched up the black paint at the spot. They seem much sturdier now.
 
I then started to hook up the other ends of the support rods. I did this by bending the rod at the right length, then adding an eye bolt and forming a loop. I cut off the excess wire, drilled a hole for the eye bolt and glued it into the hole. Here is the port fore bumpkin with the supports in place. I still have to do the starboard side.
 

 
The aft bumpkin supports are a bit harder, as the space is much tighter and the rail overhang makes it hard to get the support in place. I had to bend the one support I was able to get in place then try to straighten it out in place. The rear support could not be done this way at all, so I glued the eye bolt in place and made a hook on the end of the support, which I will hook onto the eye bolt when it is dry and make the loop in place.
 

 
While things were drying, I made the small detail I lost on the transom from Sculpey and glued the new one in place, then touched up the gold paint on all the transom details. Hopefully I can keep from getting damaged again.
 

 

I made the four bumpkins, carving the ends like on the plans using a scalpel. I tapered the front bumpkins using the small plane my wife gave me for Christmas. It made short work of that task. I used black paper for the band around the ends and 28 gauge wire for the support rods. I made loops on the ends of the wire and hooked them to eye bolts which are glued into holes through the bands. I am hoping that I can do the same on the other ends after I install the bumpkins. I painted them black.
 

 
I then made the boarding steps, using a simplification from what is shown on the plans. These are only 1/16" high, so getting three strips of wood to make them up was not an option. What I did was to make a holder for 1/16" square stock using a V gouge to make a V in a length of wood. I then placed the square stock in the groove and used the small plane to plane off one corner, giving me a profile similar to the steps on the plans. I then cut steps from this strip and sanded in the 45 degree angles on the ends. These were painted white.
 

 
I also made the two "shelves" that go under the anchor ports, again using the small plane to remove two corners of a rectangular piece of wood. I also made the two anchor holders that go mid ship on the starboard side, using a manila template and the scroll saw. I added two pins to pin them to the sides of the hull and two eye bolts for straps that hold the anchor. These were all painted black.
 

 
Installing the bumpkins and support rods is next up to do.
 
 

I just finished the lids on the port side, so here is how they came out.
 

 

 

 
Now it is on to the bumpkins. I have a few weeks off as I am between jobs, so I am looking forward to having a lot of time in the shop. Luckily I have another job lined up so I can enjoy myself.

The gun port lids are just about finished. I have all the lids glued in place and the starboard side rigols are all installed too. I have some touch up to do on the port side and some rigols to still install. Here is how the starboard side came out, with the different lid types.
 

 

 

 

 
I went with white edges on the open port lids, so they are more pronounced.

I like the final solution that you came up with for the canvas-covers Tom. She's looking better all the time. 

Thanks Boyd. I am certainly in no hurry with this build and I enjoy looking ahead, but I can't look too far ahead or I get depressed. 
 
Work on the gun port lids continues. First, here are the two full port lids on each side with their draw lines installed to open them. I went with a modified version of the lines on the current Conny. I glued the top lines onto the back of the eye brows after threading them through the holes. I then glued the eye brows in place, and tied the other end of those lines to the lines running into the bottom corners of the lids.
 

 

 
The remaining eye brows (there has to be a better term for these, no?) are all going over half ports or canvas covered ports which do not have draw lines. So I first primed them, which involves a pickling step in white vinegar before painting with primer. I then filled the holes with wood filler and smoothed the filler out after it set for a few minutes.
 

 
When the filler was fully dry, I gave the parts two coats of black paint. Here they are with some of the half port lids currently being painted.
 

 
These are the remaining port lids for the starboard side and are ready to install. I already installed four of these on the starboard side. These use the L shaped hinge brackets I made which worked really well to support these half lids. They provide supports like shelf brackets while I was still able to glue the back edges of the ports to the hull. Between both attachments, these seem very sturdy. I will have pictures of these installed in a future post. I went ahead and made all of the hinge brackets for the port side and blackened them. I also cut all of the wood pieces for the port gun lids and have started adding the hinges to them and will start painting them soon.
 
I have been going back and forth on the canvas coverings for those gun ports near the galleries, as you can see by the previous posts. I tried making the frames last night from manila folder material, but could not get them to look good, especially the circular sections. I then tried some thin styrene strip, thinking I could use that for the straight sections of the frames and come up with something for the circle later. I removed one of the canvas covers from the model and glued styrene strips to the four edges to see how this might look as a frame before adding the diagonal pieces.
 

 
I placed it into the gun port opening and was not happy with the look at the joints of the frame pieces. I then thought to try turning the piece around with the frame on the inside of the port hidden by the canvas, fit into the rabbet around the port. I was really happy with this look, and removed all of the canvas covers and framed them this way. Here is how they came out and here is how they are going to stay. I think this is a nice compromise between what may have been and what I can make look have way decent. The edges look much better than the raw fabric edges that I first had.
 

 

 
I do really appreciate the suggestions so please keep them coming, even if I don't always follow them. They do push me to do better. 
 

I like Cathead's solution more than drilling a hole. And like George says, the rest of the timbering goes on and strengthens the whole she-bang.
 

All were goodly up until the time whence we didst taketh to re-designing the track lay-out. Something went awry, and one car didst becometh stationary and most uncompetitive !! 
Reasoning, even at this tender age, that there be no mains power, Our Hero decides to test the voltage … by applying his tongue across the metal bits of a section of track.
 
Crouched o’er the track and with his tongue in contact with the rails of the track, he signals to his beloved younger brother:
“Juth a wee bid, bruvva-deareth”, he were to utter.
 
“What ??” asked his beloved younger brother, as he plunged the plunger on the controller to its’ full-plungeable depth.
 
“GAAAAAAAAAAahhhhhhh !!” were CaptainSteve heard to reply-eth.
 
 
 
:D :D :D
 
Sorry, Cap'n I just can't help meself. Methinks we all hath committed such acts in days of yore.
 

These all good plans, lad.   I'd say, pick one and run with it.  Since it is a corner, check ye plans and see if the inside or outside planking attaches to it.  That will add strength to the corner.   As we know,the stern was the weak point on these vessels...  A raking broadside astern was a terrible thing.

That now brings us to the “tribulations” section o’ this series of postings …
 
“Arr !! Indeed-eth it does !!” noted CaptainSteve, forlornly. For, twouldst seem-eth that, upon final inspection, one o’ the stern timbers were to be out of alignment.”

 
Further, and far worse, whereby Our Hero didst e’er so lightly attempt to correct this piece, tragedy were to strike … and it didst break-eth !!!

“And it be a corner timber, as well !! Thusly, I beseech-eth, o’ Ye o' the Horde,” he were to implore-eth. “Wouldst I be able to re-attach the piece ??”
 
As of this past even-tide, CaptainSteve hath re-glued the broken timber upright …
“But,” he sighed, most heavily, “I be left a-wondering, will this be structurally sound ??”
 
Given that it is a corner upright, couldst he drill-eth a hole, and mayhaps use a small piece of wire – a piece from a staple, mayhaps – as an anchor, to re-affix-eth the errant timber upright ??

“Now, those wi’ a keen eye,” CaptainSteve were to continue, “may ha’ noticed above that there still be two o’ the stern timbers yet to be fitted.”
This be because, as previously mentioned, he doth plan on adding LED lights to this build.
 
These timbers have been drilled for the LEDs …

 
… and grooved to take-eth the wiring for same …

 
“A’ready,” Our Hero began-eth, “the wiring plug hath been fitted to me keel, and wiring stubs hath been brought inside.”

 
Unfortunately, that be close to the limits o’ CaptainSteve’s electrical know-how. Fortunately, he doth know-eth of a colleague much skilled in the (un)dark arts.
“As such,” he went-eth on, “I be leavin’ this update here for now. But a-fore we get into matters of Electrification, an anecdote …”
 
Indeed-eth, CaptainSteve doth recall-eth an incident from his own Youth, whereby he were to discover-eth for his ownself the basic principles o’ the process o’ Electrification.
 
“T’was Christmas time o’ that year”, he were to begin-eth. “And I be but ten years o’ age. Me brother, CaptainDennis (fer whom this ‘ere build be intended), were but 16 months younger ‘an me ownself.”
 
“Indeed-eth,” Our Hero were to explain, “he remain-eth so, to this very Day !!”
Ahem …
 
To cut a long an’ rambling story short, Our Hero and his brother had managed to con their beloved parents into a deal whereby these two schemers would receive the super-duper-all-extras-included-bestest-deal-on-the-planet-ever-Mum-and-Dad-honest-to-God-electric-race-car-track-set as a combined Xmas AND next birthday present for the both of them.
 
(Regular fans may wish to take-eth note o’ CaptainSteve’s choice o’ terminology here: specifically, "a combined ... present” and, " ... for the both of them".)
‘Scuse me ?? Betwixt two brothers, you say, CaptainSteve ??
Surely this could lead to nothing but co-operation and an out-pouring of filial love.
 
All were goodly up until the time whence we didst taketh to re-designing the track lay-out. Something went awry, and one car didst becometh stationary and most uncompetitive !!
 
Reasoning, even at this tender age, that there be no mains power, Our Hero decides to test the voltage … by applying his tongue across the metal bits of a section of track.
 
Crouched o’er the track and with his tongue in contact with the rails of the track, he signals to his beloved younger brother:
“Juth a wee bid, bruvva-deareth”, he were to utter.
 
“What ??” asked his beloved younger brother, as he plunged the plunger on the controller to its’ full-plungeable depth.
 
“GAAAAAAAAAAahhhhhhh !!” were CaptainSteve heard to reply-eth.

There hath been troubles, triumphs and tribulation a-plenty in CaptainSteve’s modellin’ room o’er these past few weeks ...
 
Now, despite being greatly enthused and inspired as he was by works of magnificence such as those from Doris … and Siggi … and so many, many others, CaptainSteve doth wish-eth to note that he hath always intended fer the stern quarters interior detailin’ to be viewed at “galloping horse” speeds.
 
“Or faster, if possible !!”, he were to interject.  
 
“Forsooth,” he were to open with. “I didst maketh plans and all …”

 
For, verily, from whence Our Hero didst first plan to display some sort of furniture in the Great Cabin region, he didst intend-eth plan to utilise the veneers of Tasmanian Blackwood for the interior panelling…

 
“It be a beautiful wood, don’t it ??” he enquired of the horde.
 
The problem, and the part that he forgot to be mentioning, is that it also be an extremely close-grained hardwood, thusly making it most difficult to work with …
“But it also be a right PITA to work-eth with, and prone to much splinterin’ and shatterin’ !!”, Our Hero were to declare-eth.
 
“Whilst I were not to keep many pictures o’ me failings,” he stammered weakly, by way of explanation, “I didst try to simulate the panelling with me Proxxon mill.”

 
Eventually, CaptainSteve did constructeth a board-room table from a small piece of the Blackwood …

 
CaptainSteve explains: “In the instance o’ the first, I be a-planning on adding false doors at the back of Bulkhead R …”

 
“… as well-eth, there wouldst be doors leading to each o’ the side galleries.”

 
“In addition, I didst also paint-eth some wall-paintings …”
If truth be known, Our Hero didst merely build-eth a frame, some 3mm square, and didst glue-eth such to a postage stamp. All that remained was a quick trim.

“Arr !!” he were to mumble, sheepishly. “I be found out. I didst think-eth that, at a ‘galloping horse viewing distance’ mayhaps no-one wouldst notice.”

 
Here be pictures ….

 
“Ye may note,” CaptainSteve noted, “that the lounge be just a piece of doll-house furniture which I were to ha’ a-layin’ about the place.”

 
Our Hero intends to be a-leavin’ the doors sittin’ ajar …
“It be the better fer allowing me lighting to be visible through the side gallery windows.”

 
As a final touch, he didst make-eth up a pair of map scrolls …
“These, I be just sitting lazily upon me Blackwood Captain's table,” he explained.

 
“By the by … “, CaptainSteve were to cry-eth out !! “I didst modify the angle o’ me window frames e’er so slightly.”
 
Upon checking the pictures in AOTS more closely, Our Hero didst find-eth that the angles of the window frames are, more accurately: 3.50, 70 and 10.50. As such, new templates were cut from scrap card pieces.

“In truth,” he were to explain-eth, pointing to the above picture, “I didst decideth to go instead with angles of 40, 80 and 120.”
 
CaptainSteve be thinkin’ that these settings be more aesthetically pleasing …
 
What say-eth the Horde ??

Your hard work on the anchors paid off nicely Piet. They look as realistic as the ones on the replica that was posted. 
 
Cheers

Well, let's see, what is it today - -  oh yeah, Saturday evening. I managed to complete both main anchors yesterday afternoon.  Put the bolts in the stock, left all pf them with just a skootch sticking above the wood to simulate the upset and painted them flat black.  After the paint had dried I stained the wood in oak because I think that's what they used in those days.  Now the stocks look like those on the photos of the various Dutch ships.  thanks Jan for pointing it out to me.
 
For the smaller anchor I plan to chuck the square brass bar in the lathe and turn the shank round but leaving the top end square.  I still have some round brass rod for the arm so that one will be close to scale as well.  Need to hunt for an example first, make a drawing and start work.
 
Here are two pics of the completed main anchors.  Hope yuns approve.
 

 

 
Cheers,

<silently says "wow" and shakes my head>  

Thanks druxey, Michael and Cathead,
 
Your right Cathead, there isn't really much of the hull missing.

Huh, somehow I hadn't caught on that this was a waterline model. With steamboats it can be hard to tell!
 
I'm running out of superlatives.