JSGerson

Thanks for the tip Glen. Unfortunately I thought of the same thing after I had made them all. Hindsight is 20-20 as they say.

I got the razor saw and mitre box at one of the NRG conventions from a company called UMM According to the box, their website is umm-usa.com. I believe Micro-Mark sells the saw; l don't know about the mitre box.

I'm in awe!! I have never seen anyone make yards in multiple parts before. That is a nice bit of craftsmanship. Is there a reason you chose to take this route as opposed to making the yards in one piece? Having never made jackstay before, does the rod running the length of the yard pass through a very fine eyebolt?

Jonathan

Pinnace Upper Horizontal Knees

The upper horizontal knees were fabricated like the lower ones. After I took the photo of the three knees below, I remade the bow knee because I didn’t like the way it fit.

The practicum would have you glue in place the rails with the required spacing to create openings for the rowlocks. Then it would have you custom fit cut styrene flat pieces to create the locks. I did it differently.

Because the rowlock had to be in specific positions, I installed the first set beginning at the bow end. The rails at the bow were pre-bent to the required curve and custom fitted between the stem and the first rowlock. The next set was done the same way; install the lock first, then the rail till the final rail was installed reaching the transom.

Pinnace Rail and Rowlocks

The 14 rowlocks were fabricated from a 1/8” x 1/16” piece of basswood stock to match the rail height of 1/16”. A channel was cut along the length of the stock by making multiple passes with my Byrnes Saw. The piece of channeled wood was then sliced to 3/64” lengths like a loaf of bread with a razor saw and its miter accessory. Then one side was filed to a 45-degree angle to mimic the actual rowlock. This was the hardest part because trying to hold these tiny pieces secure enough so I could perform the actions required as well as seeing what I was doing was a real pain in the… fingers. Finally, they were all painted black as directed by the kit’s instructions.

The Mamoli Rattlesnake, my first build; and I jumped in with both feet doing the complete Hunt kit-bash. Now I'm doing the USS Constitution. What I have learned from the Hunt's practicums, is first, I could not have done the Rattlesnake without his guidance. The second thing I learned was that I relied too heavily on his instructions rather than read the kit instructions on the plans and make my own judgement calls.

I would also make a suggestion as to the kit's plans - transcribe them to notebook paper. I found they were very difficult to read (for me at least) due to the small print and inconsistent contrast. In a notebook, it's much easier to make notations. I did the same thing with the rigging charts, and parts list. The parts list to have to translate yourself.

I look forward to following you on this endeavor.

Jonathan

The Stem and Keel

Before I move onto the rail and the rowlocks, I wanted to add the stem and keel to the outside of the boat. The rail needs to attach to stem. The stem was made in two pieces: the rounded bow and the straight upright portion of the stem. Trying to edge bend the 1/8” x 1/16” stock was near impossible. Once the stem assembly was fabricated and installed, the keel was added with lots of overhang. The keel widens as it follows the shape of the up to the transom. I made a card template to get the shape, and transferred it to some stock wood. The piece was then fitted and glued into place. All of these pieces, including the knees described above were glued with PVC glue to aid in adjusting the parts. The stem and keel were then painted (not shown).

Pinnace Lower Horizontal Knees

After a 10-day break visiting Mom in Florida, who turns 99 years young this coming week by the way, and doing my stuff that should have been done while I was gone when I got back, I resumed my “break neck speed” construction of the pinnace.

Using my reduced down to kit size US Navy plans, I made templates for the stern (2 pieces) and bow lower level horizontal knees – a total of three. I could have used the kit plans but the US Navy plans produces a much finer line drawing. These were rubber cemented onto 1/32” bass wood, cut out and fitted into place.

Were you referring to my Rattlesnake blog (post #758) as the source of your crowsfeet guidance? Boy, you have a lot of faith in me if you did. That build was my first full rigged ship model.

Jonathan

Just catching up as I was  doing one of my visits to Mom (she turns 99 June 5). I really like your supports on top of the pedestals. I never really liked those simple U-supports (brass or otherwise). They just seemed to me me that they put too much stress on the keel. That added shoulder appeals to my engineer side. I graduated many, many years ago as a civil engineer but never practiced as such. What kind of wood did you use? It looks like walnut.

Pinnace Cleats

I’ve noticed that some builders have installed the pinnace cleats and others not. The practicum does not. Being the crazy fool that I am, I made the attempt.

Using a technique that as far as I know, no one else has used, I made six cleats. The first four images below are from my Rattlesnake build where I needed one very small cleat. The last three from this build.

The US Navy plans give the dimensions of two different size cleats, 8’ x 1 7/8” (the other being 6 ¾” x 1 5/8”). At this scale, it won’t make much difference. I chose to base mine on the larger of the two which worked out to be approximately 1/8” x 1/32” at scale.

Using some picture hanger nails, ones with a flat head, I filed off two sides of the nail head right up to the nail shank. Then placing modified nail in my rotary tool, I ground it on a file held in a vise. When done, I was left with a very stubby shank just under the modified head followed by a very thin shank. The thin shank is what will anchor the cleat into the wood. Holes were drilled into the rail and the six cleats were then CA’d into place.

The thwarts were made from 1/32” boxwood. The mast thwart clamps were made from card stock (file folder) and painted black. I tried using the styrene, but due to the size of the pieces, trying to hold them in place while trying to glue them with CA (PVC couldn’t hold the plastic) was neigh impossible. With the card stock, I could use the PVC and its tackiness would hold the parts in place as I maneuvered their positions. These pictures were taken prior to any staining of the thwarts.

To approximate this at scale, I used the smallest ring I had: 1/8”. For the top ring, about a quarter of the circumference of the ring was snipped off and the resulting ends joined together. This reduced the size of the ring closer to scale. The bottom was squeezed to the width of the top ring and resulted in an oblong shape. They were then installed

Pinnace Thwarts

Continuing my way from the bottom interior up, the thwarts were next. But before I started those, I thought it would be prudent to install the lift fittings double eyebolts at either ends of the boat. Based on the dimension shown on the US Navy plans, 1/16” eyebolts closely approximated the scale needed. Each eyebolt had a ring. The lower eyebolt’s ring was oblong in shape such that it came to the same height as the top eyebolt’s round ring when pulled to the vertical position. The width of both rings were the same.

Oh good, another Conny builder I can follow. You've got one more boat under your belt than me so that make you the experienced one (compared to me). I'll be watching with interest as you progress. I decided to warm up to the build by starting on the ship's boats first, so it will be a while before I start the main build. I wish you fair seas and the wind at you back.

Jon

The seat was then stained with two coats of Minwax Early American Wood Finish and then with Minwax Water-Based Polycrylic and installed.

The template was rubber cemented to the plywood and cut out with my 40 year old Dremel hobby scroll saw. To my delight and surprise, with just a few minor tweaks with a file, the bench seat fit perfectly.

Pinnace Stern Bench Seat

Once more I deviated from the practicum. In this case, the practicum constructed the bench seat from three pieces of boxwood: two side seats and the transom seat. I elected to use one piece of 1/32” plywood because I wanted to use a template I made from the US Navy plans. Interestingly, those plans show the bench as one piece. If the bench in real life was made in multiple pieces, it doesn’t indicate where the seams are. Like the practicum, I did not install any of the underlying support knees or braces. They would have been a lot of work and in the end wouldn’t be seen.

Before I made the template, the 3/64” x 1/64” rising was installed about an 1/8” from the top of the rail. It will support the bench seat and the thwarts.

Naw, they are like appetizers to the meal of the big model. I enjoy the detail.

The sole then given two coats of diluted white paint; I didn’t want a thick coat of paint. The idea here was that I was hoping the individual planks would be visible after the paint dried. In the end, I still need to enhance the edges around the portable panel with an X-acto blade. Finally, it was fitted into the stern. Another eyebolt with a painted simulate plate was also installed.

BTY, I wasn’t concerned that the edges of the sole were not fitted into the sides of the boat model as these will be hidden by the stern bench seat.

The sole assembly was then trimmed very carefully of excess wood. It is a fragile structure.

The pattern was cover with wax paper to prevent the modules from sticking to the pattern as it was being put together and glued into the final assembly.

Pinnace Stern Sole

Being a landlubber, I’m was not familiar with boats when I started building these models. So once again, I’m modeling something I have no knowledge about. I’m referring to the aft end on the pinnace, something called the “sole.” This appears to be a floor section of the boat and in this case, one with a portable panel. I’m not certain as to sole’s purpose, but I assume the portable panel is there to gain access to the area below it.

The practicum simulates the sole with a piece of styrene etched with lines imitating pieces of wood. I’ve seen others use 1/64” plywood and do the same. I thought I would try something different. Using individual pieces of 1/32” basswood, I reconstructed each piece of the sole as best I could. First a pattern was made based on the plans, but adapted to conform the actual model. This was used to size the pieces and orientate and locate their final position. The problem was that the sole required that the piece be glued edge to edge. This is not structurally strong. To compensate for this lack of mechanical strength, the pieces were PVC glued directly onto paper in five separate groups.

Additionally, everybody (those that I can see) installed 5 footboards radiating from the bow. I counted seven on the plans. So, I installed seven. Let me tell you, those pieces are small and only 1/32” thick.

Pinnace Bow Footboards

These are the short footboards at the bow. According to the Navy plans and the kit’s plans (although you’d be hard pressed to see the detail in their scale size plans), there are four 4 support members that pass over the keelson and supported along the inside walls. From those builders that have posted this detail, including the practicum, nobody has included them in their build. I did, even though you can’t see them when the model finished.