JSGerson
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Everything posted by JSGerson
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Sr. Old Salt - This model was built using Robert Hunt's Practicum with the expressed intention that it would NOT be painted. That is why different colored woods were used. That being said, some paint was used primarily for the black color. Ideally I would have used Ebony wood in these areas but my supplemental wood package did not come with any. That may have been a blessing as I have read that Ebony is very hard and difficult to work with and the wood dust is slightly toxic. I'm no expert on paints so I can't tell you off the top of my head whether to use diluted paint, stain, or dye acrylic or otherwise. If it were me, I would try out some test strips and see what happens. If anyone out there knows more about this, please jump in. -
Thanks Martin, I would not have found this section in a timely manner when working on the bowsprit in the near future. I was wondering why he didn't mention the boomkin, he did only it looks like it was an after thought in the context of things. He states: The boomkin is made from a piece of 1/16" boxwood cut to a length of about 2". It fits at an angle against the stem on each side just under the bowsprit and rests on the headrail. It is angled outward and slightly downward and typically there would have been an iron plat over the boomkin at the head rail to hold it in place. I must assume the "iron plat" is a typo and he meant "iron plate" because I could find a definition for "plat" that made any sense.
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I had thought about the eyebolts and elected not to install them at this time because I thought a block or something would be attached to them. I reasoned that it would be easier to seize a line or add a block to the eyebolts off-ship and then install the complete component at once like I did for the cannon rigging. I would install eyebolts that are not used (say for use with the running rigging) now if I only knew which ones they were.
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I went back over your log and I found an image where you drilled the bumkin hole. Now I understand what you did. It works for me. Oh, and I will remember to use the...um, colorful language to give some authenticity. Thanks again.
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Thanks for the feed back Martin. I have all but two of the sources you quoted and one of those, i just ordered last week (Lee). The other, Antscherl, will have to wait. If I get one of his, I'll want all and they ain't cheap. Of the ones I do have, I had looked at before and if they only show the base of the bumkin where it meets the stem. They don't explain the mechanics of how it is attached. So I guess your method is as good as any and I'll follow suit when the time comes, unless I learn something new by that time.
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I've also have been curious about the bumkins when someone told me not to forget them. Forget them, I didn't even know they existed! So I researched them a bit and at least for the Rattlesnake, I still don't know how they are attached to the stem on the actual ship. Is there a notch they slid into? are they tied or bolted somehow? On the model, most likely they are just glued in place. Once I've completed the ship's boat on my model, I will have entered into a new phase of my build, the rigging and the bowsprit will be the first thing I tackle. So any info will greatly be appreciated.
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At this point, according to the Practicum, the hull is complete. What is left in Chapter nine of the Practicum to complete is the ship’s boat and the spare masts it rests on; and maybe a tweak or two here and there. Here are a couple of parting shots. Well, it not perfect. I would have been very surprised if it was but it will have to do.
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Pins were then added for added strength when attaching to the side of the hull
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Boarding Ladders Surprisingly (or not) the Practicum also does not address the boarding ladder, those little steps on the outside of the hull. Mamoli does have an illustration as to how to construct them but I didn’t like the looks of it when I reviewed how other models made theirs. they were to be made with stacked upside down L-shaped channels. So to put it into technical terms, I winged it. Based on the picture of the steps I “guestimated” their dimensions. The steps are not simply slabs of wood stuck to the side of the hull. They appear to be either two layers of wood, one smaller than the other, or one thick piece carved. Because of the size of the step pieces, I chose to make each out of one piece of wood. I converted my rotary drill into a pseudo router again using a dentist sized ball burr tip as my cutter. A piece of 1/16” x 3/32” boxwood about 2” long was placed into my pseudo router to cut an inverted rounded corner along the whole length of wood strip. Then eight ¼” pieces were cut, four steps for each side of the model. The new two edges of each piece were then “routed” leaving the fourth side untouched.
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Miscellaneous Stuff It was time to install three more items to the deck, two of which I had previous fabricated. First the tiller was added to the rudder post and the binnacle was glued to the deck. The third item, the “iron horse” was not addressed in the Practicum. This piece is nothing more than an upside down square shaped “U” wire structure behind the rudder post. Seemed simple enough, but because of the problems I encountered earlier with the transom and quarter deck, I had little room for its installation. My rudder post was practically against the transom. So being technically minded and handy with the tools, I fudged it, artistic license…so sue me. The kit called for brass wire, but that is very soft and therefore deforms very easily. I chose to use music (piano) wire. It’s dark in color and very stiff. My “horse” had to go above the rudder post for clearance due space considerations I mentioned earlier. As a result, mine looks a bit tall and narrow as opposed shorter which would make it look squatter.
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Igor - I understand, that was my intention. They ended up looking like they do because they were based on the measurement from Hahn's plans which my model pretty much approximates. It should be an exact match but somehow it didn't work out that way. It's easy to draw lines on an image to get the exact angle but I wasn't quite certain how to do it with accuracy on the model itself. I suppose I will have to adjust them in the future when I know better where the lines will actually be. Thanks for your insight.
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All of this rigging stuff is new to me so I am watching you and Blue Ensign closely. I am getting very close to finishing my Rattlesnake hull and will have to tackle this phase of the build soon. My apprehension grows daily. But like all things, I will take it one step at a time and hope I don't screw it up too badly.
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The Byrnes saw is a great piece of precision and workmanship. I could not have done many of the things I did without that saw. I also have his dimensional sander and draw plate. I met Jim and his wife at the Nautical Research Guild convention in Charleston SC this past October and they are great people as well. He allowed me to buy an accessory to the saw with no money provided I went online and ordered it when I got home. And because I got it from him directly at the convention, he made sure to deduct the automatic charge for shipping. He backs up his products.
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The easy part is gluing them into place. Note two of the kevels are attached to aft rail post where the anchor is tied. The anchor had to be re-tied after the kevel was attached.
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A chesstree is essentially the same as a kevel except it is installed on the outside of the hull and does not have a knighthead.
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Using a very fine chisel, the wood material between the lower horizontal cuts was carved to look like the side of a wheel when it will glued in place. Care must be taken here because even a slight slip may cause the chisel to slice through the tiny piece of wood between the cuts.
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Kevels and Chesstrees A kevel is basically a post with a sheave in it. The Practicum calls for eight 3/32” square boxwood ½” long pieces. Once more, like the hull sheaves, Mr. Hunt uses one hole for the sheave. I elected to follow the Mamoli plan which shows two. Actually it shows a representation of pulley wheel as well. Because the side that is to be glued to the inside of the hull is exposed during fabrication, it is possible to create a pseudo wheel which I did. Using my Byrnes saw, I made three 3/64” deep cuts across the side and one more across the top to create a notch for the knighthead. It looks like the knighthead is used to tie off and hang excess line.
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Oh, I like your idea using the Xacto blades for scrapers which allows you the use of a handle! (I had been using a razor blade) Cutting the metal scraper was easy; cutting the metal scraper to the exact profile and proper width I found difficult. Your moldings came out looking real good. I'm not clear how you are making the hinges out of rings so I guess I will have to be patient and just wait to see what you do next.
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The names of scratch builders that come to my mind are Harold Hahn (of course), Raul Guzman Jr., and William E. Hitchcock,
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Now you've got me confused. The bill board is made of horizontal planks to create a sweeping curved vertical protective wooden plate to protect against the anchor. What vertical planks are you referring to?
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I took a look at my collection of 34 different model Rattlesnake's build pictures that I have assembled over the past four years of my build. Of the completed models that were painted and that had bill boards, some were black in color and others natural wood. Just remember that the purpose of the bill board is to take the abuse of the anchor so it doesn't mess up the hull. I would imagine a lot of pieces have to be replaced over time as the wood wore down and keeping it painted would be a pain. So I guess the choice is yours - make it look good or make it more realistic.
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The anchor board thing is called a billboard because the flukes on the anchor are called bills. The board provided added strength for wear and tear as the anchor is hauled aboard the ship. You can see how I handled it here: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/2293-rattlesnake-by-jsgerson-building-robert-hunt%E2%80%99s-kitbashed-mamoli-american-privateer-a-164-scale-pob-model/page-27
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The deck planking on my model was done per the plans: A false deck made of a single piece of thin wood that came with the kit was installed after the bulkheads were glued to keel.This was the foundation for the deck planking. Where I kit bashed the cabin floor with a checkerboard (per Robert Hunt's Practicum} there is an additional layer to support the the checkerboard. The combined thickness of the support and the checkerboard pieces equals the thickness of the deck planks so there is no difference in height. To ensure that the gun ports were of proper height from the deck planking, I created a heavy stock card cannon. If the cardboard cannon could slide easily through the gunport, it was OK. Other decks (quarterdeck and forecastle) were planked directly onto the ships beams. As for other methods, I can only assume that any change from a kit's plans must be compensated for any change in overall dimensions. This is my first model of this type so I am a bit limited in experience. I don't know if I have answered your question but maybe some other readers of this log can jump in with their ideas.
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I too have Byrnes draw plate and it is worth the money. Someone once said they don't like models that have the Measles. If you look a actual ships the treenails are subdued almost to the point of disappearing on some decks. For that reason I did nothing to enhance the treenail contrast. I used bamboo skewers I bought at the grocery store, split them down, and then used the draw plate. They were "glued" in place with Poly-wipe, the same treatment I applied to the whole deck and hull planks. Because the grain of the treenails are perpendicular to the surface, it draws in the Poly-wipe and darkens them just enough so you can see them, but not enough to overwhelm the senses. It's a matter of taste of the builder. Just my 2 cents.
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I collected Pasi's build log as he was creating it and copied it to a Word file for my own use. It's not the complete log as I have deleted what I felt were non essential comments from other followers or I have deleted their screen names if I kept their comments. Because it's edited and technically it's Pasi log. I don't know if I have the right to distribute it. If you can get Pasi's or the Moderator's permission, I would gladly send it to you. Moderator, can I distribute another member's build log without his permission?
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