David Lester

Thanks for the kind comments everyone.
 
Dave, I thought up the plumbers' tape idea for the hoops lying in bed one morning around 5 am. (I have a very exciting life😀.)
 
Richvee - thank you very much for the idea of building up one whale boat before installing the davits. That's one thought that hadn't occurred to me lying in bed and I think it's a good one.
 
See Hoss - You should keep the CWM on your wish list; it's a really great model kit.
 
Scoot - Yeah, the plans are really pretty good; there's a ton of information on them, but it sure does take a great deal of scrutinizing to find it all.
 
Thanks again,
David

Thanks for checking in Joe and Dave!
Dave, I very much want to visit the Morgan too and I'm sure it won't be too long before we make the trip. It's not actually all that far from where we live - about a seven hour drive, so quite doable as a mini holiday. When we were in the UK last year we visited a number ships and it's quite a bit of fun.
David

Good Morning,
My wife Nancy is generally very supportive of my model building even though it's an interest she doesn't share. However she does not find the idea of whaling as an enterprise to be to her liking, so is a little dubious about the Charles W. Morgan. You may recall from one of my earlier posts that she refers to it as the "William H. Macy." (War ships on the other hand don't seem to bother her.) Last night she made a rare trip into my workshop to see how I was doing. Noticing that I had installed the belaying pins she asked "What are all those little clubs for? Whacking fish on the head I imagine!" Oh well.
David

Hello All:
 
I've been working on a couple of different things:
 
I couldn't seem to make the cast metal bilge pumps fit properly. There is a bracket on the handle which is supposed to attach to the fife rail. I couldn't see how to bend the handle to make that work without breaking it and/or creating a strange shape. So I made new ones from scratch and will use an small eyebolt to attach it at the fife rail. The picture below shows the supplied cast one and one of my new ones:

(sorry, it's poorly focused)
 
I wanted a change of pace from deck and hull details so decided to jump ahead to something completely out of sequence and turn my attention to the life hoops on the fore and main masts. There is very little reference to them in the plans and I've been unsure about how best to deal with them. So today, I've been experimenting and think I've come up with an acceptable approach.
 
I found this picture in John's (Texxn5) build log and I hope he doesn't mind if I share it with you here:

 
It appears that the hoops are wrapped with canvas. I know I could simply paint the hoops white, but I was wondering how to replicate the covered look and came up with the idea of using plumbers' thread sealing tape.
 
I made the rings by wrapping some brass wire around a 5/16" dowel and then soldered them to a piece of brass strip which will wrap around the mast. I then wrapped the rings with the tape and I think it gives a pretty good result. I'll glue the assembly to the mast at a later time and paint the brass strip white along with the mast.

 

 
So that's my diversion for today. I've been stalling on the hull details because there are so many different elements (5 sets of davits, supports for the roof structure, channels, etc.) all to be fitted in with little wiggle room and no room for error. The location of each seems to rely on the placement of something else and I can't seem to settle on a starting point. However I will have to before much longer.
 
Thanks again for checking in, comments and likes.
 
David
 

Hello All:
 
I've been working on a couple of different things:
 
I couldn't seem to make the cast metal bilge pumps fit properly. There is a bracket on the handle which is supposed to attach to the fife rail. I couldn't see how to bend the handle to make that work without breaking it and/or creating a strange shape. So I made new ones from scratch and will use an small eyebolt to attach it at the fife rail. The picture below shows the supplied cast one and one of my new ones:

(sorry, it's poorly focused)
 
I wanted a change of pace from deck and hull details so decided to jump ahead to something completely out of sequence and turn my attention to the life hoops on the fore and main masts. There is very little reference to them in the plans and I've been unsure about how best to deal with them. So today, I've been experimenting and think I've come up with an acceptable approach.
 
I found this picture in John's (Texxn5) build log and I hope he doesn't mind if I share it with you here:

 
It appears that the hoops are wrapped with canvas. I know I could simply paint the hoops white, but I was wondering how to replicate the covered look and came up with the idea of using plumbers' thread sealing tape.
 
I made the rings by wrapping some brass wire around a 5/16" dowel and then soldered them to a piece of brass strip which will wrap around the mast. I then wrapped the rings with the tape and I think it gives a pretty good result. I'll glue the assembly to the mast at a later time and paint the brass strip white along with the mast.

 

 
So that's my diversion for today. I've been stalling on the hull details because there are so many different elements (5 sets of davits, supports for the roof structure, channels, etc.) all to be fitted in with little wiggle room and no room for error. The location of each seems to rely on the placement of something else and I can't seem to settle on a starting point. However I will have to before much longer.
 
Thanks again for checking in, comments and likes.
 
David
 

Hello All:
 
I've been working on a couple of different things:
 
I couldn't seem to make the cast metal bilge pumps fit properly. There is a bracket on the handle which is supposed to attach to the fife rail. I couldn't see how to bend the handle to make that work without breaking it and/or creating a strange shape. So I made new ones from scratch and will use an small eyebolt to attach it at the fife rail. The picture below shows the supplied cast one and one of my new ones:

(sorry, it's poorly focused)
 
I wanted a change of pace from deck and hull details so decided to jump ahead to something completely out of sequence and turn my attention to the life hoops on the fore and main masts. There is very little reference to them in the plans and I've been unsure about how best to deal with them. So today, I've been experimenting and think I've come up with an acceptable approach.
 
I found this picture in John's (Texxn5) build log and I hope he doesn't mind if I share it with you here:

 
It appears that the hoops are wrapped with canvas. I know I could simply paint the hoops white, but I was wondering how to replicate the covered look and came up with the idea of using plumbers' thread sealing tape.
 
I made the rings by wrapping some brass wire around a 5/16" dowel and then soldered them to a piece of brass strip which will wrap around the mast. I then wrapped the rings with the tape and I think it gives a pretty good result. I'll glue the assembly to the mast at a later time and paint the brass strip white along with the mast.

 

 
So that's my diversion for today. I've been stalling on the hull details because there are so many different elements (5 sets of davits, supports for the roof structure, channels, etc.) all to be fitted in with little wiggle room and no room for error. The location of each seems to rely on the placement of something else and I can't seem to settle on a starting point. However I will have to before much longer.
 
Thanks again for checking in, comments and likes.
 
David
 

Hello All:
 
I've been working on a couple of different things:
 
I couldn't seem to make the cast metal bilge pumps fit properly. There is a bracket on the handle which is supposed to attach to the fife rail. I couldn't see how to bend the handle to make that work without breaking it and/or creating a strange shape. So I made new ones from scratch and will use an small eyebolt to attach it at the fife rail. The picture below shows the supplied cast one and one of my new ones:

(sorry, it's poorly focused)
 
I wanted a change of pace from deck and hull details so decided to jump ahead to something completely out of sequence and turn my attention to the life hoops on the fore and main masts. There is very little reference to them in the plans and I've been unsure about how best to deal with them. So today, I've been experimenting and think I've come up with an acceptable approach.
 
I found this picture in John's (Texxn5) build log and I hope he doesn't mind if I share it with you here:

 
It appears that the hoops are wrapped with canvas. I know I could simply paint the hoops white, but I was wondering how to replicate the covered look and came up with the idea of using plumbers' thread sealing tape.
 
I made the rings by wrapping some brass wire around a 5/16" dowel and then soldered them to a piece of brass strip which will wrap around the mast. I then wrapped the rings with the tape and I think it gives a pretty good result. I'll glue the assembly to the mast at a later time and paint the brass strip white along with the mast.

 

 
So that's my diversion for today. I've been stalling on the hull details because there are so many different elements (5 sets of davits, supports for the roof structure, channels, etc.) all to be fitted in with little wiggle room and no room for error. The location of each seems to rely on the placement of something else and I can't seem to settle on a starting point. However I will have to before much longer.
 
Thanks again for checking in, comments and likes.
 
David
 

Just a quick note to let everyone know I’m finally back from surgery and rehabilitation. I had a large herniated disc in my lower back which required immediate removal. This was done through an incision in my abdomen by a surgeon who specializes in that sort of thing. A second surgeon worked from my backside to adjust my vertebrae angles with a wedge (screwed and pinned) where my disc used to be. And then the whole thing was fused together. All told they worked on me for six hours flipping me over four times. I was knocked out for eight.
 
After spending 3 nights in the hospital working with occupational and physical therapists learning to walk with a walker, I went straight to a rehabilitation center for two weeks for addition therapy. By the time I left I had no need for any walking or stair climbing/descending assistance…for the most part. Surprising, I had very little pain as a direct result of the surgery. Of course, the pain killers might have something to do with that, but I don’t take anything during the day. I then spent a bit of time going through all my snail-mail as well as email, paying bills, etc., reacquainting myself with friends and family and the cat, who has not left my side since I returned.
 
I’m just getting back to the Conny and will give you an update as soon as I hit a small milestone.

Cabins now installed on the deck; cranes and detail installed near the stern.
 
Regards,
David

Good Morning,
My wife Nancy is generally very supportive of my model building even though it's an interest she doesn't share. However she does not find the idea of whaling as an enterprise to be to her liking, so is a little dubious about the Charles W. Morgan. You may recall from one of my earlier posts that she refers to it as the "William H. Macy." (War ships on the other hand don't seem to bother her.) Last night she made a rare trip into my workshop to see how I was doing. Noticing that I had installed the belaying pins she asked "What are all those little clubs for? Whacking fish on the head I imagine!" Oh well.
David

Good Morning,
My wife Nancy is generally very supportive of my model building even though it's an interest she doesn't share. However she does not find the idea of whaling as an enterprise to be to her liking, so is a little dubious about the Charles W. Morgan. You may recall from one of my earlier posts that she refers to it as the "William H. Macy." (War ships on the other hand don't seem to bother her.) Last night she made a rare trip into my workshop to see how I was doing. Noticing that I had installed the belaying pins she asked "What are all those little clubs for? Whacking fish on the head I imagine!" Oh well.
David

Good Morning,
My wife Nancy is generally very supportive of my model building even though it's an interest she doesn't share. However she does not find the idea of whaling as an enterprise to be to her liking, so is a little dubious about the Charles W. Morgan. You may recall from one of my earlier posts that she refers to it as the "William H. Macy." (War ships on the other hand don't seem to bother her.) Last night she made a rare trip into my workshop to see how I was doing. Noticing that I had installed the belaying pins she asked "What are all those little clubs for? Whacking fish on the head I imagine!" Oh well.
David

Good Morning,
My wife Nancy is generally very supportive of my model building even though it's an interest she doesn't share. However she does not find the idea of whaling as an enterprise to be to her liking, so is a little dubious about the Charles W. Morgan. You may recall from one of my earlier posts that she refers to it as the "William H. Macy." (War ships on the other hand don't seem to bother her.) Last night she made a rare trip into my workshop to see how I was doing. Noticing that I had installed the belaying pins she asked "What are all those little clubs for? Whacking fish on the head I imagine!" Oh well.
David

I've now made, mounted and rigged the fore topgallant/royal mast. This included the topgallant shrouds, stay and backstay and the royal stay and backstay. Also added the main royal stay and backstay.This completes the standing rigging, with the exception of the ratlines, which will be done next (always save the best for last 😀).
 
Bob

Good Morning,
I have a bit of progress to report. I've finished up quite a few details on the hull including the coppering as well as a couple of more pieces of the deck details. (All are just sitting on the deck for the photos - none is actually installed yet.)
 
There are a number of portholes etc that are not included in the kit, so I ordered a few different ones. It took a bit of research finding the right sizes but in the end I found some nice small ones - only 1.2mm - for the smallest openings and a couple of different bigger sizes for the others.
 
 
 

 
The oblong mooring chocks are a bit of a mystery to me. The plans indicate four of them on the starboard side and none on the port size, but the kit comes with six. So that's more than needed for the outboard side of the openings, but not enough for both the outboard and inboard sides of the openings. So I used the four kit supplied ones on the outboard side and then used new brass portholes which I bent into an oblong shape for the inboard side and it seems to work well enough. You can see them clearly below.
 

 
Stern details finished -

 
I always find finishing the decking to be a challenge. The basswood takes the stain so poorly that it's hard to get a nice consistent finish. I also like to try to simulate the grayed out look that decks usually have on the real ship. I'm fairly happy with the result I got this time, but don't ask me to duplicate it! It was a lengthy series of experimental steps. This time I used acrylic artists' paint.I started with a thinned mixture of black, white, dark brown and yellow, mixed to achieve a sort of taupe colour. I brushed it on and rubbed it down. Then there was miserable series of steps - adding more brown because it was too gray; adding more black because it was too brown; adding more white because it was too dark; adding more yellow because - well because it was the only colour left to add and then going through the whole process over and over again. When I was finally reasonably happy, I rubbed the whole thing down with steel wool which resulted in a very nice finish and a colour that I think looks ok.
 
(Also, while I'm on the topic of decking - this kit has no sub-decking. The decking planks are 1/16" thick and install directly on the bulkheads. If I was doing it again, I would buy 1/32" sheets and make a sub-deck and then install 1/32" planks over that. It would be much easier to get a good even surface and there would be no concerns about plank butts not lining up with the bulkheads.)

 
The bigger challenge though, was getting a crisp line along the top edge of the upper white stripe. This is the outboard edge of the top rail and according to the pictures I've seen, the white should only be on the vertical surface, not the horizontal surface. After many failed attempts at painting, I realized I would never get a good clean line where the white and black meet. The upper edge of that white line is highly visible and the least deviation jumped out at me.
 
I considered using a styrene strip which would give a good sharp line. I'm not opposed to using styrene in principal, but in this case it was just too front and centre so I abandoned that idea. In the end, I painted a piece of paper and applied that. I have some really nice black paper that I used to simulate small iron fittings etc. It's not as heavy as card stock, but heavier than regular paper. It painted beautifully, without any wrinkling. I cut narrow strips of it and glued it on and it solved the problem!
 
 
The pump handles are another kit mystery. They provide a small centre fitting, but then you are supposed to attached extended handles to it. I couldn't see any way to do that easily or nicely, so I discarded it and fabricated the whole part as one from brass -

 
So that's where I'm at so far. Next up is the tryworks, which looks like it will present some fresh challenges too.
 
This is one of the most enjoyable builds I have done yet, and if anyone is considering this kit, I would definitely recommend it.
 
Again, many thanks for comments and likes.
David
 

Good Morning,
I've spent the last little while working on the tryworks and it's now finished. I used the method described by Gerald Spargo and which is available in the resources section on the NRG main site.
 
It was a pretty straightforward endeavour. The only really difficult aspect is once you get to the top, it appears as though there will not be enough room for the pots, chimneys, trim etc. So it takes a bit of tweaking to get it all to fit. It's also a bit tricky to keep the walls plumb.
 
Gerald advised strongly to use emamel paint for the bricks and not acrylic. (Perhaps it's difficult to wipe the joint filler off acrylic paint cleanly, I'm not sure.) So I used some Humbrol flat enamel. I understand that the top surface and chimneys are copper that has blackened over time. So I painted them with Humbrol copper enamel and then dry brushed flat black over top. I'm not sure how clearly it shows up in the pictures, but you can just see bits of copper showing through. I did the same thing for the cooling tank.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
So that's it for now. Many thanks for looking in.
David

Good Morning,
A little update -
I have finished the deck structures at the stern. I expected the skylight and the tryworks to be difficult, but they proved to be easier than I anticipated. These little "houses" on the other hand, took me by surprise and proved to be quite hard to do, and difficult to do any one aspect of them in isolation. Each step seemed to depend on something else being done first. The first step is installing the rudder-
 
I tried making the pintles and gudgeons copper. I used styrene stips covered with copper tape. (the top one will be painted black.)It worked fairly well and it's certainly a little more forgiving than if they contrast sharply with the hull.
 

Some components just dry-fitted, but the steering mechanism has to be installed before the cabins can be attached-

 
Rigging the steering before final installation of the cabins-
 

 
Cabins in place-

 
More or less finished, just some details such as ladder and smoke stack to add as well as a couple of touch-ups-

 

 
I'm currently working on the fife rail, which you can see in the above photo. It's just dry-fitted when the photo was taken and doesn't fit quite right yet. Once it's done, I will pretty much finished the deck details and will turn my attention to the details on the exterior of the hull.
 
Many thanks for comments, likes and just looking in.
 
I'm going out to get our Christmas tree later today. Every year I unsuccessfully lobby for an artificial tree as I never look forward to the effort and mess of cutting and setting up a real tree, but I have to admit when it's done, I'm always glad I made the effort!
 
Happy holidays to all.
 
David

Thanks Jim and Mike!
This is one of the most enjoyable models I've built yet. The kit is well designed and there is plenty of detail to get your teeth into.
David

Some deck detail completed near the bow.
 
Regards,
David

Hi Dan,
Is this where I notify you of my completed build log? I'm a bit out of date. My Rattlesnake, Prince de Neufchatel and Virginia Privateer are all now finished.
Many thanks for your help.
David

Added the hurricane deck. Followed the instructions in Kurt's Ships in Scale article to simulate tar paper covering with silkspan strips.
Put in all of the hurricane deck supports.
Before adding the skylight structure I put in 3 LEDs leading to holes in the deck within where the skylight would go to provide some lighting to the main cabin structure. It's not bright - good simulation of several kerosene lamps being lit I think. Tested the lights - all levels working so far.
The skylight structure was next. A lot of windows but easy to glaze with strips of clear Lucite on the inside after painting. I like to glaze the windows rather than leave them open because the reflection off of them with ambient light adds to the realism.
I'll put 3 lights on the deck within the hurricane cabin outline since access to the roof in an unobtrusive manner - with only the pilot house on top of it - prevents easy running of the wires via the roof. The silkspan "tar paper" will not hide them as I determined with an experiment. Those will be the last lights.
The small black "grabber" is holding the wires those LEDs will attach to.
 
OOps - I just noticed looking at the pictures that I lost one of the aft hurricane deck posts for the railing. Better fix that now.

I found about six different references on the best technique to copper a hull. All different! As you can see below, I ended up inventing my own laying in two rows of dressing belt at the waterline and four rows at the keel, then locating the widest point of girth on the hull and drawing a line perpendicular to the waterline. At the end of most rows the plates will be trimmed to fit against the preceding row. As expected the widest point will require one or two "filler" rows. That's the plan anyway. At least it's tidy! A note for anyone considering coppering: give the hull a coat of copper colour paint before you start. A few very tiny cracks of "white" are peeking through. Hindsight really is 20/20.

Good Morning,
I've spent the last little while working on the tryworks and it's now finished. I used the method described by Gerald Spargo and which is available in the resources section on the NRG main site.
 
It was a pretty straightforward endeavour. The only really difficult aspect is once you get to the top, it appears as though there will not be enough room for the pots, chimneys, trim etc. So it takes a bit of tweaking to get it all to fit. It's also a bit tricky to keep the walls plumb.
 
Gerald advised strongly to use emamel paint for the bricks and not acrylic. (Perhaps it's difficult to wipe the joint filler off acrylic paint cleanly, I'm not sure.) So I used some Humbrol flat enamel. I understand that the top surface and chimneys are copper that has blackened over time. So I painted them with Humbrol copper enamel and then dry brushed flat black over top. I'm not sure how clearly it shows up in the pictures, but you can just see bits of copper showing through. I did the same thing for the cooling tank.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
So that's it for now. Many thanks for looking in.
David

Good Morning,
A little update -
I have finished the deck structures at the stern. I expected the skylight and the tryworks to be difficult, but they proved to be easier than I anticipated. These little "houses" on the other hand, took me by surprise and proved to be quite hard to do, and difficult to do any one aspect of them in isolation. Each step seemed to depend on something else being done first. The first step is installing the rudder-
 
I tried making the pintles and gudgeons copper. I used styrene stips covered with copper tape. (the top one will be painted black.)It worked fairly well and it's certainly a little more forgiving than if they contrast sharply with the hull.
 

Some components just dry-fitted, but the steering mechanism has to be installed before the cabins can be attached-

 
Rigging the steering before final installation of the cabins-
 

 
Cabins in place-

 
More or less finished, just some details such as ladder and smoke stack to add as well as a couple of touch-ups-

 

 
I'm currently working on the fife rail, which you can see in the above photo. It's just dry-fitted when the photo was taken and doesn't fit quite right yet. Once it's done, I will pretty much finished the deck details and will turn my attention to the details on the exterior of the hull.
 
Many thanks for comments, likes and just looking in.
 
I'm going out to get our Christmas tree later today. Every year I unsuccessfully lobby for an artificial tree as I never look forward to the effort and mess of cutting and setting up a real tree, but I have to admit when it's done, I'm always glad I made the effort!
 
Happy holidays to all.
 
David

Good Morning,
A little update -
I have finished the deck structures at the stern. I expected the skylight and the tryworks to be difficult, but they proved to be easier than I anticipated. These little "houses" on the other hand, took me by surprise and proved to be quite hard to do, and difficult to do any one aspect of them in isolation. Each step seemed to depend on something else being done first. The first step is installing the rudder-
 
I tried making the pintles and gudgeons copper. I used styrene stips covered with copper tape. (the top one will be painted black.)It worked fairly well and it's certainly a little more forgiving than if they contrast sharply with the hull.
 

Some components just dry-fitted, but the steering mechanism has to be installed before the cabins can be attached-

 
Rigging the steering before final installation of the cabins-
 

 
Cabins in place-

 
More or less finished, just some details such as ladder and smoke stack to add as well as a couple of touch-ups-

 

 
I'm currently working on the fife rail, which you can see in the above photo. It's just dry-fitted when the photo was taken and doesn't fit quite right yet. Once it's done, I will pretty much finished the deck details and will turn my attention to the details on the exterior of the hull.
 
Many thanks for comments, likes and just looking in.
 
I'm going out to get our Christmas tree later today. Every year I unsuccessfully lobby for an artificial tree as I never look forward to the effort and mess of cutting and setting up a real tree, but I have to admit when it's done, I'm always glad I made the effort!
 
Happy holidays to all.
 
David