Ryland Craze

Brett - both oil and water base work just fine, but look very different. Oil really brings out the color of the wood. The water based doesn't. I use both. I use the water based on holly. The oil based gives it a yello w tinge, while the water base preserves the white. I use the oil based on everything else.
 
Dave

It is second build, first one was a similar model - English Pinnace
This time I will make it slower, no rush. And will try to avoid all mistakes done on Pinnace
 
I will use kit details for frames and keel, and boxwood for everything else.
No paint, no stain, only natural wood colour. No friesers, and no paintings on a transom also. Instead, it would be planked and treenailed.
Sorry for skipping the decorations, I just prefer the simple design.
 
For a start - traditional photos of every longboat builder - parts sanded from laser char, keel and falsekeel, simple building jig to hold it straight.
 

 

 

 
First pinnace mistake avoided - bevel on a false keel is smaller, different angle, to gently handle a plank on an angle specified by frames. Sounds obvious, but on a pinnace I made a bevel with a wrong angle, and there was a small gap between garboard plank and keel.
 
First impression - it is sooooooo small! Very nice scale, it is big enough to make it with a good precision (I hope), but fits into a palm. Should be very cute when done

I got a lot done today, started this log, sorted out creating a signature, linking my build log and gallery, and trying to post a picture to my profile.  There is a lot of great guides on how to do all that but it took me some time as I am only moderatly proficient when it comes to computers.  Next I started on making the plank above and forward of this stealer plank and botched it up as well  so I tossed it in the trash and started over.  This time it went better but still a gap crept in. Some times this hobby can be so frustrating and I am getting the feeling this may be one of those days. So not much progress but its progress.  Its a little agrivating to me as I have been looking forward all week to getting home and doing some planking but I think I am going to take a break for a bit and cut the grass.  Sorry for the rant, just needed to vent. 
 
Fair winds my friends!

This will be my third model ship and second plank on bulkhead ship. In addition to this web site I will be building the Pride of Baltimore II (POB II) with the assistance of Robert Hunts Sophomore course practicum, and of course all of you here at MSW. I thank you all in advance for your help and input along the way.

I must confess I am hesitant to start this log as there are already three magnificent build logs under way for this ship. I fear that I may have little to offer as I am very much a beginner and I do not posses any great skill, but I do have a desire to strive for perfection and like all of you a love and fascination with these beautiful tall ships that are reminders of our past. So with some trepidation and having being inspired by the craftsmanship of others here I have decided to take the plunge.

I chose the POB II for many reasons not the least of which is she is a beautiful ship, but also as I think she offers a great deal as a way to learn and improve as a model shipwright. She presents some new challenges compared to the AVS but in a way that is a natural progression for new builders.

The keel was first laid December 08, 2012 shortly after completing my Armed Virginia Sloop. Work progressed to the point where I had begun the process of planking the hull and had completed the first 6 rows below the wales. Some of the photos from early construction are posted below. Then life took me away and the poor ship has sat idle until recently. Like many others this hobby has a way of always pulling me back and the pride as waited patiently for my return.

Thanks Chuck, Kurt and Al for your comments and to those that hit the "Like This" button.  This is a fun build and I am enjoying it much more since I have finished the planking.
 
I have managed to get some more work completed over the last several days. 
 
Using a #11 saw blade that I purchased from Micro Mark (#11Saw Blade) I gently cut the tabs holding the bulkheads.  I braced the center of the bulkhead using my thumb and put pressure on the side of the longboat using my forefinger. 
 

 
After the tabs were cut, I gently wiggled the bulkhead unti I felt it snap.  This was a very satisfying feeling.  The bulkhead felt like balsa wood after working with the boxwood planking.  After removing four or five bulkheads, the inside of this little model started looking like the inside of a full size boat.
 

 
And here is a picture of the Longboat with all of the bulkheads removed along with my X-Acto knife with the #11 saw blade.  This is a well designed kit and I like the way the bulkhead removal turns this kit from a plank on bulkhead model to a plank on frame model very easily.
 

 
I took this model to the Hampton Roads Ship Model Society meeting today and it drew a lot of attention from the members.  I hope I can find the time in the coming weeks to continue working on this build.  It is a lot of fun and a great diversion from my job.

But now the good part. Quoting Chuck's manual - "That completes the model!!!" I'm still in progress with the display case, but she is completed! Yahooo!
Chuck, thanks again for that fun build, that looks simple, but actually forces to learn new techniques and go to the next level of accuracy.
 

 

 

 

 
Next buid would be a Longboat, since my wife really thinks it looks better with sails, and I want to make a better planking with boxwood
Ok, in reality I just want to make a pinnace again, this time avoiding all mistakes I did, but making the same model again is kind of silly, and I really love the look of longboat. Also, longboat build would be much slower - I will not rush things to complete it quicker.
 
Thanks everybody who watched, helped and commented - it is quite fun, much better then just modelling without being able to share!

Thank you for your interest in "Newsboy" 1854,
 
Additional mast assembly and outfit fittings. A list of special "Newsboy" rigging fittings typical of the mid 1800's is listed below:
 
Spar Setup
 
(1) Royal yard parrel assembly (special fabrication)
(1) Topgallant yard parrel assembly (special fabrication)
(1) Upper topsail yard parrel assembly (special fabrication)
(2) Upper topsail yard studding boom quarter iron (special fabrication)
(2) Upper topsail yard studding boom iron (special fabrication)
(2) Lower yard studding boom quarter iron (special fabrication)
(2) Lower yard studding boom iron (special fabrication)
(1) Lower topsail yard clevis assembly (Britannia casting)
(1) Lower topsail yard truss assembly (Britannia castings)
(1) Lower yard truss assembly (Britannia castings)
(1) Boom sheet assembly (special fabrication)
 
Mast Setup
 
(1) Main mast crane (special fabrication)
(1) Fore mast cap clevis assembly (special assembly)
(1) Fore mast clevis assembly (special fabrication)
(1) Iron stay assembly (lower topsail yard stay) (special fabrication)
 
This post completes mast fabrication and the fitting of mast ironwork. When construction resumes, mast sections will be assembled and outfitted with blocks and rigging lines per Rigging Setup Lists.
 
Pete Jaquith
Shipbuilder

Not much to show for last weekend's work.  The garden has taken over most of my free time.  I have completed the upper deck hatches and ladderway.  The head ledges are bolted to the deck and the coamings are treenailed.  Even though I used a light colored wood for the treenails (bamboo) they are barely visible.  The nails securing the grating battens to the ledges were made by making a dimple with the point of a compass and then highlighting it with pencil. I scribed the main hatch cover to simulate a three piece cover.Openings have been cut into the aft hatch cover to accommodate the main jeer bitt pin. This will not be installed until I am ready to work on the quarter deck beams to prevent damage.
 

 

 

During the last weeks I spent some time on the figurehead.
 
As shown in the following images I used a block of pear wood cut to the right dimensions with a hand scroll saw (image 1a), glued a copy of the Syren figurehead from Chuck’s plans on it, cut it out roughly with the scroll saw (image 1b) and mounted it on a copy of the bow as a stand for carving (image 1c). By means of a rotary tool, different carving knifes and my sanding sticks (already used for the head rail) I refined the shape of the figurehead (image 2). The arms (and later also the head) were separated from the body as it was easier for me to focus on the body shape and the arms/ head as individual pieces. In this way the chances are also increased not to mess up the whole figure if the one or other part does not work out the first time  . The obvious disadvantage of this method is, however, that the figure needs to be pieced together later without showing too many seams. This turned out to be more challenging than initially expected.
 
As a next step the scales for the fish tail and the fin pattern were inscribed (image 3). To make the details more visible I enhanced them with some graphite powder gained from a pencil. The excess powder was “washed away” with Golden Oak wood stain (MinWax). Then I carved arms and head as separate pieces (image 4). Getting a decent looking face at that scale is a bit tricky.
 
The different parts of the figure were finally assembled, correct transitions between the parts established and the seams hidden. The result is shown in images 5 – 9.
 

Image 1
 

Image 2
 

Image 3
 

Image 4
 

Image 5
 

Image 6
 

Image 7
 

Image 8
 

Image 9
 

Hooray! I finished all the messy part of gluing metal parts onto wood parts. Damn CA! Hate it!
 
Metal bumper looks much better then a paper one. Or I probably just cant work with the paper (some build logs of ships from card totally changed the view on paper)

 
Rudder tiller have a brass rod inside to make a stronger joint with a rudder:

 
And here is the rudder installed. Fully functional, you can rotate it gently

 
Trunk of the pinnace looked too empty. Then I started to think... What could be there? It is a flashy pinnace, not the one that is used to carry food supply. It is intended to transport officers. What they could carry with them?? Aha! Some high quality booze, to make sure it will not disappear while officers are on the shore.
So here is a tiny booze tank:

 
SKÅL!

I was about to complete the quarterdeck framing when I realized that I had forgotten to do the elm tree pumps, which had to go in before the deck framing. Whew.
 
The pumps were made up from boxwood strip and a tiny bit of wire. The body of the pumps are  square strip, sanded eight sided and drilled out at the top and for the drain. I also made up the main jeer bitts and drilled their mounting holes before in stalling the deck framing. They have not been installed yet.
 
The remaining deck framing was done like the previous sections with the beams, carlings, ledges, lodging knees and hanging knees.
 
The next items will be the main topsail sheet bitts and the completion of the chain pump cranks and supports.
 
Bob

Stand, Inboard Bulwarks and Carronades
 









 
Deck Fittings
 










 
 
With those picture building log is up to date.

Hull details









 
Head Rails and Figurehead



 
Wheel

 

Coopering the Hull, Radder





 
Boat

Just jump in!!!!!  The water is just fine.  If you break something,  Expo will replace it.  Theres no substitute for getting a feel for it without over thinking it.  Thinking about it too much leads to ship model paralysis.
 
Chuck

Welcome to to the "Newsboy" 1854 build log,
 
With the deck houses complete, lets continue with the deck outfit.  Key points include:
 
>>> Fiferails were built up from stripwood
>>> Fiferail stanctions were Bluejacket castings
>>> Forward fiferail left loose (2 pieces) for installation after completion of fore lower yard lift and fore lower topsail sheet tackles
>>> 2 deck pumps fitted to permit pumping out P/S of keel and for redundency (1 shown on plans)
>>> 2 water casks fitted based on contemporary practice (not shown on plans)
>>> Water casks were planked over basswood plugs
>>> Belaying pins (brass) were chemically treated and installed
 
As noted, I feel free to add to plan details based on contemporary practice where I see something missing.  After all, most ship model plans are only reconstructions.
 
Pete Jaquith
Shipbuilder

USS Brig Syren

Part 6: Gun Port Lintels and Sweep Ports

 

Step 1: Gun Port Lintels

For the gun port lintels I used the same approach as for the sills, as in that I ignored the templates and got a temporary batton in place. I've read on various other blogs that they with their lintels they had them glued in the right place, but then when they checked a while later gravity had taken it's toll and they were no longer in the right location. Therefore, I decided to align the top of the temporary batton with the bottom of the lintels, so the lintels could somewhat rest on the temporary batton.

 

Given that that the natural flow had been established for the sills, it was just a case of replicating this flow for the lintels whilst bearing in mind that a distance of 15/32" should remain between them, as that's the height and width of the gunports. I toyed with making a 15/32" block of wood to get this distance consistent across the whole run of the ship, but instead reverted back to my trusted calipher.

 

I basically used my calipher to quickly mark the appropriate distance by hand, clamped a temporary batton in place and then re-measured with the calipher and adjusted. Once the distance between temporary batton and gun port sill was perfectly 15/32", I double-checked the flow of the batton before I started placing the gun port lintels.

 



 

Step 2: Sanding

With the lintels and sills in place I felt that the bulwarks were now sufficiently supported to take some serious sanding. I was still somewhat apprehensive, given that I had snapped a fair few previously, but it was remarkable how strong the ship now had become. Still, a fair bit of sanding had to take place in order to ensure that the bulkwarks would end up as 3/32" below the railcap and 1/8" thick at the deck level.

 

I tried various tools, including electrical ones but at the end of the day nothing beats some elbow-grease I found. The outside of the ship was rather easy to sand as you had easy access and the curve of the ship helped, the inside turned out to be a completely different kettle of fish. Luckily I had seen this problem coming so I ensured that the lintels and sills were placed as much as possible towards the outside, with as little as possible sticking out on the inside.

 

Eventually I ended up using three tools over and over again. Especially the big sander turned out to be a life-safer on the sanding of the inside given it's many curved angles.

 



 


Step 3: Sweep Ports

After some rigorous sanding, the gunport templates started to line up very well but still I decided to used my own measurements for the sweep-ports and once again used my calipher to ensure that everything was at the right distance of each other. 

 



 



Step 4: More Sanding

With the sweep-ports final sanding took place, once again by hand. It's imperative to constantly keep checking with a temporary batton to ensure that you're fairing the hull correctly for planking later on. I've completed the whole hull now and re-took measurements, it's now just a case of fine-tuning here and there.

 



 



 



 

Off to Chapter Four - Stern Framing! Let's see how many of those little buggers I'll manage to snap! :-)

 

Kind regards,

 

Martijn.


 

Now it is time to add the fixed blocks to the outside of the hull. These blocks are simulated
and do not pass all the way through the hull. A small hole was drilled at each end and then
the center cut out to make the sheave slot. A small piece of wood was then fit into the slot
with a groove cut into it to simulate the sheave. The blocks are then placed against the hull,
the sheave hole position was marked and then the hole was drilled through the hull. This will
ensure proper alignment when placing the inner block later on.
 

 
The gun port opening have their first coat of paint applied and you can also see the batten strip
attached to the hull marking the location of the first row of planking.
 

I sent this comment to Conway:
 
Please pass on my sincere thanks to John for having made such a significant contribution to the ship modelling publishing world. In the early days of Model Shipwright, this was my only window into what others were doing in the field. Working in isolation, Model Shipwright was a valuable tool for me as well as many others, I am sure.   Every best wish to John in his well-earned retirement.

Installed oar locks. Their crisp edges a bit in contrast with a smooth hull. I tried to smooth them, but on that scale I can't make it accurately. So let's call it a feature

 
While making a photos saw how innacurate is the twart moulding... I should have make it from boxwood, but. I had no boxwood back then... And it is deeply in a boat structure, can't find a way to replace twarts without traces.
Well, I will blame that drunk rowers, who was trying to hide contraband in that mouldings!

this will be my first scratchbuilt project.based on a set of plans first published around an article in modelboats cica 1996 by a chap called peter danks. (myrmidon man?)
apparently this vessel was originally built for service on the great lakes of north america during the america war of independance.
built around ply wood bulkheads on a similar system to some of the billing kits ie in two halves.
wales planked using 3mm x 4mm beech.
all other  planking in lime wood.
various fittings will be in a mixture of other timbers including boxwood,ramin.

Thanks Antony. Very much appreciated.
 
Yeah Ben I can just picture trying to stuff it in an over head. Thats not to mention the fun I'd have with the TSA.
 
Sir what is that you have packed in that box. Why it's a bomb......groans while prone on floor with several persons piled on top.....vessel.

Behold!  A Masterpiece!

NOT!!!!! 
    Here is what Philly will kinda look like when complete.  As mentioned before, I am trying to get her ready for entry into the County Fair in June.  Entry (with pics) were due today.  Hopefully the guys that build tables and guitars won't look too closely.  The goal was to get it to where it looked reasonably like a completed model.
 
    I got to the shrouds and found that I had made them too short.  They did not stretch as much as I had anticipated.  Good news is that I get to redo the seizings on the shrouds, which I did not like.  I also got to get a better look at the lay of the lines  I determined that I WILL have to glue on the yards, but will be able to remove them at some future date if need be. 
 
    Philly is already stripped back down to basic infrastructure and construction will begin again in earnest on the morrow.
 

Captain Benjamin Rue inspects the rigging job.  "I have morons on my team!!!!"

Hi Ken
I reckon there are some good points made above. You need more room - Space the tackle bolts wider at the port than the breeching ropes. The eye for the tackle hook should be further back and behind the breeching rope eye and ring on the carriage. I use extremely thin blackened jewellery wire for wrapping the blocks. It probably should be rope but it is very easy to use and manipulate. I find that does not break or bend when rigging if handled gently. Here is picture of my AVS cannon rig. 2.5mm blocks, 0.25mm tackle rope and 0.6mm breeching rope. My mistake here is the double block for the tackles at the bulwarks - have since learned that it should be a single. My coils are also too big and too long.

I've started on the ULQ-6 radar antenna frames and after two nights of work, I have a couple of photos to show my progress. Actually, I'm a bit further along with the lower framework, but these are the latest photos.
This phase of the build is assisted by R. Landgraff (as mentioned in an earlier post) who actually worked on the final construction of these ECM units in 1968 prior to the ship's departure for WesPac. So, I'm fairly confident that his knowledge will pay off in the long run.

While I'm using my CAD file for the overall construction of these frames, I'm thinking that they could be improved upon by perhaps being produced in PE brass and designed to be a folded-over frame instead of individual pieces as my framework is currently constructed. This would also eliminate the fact that the two frames are not 100% identical and that all the members were the same width, etc.

So, when it comes time to mount these units on the conning tower, I will probably use minimal glue so that they can be replaced with a more professionally designed and constructed set in the future.

Wednesday night I got the intial painting done and begin work on the lower "Derby Hat" framework construction that will be added below the existing framework. The actual ECM gear has yet to be constructed and then added.
 
Hank