wyz

Lots of progress lately. By the end of this post, Bertrand will be ready for the final bits of rigging and details. The end is in sight! Here we go:
 
Pilot house
 

 
Here I'm laying out pieces for the pilot house. Like the cabins, this uses pre-scribed wood, though I'm cutting & staining the window & door frames individually. I didn't have anything that small on hand, so split each piece manually from wider strips, using a hobby knife.
 

 
Here you see the pilot house partially assembled. You'll notice that I made the windows with two layers of wood, technically not accurate since a real window would have the panes and frames all in one plane. I decided that I didn't have the skill to make perfect square small-paned windows like these in 1:87, so went with the two-layer approach as a reasonable approximation. One reason I stained the windows dark, is to help hide their 2-D nature. The resulting shadow keeps the eye from seeing that, compared to if they were all white. And I think it looks nice. When you step back more than 6", it's hard to see the difference.
 

 
Here's the pilot house installed, with a beginning to the clerestory roof. I carved a series of roof braces with a gentle curve to support this area, instead of bothering with full rafters, as this can't be seen from any angle. Much easier. Then I just planked in both roof areas as I'd done the hurricane deck, using the same pre-coloring technique with pastels. If you look real close, you can see the wheel, which I made by cutting a hoop from the styrene tube soon to be used for the chimneys, and gluing thin styrene rods radially. I thought I took pictures of this process, but can't find them now. Oops.
 
Chimneys
 

 
Though the model railroader in me wants to call these smokestacks, apparently the steamboat world generally called them chimneys. In any case, these were built from two diameters of styrene tubing, one of which slides neatly into the other. I cut a series of hoops from the thicker diameter, and drilled holes in styrene sheet to create a kind of cover plate for where the chimneys cross the hurricane deck.
 
Middle photo shows the assembled chimneys. The thicker, lower section simulates the heat shields such chimneys used to protect passengers on the boiler deck from the hot chimney pipes. The various hoops simulate thicker iron bands on the chimneys, placed approximately where various plans and period illustrations suggest they should be. As styrene is too smooth and shiny to really simulate rough iron to my eye, I used a past trick of mine and wrapped the chimneys in layers of strong masking tape, making each seem a quarter turn from the layer below. These seams simulate the chimneys' construction from tubes of iron, and produce a nice rough texture. 
 
On the right, you see the painted and installed chimneys, weathered with rust-colored pastels. I think they look convincingly like frontier iron work.
 
Stairs
 

 
Three sets of stairs are needed to reach the pilot house from the boiler deck; one from boiler deck to hurricane deck (right), one from hurricane deck to clerestory roof (not shown), and one from clerestory to pilot house (left). I built these in the same manner as the main staircase from main deck to boiler deck, described before in this build. In the background, you see some hog chains, which I'll discuss soon.
 
Boiler deck railing
 

 
Probably the most fiddly part of this build. I'm not entirely happy with how these came out, but they look fine from more than a foot away. I started by building the internal railing that keep passengers from falling down the main stairwell (left). Then I glued a long, painted strip wrapped around all the stanchions on the boiler deck, as the upper rail (center). Then I hand-cut a whole whoppin'  mess of little railing posts to line the railing with, and carefully levered each one into place with tweezers and a dab of glue. Once again, step back a foot and it looks great. Up close, it looks like the work of someone still developing his fine-woodworking skills.
 
(Almost) completed steamboat
 


 
And here she is, very close to done. This is the best view of the hog chain system, the longitudinal iron trusses that keep the bow and stern from sagging in a ong, thin boat with no keel and lots of stern-weight. These I simulated with fine rigging thread painted black, run through holes drilled in the decks and stretched tight. They should have turnbuckles on them for tensioning, which I haven't decided how to simulate yet.
 
All that remains is the "rigging", which in this case means a few support cables for the chimneys, and the various cables and tackles for the grasshopper spars, which I'll discuss when they're done. There are a few other details, such as hoists and tackles for two launches, and splitting some 1:87 firewood for the main deck. But she's close.
 
One question for you all: how would you go about lettering the name, which should go in large black letters on the engine-room wall just forward of the wheel? I've never done lettering before.
 
Hopefully within two weeks I'll post the absolutely completed Bertrand. In the meantime, just two days late, here's Dave Hum playing the Eighth of January, an old tune named for the British defeat at New Orleans that closed the War of 1812, just over 201 years ago:
 

Hi Mike,
 
Depending of the wood species,wood fibers  can rise when you apply a liquid on the surface. We try to eliminate fibers rising before painting so that after we have a softer surface without wood fiber peaks.

Gaetan, you are definitely welcome! It is not intrusive at all.
 
Interesting approach. I miss the idea - what is the benefit of raising the grain? 

I hope I do not get too much intrusive, but after a little research, here is what I found.
 
  Tung oil has been known about for hundreds of years in China, where it was used as a preservative for wood ships. The oil penetrates the wood, then hardens to form an impermeable hydrophobic layer (repels water) up to 5 mm into the wood.  In a pure form, the oil is an amber color, and has the approximate consistency of glycerine.   The first reason to oil the wood is to enhance the color of the grain. Wood stability is another good reason. It reduces the rate and amount of water vapor entering the wood so that it does not swell either to quickly or too much. Pure tung will give you a matte finish.
 
Tung oil seeps into the grain of the wood, giving it a perpetual wet look that highly accentualizes the grain of the wood, commonly referred to as "making the grain pop". Because of this, the color of the wood is slightly darkened, giving the wood a rich, warm color that is very pleasing.
 
 
Application: Raise the grain, sand, and then begin.
 
Almost all experts agree that using a cloth moistened with warm water is the easiest way to raise the grain on your project before oiling. When using pure tung oil, you need several coats. It’s very important that you thin each coat with the first coat being the thinnest (I recommend 70 percent solvent). Each successive coat should be thicker (less thinned), and the last coat must be the thickest. Your thinner needs to be an organic solvent, one that is carbon based like turpentine. Every layer except the last must be sanded, so the next layer of tung oil will bond to the previous layer. 320 grit sandpaper creates the “tooth” that grips the next layer.  
 
Sanding sealers are usually used to fix problems with uneaven absorption of stains, however it is not required under penetrating oil finishes such as tung oil. If you do choose to use sanding sealers, it is recommended that you are sanding to 180/220 grit, and only move on to finer sanding once the sealer is applied.   
 
In my case,sanding is below 100, the sanding roller is 80 grit, so I do not believe  a sanding sealer would be any help as long as the kind of wood I use , in this case cherry evenly absorbs the oil which in this case is not a problem. They recommend 3 or 4 coats in the real life to obtain hydro properties. In my situation 1 coat is enough to enhance the color of the grain which is the main reason to use it.
100% pure Tung Oil is slower drying, but this will be improved with thinners. Tung Oil loves to be rubbed, and the more heat generated the faster it dries. This makes it a great "friction polish" for lathe finishing or hand rubbing.
 
The next seed oil that I will try will be grape seed oil which has been apparently used by generations of instrument makers. It has excellent drying nature being high in Linolenic to be a main reason why this particular oil has been used.

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 41 – Forecastle Fancy Rail
 
We are almost approaching the end of the modeling I did on the 1:96 version of Young America.  In the last part the fancy rail around the stern was installed.  The same methods were used on the fancy rail at the bow – with a few minor differences.
 
In the first picture, the central, forward section of the rail has been pinned in place – prior to cutting the scarph joints.
 

 
A template made from one of the pdf drawings was used, since the outer shape could not be traced as was done on the stern.   The joints were then formed, the inside (only) edge rounded by sanding, and the piece painted.  It is shown pinned in place below.
 

 
The side pieces were then fitted in the same manner as those at the stern – as shown below.
 

 
The joints were then formed on these, the edges rounded, and the pieces painted before installation. The starboard piece is being glued in the next picture.
 

 
Note the use of a screw clamp to close the joint to the forward section.  The next step is shown in the last picture.
 

 
There is a small triangular area between the knightheads and the rail on each side which must be capped.  In the picture, small pieces are being fit over these areas.  The outside edge of the forward piece was left unrounded for this work.  Fitting these with an invisible joint required some sanding of the top faces of the installed pieces – as can be seen.  These were of course painted over later – after the outside edges were made flush with the main pieces and rounded over.  Unfortunately, I did not take a close-up picture of the finished work.
 
All that now remained to do on this model was to add the fancy rails along the main deck.  This would bring it to the relatively presentable state for the trip to the NRG conference in October.  I will cover that last bit of work in the next – and perhaps final – part.
 
 
Ed

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 40 – Stern Fancy Rail 2
 
OK.  Christmas is past and it is time to get back to work – slowly at first, starting with a POB build log update – then off to the shop.  In the last part, the aft sections of the stern fancy rail were installed.  In the first picture below, the starboard side section is being fitted.
 

 
This piece was first shaped by tracing the outer profile along the hull – as was done for the stern pieces - then marking its width, its length, and the joint.  In the picture the joint has been rough-cut and is being test fitted.  You may notice that the stern section in the picture has been sanded somewhat.  Actually there is quite a bit of this to be done on the top rail after bolts are installed, to match the rounded edges, etc.  As long as the line against the black and the deck is left intact this is not a problem, since the top of the rail can be refinished without having to cut in the line at the edges.
 
In the next picture the section of rail shown above has been painted and is being glued down with the help of locating pins and screw clamps.
 

 
The next picture shows the clamps gripped under the mizzen channel and the main rail.
 

 
In the next picture the rail on the opposite side is being installed.
 

 
In the picture the leftmost clamp is closing the scarph joint in the rail.  Note also that these rail sections end at the forward edge of the breast beam.  At this point the rail thins down in width, so the next sections along the main deck will be narrower, but the outside line of the rail will be flush.
 
The last picture shows the rail around the poop deck completed.
 

 
The rail at the bow was installed next.
 
 
Ed

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 39 – Stern Fancy Rail
 
The so-called “fancy rail” capped the tops of the bulwarks along the main rail, but at the forecastle and poop decks it also served to seal off and make watertight the top of the framing at the side.  Although the curved margin plank below covered the tops of the timbers in these areas, this was not likely a caulked, waterproof joint.  For this reason, the fancy rails at the forecastle and poop needed to be wide enough to overlap the outboard planks and also the inside margin plank by enough to permit good caulked joints.  I wrestled with this because published sections through the bulwarks at the main deck generally show capping rails too narrow to meet the needs described above where they are at deck level.  To resolve this, I decided to make the fancy rail wider at the end decks and step it down at the breast beams to a narrower width along the main deck bulwarks.  A long story, but one that builders of the model should find useful.
 
The work on the fancy rail started at the stern.  The process for making the curved, hook-scarphed pieces was used on the margin plank below and on all similar pieces at both ends.  Since I took a lot of pictures of the method on this rail, and since there are a number of these pieces to make, I decided to show the process that I use for this in some detail. Although it is covered in depth in the book for the framed model, this description may be of help to builders of this smaller version.   In the first picture the first piece has been cut and pinned on the starboard quarter.  
 

 
Pin holes were pre-drilled for a sliding fit with the pins.  The joint of the two stern sections will be on the centerline – staggered from the joints on the margin plank below.  On this model all the pieces were cut from ¾” stock.  I used this as a maximum thickness on this version so modelers could cut members to size with a good 4” circular saw and not need major tools like full size band(or circular) saw and thickness sander(or planer) that would be necessary if starting with the thicker stock that is needed for many pieces on the framed model.  In this case the stock was readily available ¾” maple cut to a thickness of 3½” (just over 1/32”).  It will be painted.
 
In the next picture the scarph joints have been formed at the ends and the piece re-pinned in place.
 

 
The piece extends about 3” outside of the outboard planking and covers about one-half of the margin plank.  The piece was initially formed by the process shown below for the second piece on the port side.
 

 
The ¾” width of maple strip was first marked to the shape of the stern from below as shown.  The piece is being test fit in the next picture after cutting the outer curve.
 

 
In the next picture end of this piece is being marked from the joint of the piece below.
 

 
The full width of the piece was then marked out using a compass set to the width of the plank with an extended leg held to the outer curve.  It was then carefully cut and shaped to this line.  Care is needed because of the weak cross grain at the ends.  I believe in an earlier post I pasted similar pieces to a scrap piece to protect the ends on a similar piece for cutting.  The next picture shows the piece slipped under the first piece, fit into place and being drilled for locating pins.
 

 
Once pinned the joint on the new piece can be marked out using a very sharp pencil as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The joint was then cut on the second piece and fitted to the first as shown below. 
 

 
This picture was taken during the cutting and fitting process.  Note that the joint has not yet been cut at the forward end of this piece.  I will not describe cutting these joints since the method appears in a number of my other posts and is fully described in the book – and in the Naiad books.
 
In the next part the side rails along the poop will be fitted and all these rails rounded off, painted and installed.
 
 
Ed

Nice work on the hooked-scarfs Ed!  You're a true craftsman! 

Real nice work Bob.  The carronades look great and I too like the natural color of the gun carriages,  I'm also starting to feel the effects of old age as it relates to model ship building.  Arthritis in the hands and neck and difficulty seeing sometimes limit time spent in the shop, especially if its a repetitive task and I'm hunched over.  Now where did I put that bottle Tylenol?
 
Tom

I also did some experimenting, Tung oil, WOP, beeswax, museum wax of different brands.
 
I use Tung oil as a finish, 50% deleted with turpentine. Gives a nice nearly flat finish, not as flat a sanding sealer which I like better. But Tung Oil also takes care of any remaining sanding dust in joints and other very small recesses.
 
Remco

Remco,
 
May be it could be interesting to try to go 1 step further.
 
I use 1 coat ofTung oil straight because I like the look of it and it is very easy to apply.
 
2 questions: what is the advantage to go 50-50 with turpentine?
                     does the wood could benefit  from a treatment before applying Tung oil which could help to enhance the final look  when           completed?
 
I do not know the properties of a sanding sealer but I could try a test  2 cherry planks 1 with Tung oil only and 1 with  as a preparation.
 
May be  I could read instructions before applying too to see if they have some good ideas.

Thanks for the info, Gaetan! It is definitely a food for thought.
 
While cutting the gunports, tested few finishes. Getting tired of wipe on poly - it is tricky to apply (sticky, needs careful buffing, otherwise the surface is not even). Disclaimer: it is hard to find Minwax here, so I use some local brand.
 
Tried tung oil (locally produced, but well respected brand) and some danish oil:

Tung oil seems like the right choice, because it has a boat on the canister, not like some typical "furniture piece" on the can of the danish oil 
 
I use pear for the structural element of the hull, not planking. So I was emulating small surface, but with some edges, milled mortises, etc. It was also important to check how it works with the residual glue (if I used too much glue and immediately wiped the excess away). One coat for all finishes, because I do not want to bother with multiple coats for every single part that goes onto the model.
 
Results:
Left - wipe on poly, center - tung oil, right - danish oil.
Bottom - untreated pear, no finish.

 
Seems like the tung oil is a clear winner. Hard to see on the photo, though.. It is also less glossy than any other finish.
It makes pear much darker though, so maybe I need to try to dilute it. 
Danish oil seems ok, but failed to penetrate the wood properly in the mortises and where the residual glue was present.
 
Also tested how easy it is to scrape away the oil and glue something, just in case I will need to install some part after the finish is already applied. Tung oil and WOP are the winners, because they are thick and do not penetrate the wood deep enough (WOP do not penetrate at all, and Tung oil is easy enough to scrape away). Danish oil is penetrating quite deep, but also possible to scrape away.

Tung oil is more refine oil than danish oil.
Tung oil instantly ''age '' the look of the wood. It does not build up like  danish oil.
Very easy to apply, just wipe the excess.
 
Finally, one important reason, when you take a photo, there are no shining spots as you could see often with danish oil.
 
I thought that tung oil was made with tung nuts growing in China.

I went a bit 'forward in the construction of the Capitain's cabin, but first I had to prepare the bulkhead separating the boardroom by the bridge battery

 

 

 

 
 
 
The interior of the Capitain's cabin: this is the small wall of the bunk where will placed the mattress, with the drawer on the bottom

 

 
 
Macro

This picture was taken in 2010. I was examining some woods to the microscope to try to understand the meaning of a clean edge. 

Good first steps.  I think I'll stay to watch this one.  Pssst [beer can opening] Hmmmmmmm [motor adjusting the power assisted reclining chair]  Now, where's the popcorn?
 
Tom

Good first steps.  I think I'll stay to watch this one.  Pssst [beer can opening] Hmmmmmmm [motor adjusting the power assisted reclining chair]  Now, where's the popcorn?
 
Tom

Christian, how big is the hull on this model (length between perpendiculars)?  This is to 3/8"=1' correct?
 
Tom

Build Log 13  -  Cargo cranes
 
Thanks to all who looked in, and for the compliments that I am not sure I deserve.  During construction it felt like I was just muddling through, taking shortcuts that a truly dedicated modeler would avoid.  This is the curse of the commissioned model – it has to get done without spending the rest of my life on it.  Glad you liked the results, though.
 
Next to be detailed was the cargo deck at the bow.  This area contains two deck houses which are mostly companionways and for ventilation; two raised cargo hatches with multi-part covers; and two cargo cranes with four booms and four corresponding winches for the lifting cables.
 
Here is how it looks on the deck plans:
 

 
Photos of the area and the cranes are surprisingly scarce.  With several upper decks looking over the working area I expected to find many photos, as I have seen with other ships.  In fact, I found none of any detail or resolution from that angle.  This is the best that I found, taken from above during the sinking, so I just went with what I could figure out.
 

 
The deck houses are basswood sheathed with plastic, the portholes are my usual tiny grommets, and the watertight doors are photoetched aftermarket items.  The raised cargo hatches are simple wooden platforms topped with plastic sheet.  The hatch seams are scribed into the plastic after painting.  The eight winches are Scott style and are cleaned up and detailed Bluejacket castings.  All of the structures and fittings got margin plank strips in the usual way.
 

 
These are the best photos that I could find of the cranes themselves and the cargo booms.  Not a great deal of detail, but I puzzled out what I could and made educated guesses for the rest. 
 
Based on the number of cables running from the pulleys it looks like the cargo masts are fitted with a single block near the top that connects to a single block on the upper end of the boom.  A similar single block is under the end of the boom, whose cable runs below the boom to a block on the mast near the deck.
 

 
Here is the result.  The booms were built up from brass rod slid through a sleeve of brass tube.  Holes were drilled in the rods near the outer ends for the twisted wire strops of the cargo blocks, also Bluejacket castings.  The booms attach to the mast with a pair of linked eyebolts that allow movement in all directions.
 

 
The mast is a brass tube with a wooden dowel through it.  This allowed me to insert a sturdy brass rod in the bottom to secure it to the deck, and to taper the upper end as seen in the photos.  Three narrow brass bands were sliced off and attached to the mast tube.  These support the photoetched ladder that you can just see mounted on the inner side of the mast.  Plastic support lugs were shaped and attached as seen in the photos, although I do not know what their use was.  Four single blocks were installed at the top and four double blocks at the bottom. 
 

 
The entire structure was topped with a complicated cap which may have some ventilation purpose, or maybe not.  It was pieced together with three discs punched out from plastic sheet and twelve pieces of styrene strip, six in each layer.
 

 
The masts and booms were primed and painted gloss white before being installed in the center of the crowd of deck winches.  Cable of 0.008 polished threads were run through the pulley blocks and around the barrels of the winch heads. 
 

 
Cradles for the booms were made up from “L” angle strips of styrene with hollows for the tips, then installed on top of the curved deck house and the forward bulwark of the Upper Deck house.  The cables were run loosely until the booms were secured in the cradles, then everything was tightened and trimmed.
 
Given the lack of photos, I’m not completely sure that all the details are correct, but I believe that they are as close as reasonably possible.
 

 
At the stern the cargo hatches are smaller and flush with the decks.  Their locations and sizes are shown on the plans but do not show up on any of the photos that I found.  So I made them simply by running strips of margin plank with mitered corners to define the perimeters of the hatch covers.  No need to fill the centers since the eye cannot resolve such small changes in height.
 

 
The cranes for these hatches are complicated assemblies, but very prominent features, so I could not skimp on them.  They are made up from a wide base with a vertical cylindrical post that supports a second smaller platform.  A winch and electric motor on the base raise the “A” frame arm, while a smaller winch and motor control the lifting cable and hook.  At the front of the base is a platform for the winch controls and an electric panel box.
 

 
Here are the two views from the plans which were used to determine the heights and sizes for the various elements of the crane.
 

 
The base was made up from hardwood pieces with two discs of plastic to raise the base above the lip of the deck perimeter.
 

 
The winches and electric motors were made up from various castings that were cut apart, trimmed and refined before small plastic and wood elements were added to match what I thought I saw in the photos.
 

 
A length of aluminum tube was fitted into the base to make the vertical post, and a platform of thin hardwood was drilled and cut to slide down it.  The winches and motors were added, as was the winch control, another Bluejacket casting.  The electrical box was a tiny bit of wood, as was the fitting that housed to the pulleys at the top of the post.  Sorry that this is not a better photo, but I must have been too busy building the crane to check the focus.
 

 
The base and platforms were painted white, as were the railings, while the post, the motors and winches were silver with green and black details.
 

 
The lifting arms are made of brass rods with two cross-members soldered between them to make a strong unit.
 

 
Two other cross members were made up from plastic rod since they would not be under any stress.
 

 
A tripod support, as seen in the photos, was made up from brass wires soldered to a bit of brass strip and painted white.  Cables were run from the winches and a hook hung from the business end.  The final piece was a curved cover for the pulley sheaves at the top of the post.
 

 
Here is this one finished and installed as seen from the other angle.
 
    
 
And here are the four as they look on the completed model.
 

 
Not too many segments left.  The end is in sight.
 
Dan
 
 

Good first steps.  I think I'll stay to watch this one.  Pssst [beer can opening] Hmmmmmmm [motor adjusting the power assisted reclining chair]  Now, where's the popcorn?
 
Tom

Good first steps.  I think I'll stay to watch this one.  Pssst [beer can opening] Hmmmmmmm [motor adjusting the power assisted reclining chair]  Now, where's the popcorn?
 
Tom

The keel is laid down.

The picture shows the current version compared with the old keel in 1/48.



Due to the larger scale it is much easier to display small details such as the treenails to scale correctly.



The next steps in the construction of the complete keel arrangement are the same as described in my old build log. I will only change some smaller details.
 

I love the crisp, professional style of both wood and metal work in this build. 
 
Question: How were the hull and deck planks attached, and do you plan to simulate that in any way?
 
As for the uneven planking widths, you see the same thing in drawings of Bertrand. Builders pretty clearly just used whatever they could find and afford.
 
Thanks for the update, I've been looking forward to your return. Happy New Year!

Hello,
 
I hope everyone had a great New Years!  I spent the last week playing catch-up after taking some time off with the family.
 
The rest of the machinery requires some of the deck to be in place so that took up most of my time this last week.  Heroine's planking isn't pretty!  The widths of her planking range from 3" up to 15" and there is very little pattern to it.  In the stern, the port side planking ranges from 6 to 10 inches and the corresponding area to starboard is made up of 3 to 6 inch planking.  Although some of it is repairs,  some of it looks like they ran out of the wide planks quickly and made due with whatever they had.
 
 
Guard planking completed.  Kevin discovered the remains of black paint on the hull timbers and the guard cap.  He believes the Upper works were white with black trim.

 

 

 

 

 
Starting to add deck planking.  One of Heroine's cam frames in back for scale.

 
 
This cam frame was in the bow compartment as a spare.  It was late coming out of conservation and I haven't had time to model it in AutoCAD for machining.  That will be my first task for next week.

 
Close up of repair to cam frame.

 
Close up of wedge in one arm of the cam frame.  It appears that when the splint was riveted to the frame there was still some play so they drove this wedge in.

Real nice work Bob.  The carronades look great and I too like the natural color of the gun carriages,  I'm also starting to feel the effects of old age as it relates to model ship building.  Arthritis in the hands and neck and difficulty seeing sometimes limit time spent in the shop, especially if its a repetitive task and I'm hunched over.  Now where did I put that bottle Tylenol?
 
Tom