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Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 230 – Fore Topmast Crosstrees
 
The topmast crosstrees are fairly simple structures – except for the iron spreader assembly that mounts fairleads for the backstays of the masts above.  In the first picture, the members of the wooden structure are shown fitted together but not yet trimmed to size.
 

 
The four athwartship members are set into mortises in the fore-and-aft trestle trees.  The drawing (almost complete) shows the arrangement of the spreader irons.  In the next picture the wood structure has been assembled, drilled for the deadeye straps, and the arms tapered.
 

 
The next picture shows the assembly positioned on the topmast.
 

 
In the next picture, one of the spreader arms has been roughly shaped and the second has been drilled before shaping.
 

 
The spreader structure was made from .020" hard copper plate for stiffness.  It will be very fragile nonetheless.  The assembly will be bolted to the crosstrees through the two forward holes (that do not yet appear on the drawing).  Holes drilled in the unshaped piece on the outer arm will help precisely locate the fairlead cleats.  The next picture shows some shaping of the cleats.
 

 
Before filing the final shapes, the profile was cut out with a jeweler's saw.  In the next picture, a drawing scrap is being used to place the arms and cross piece for soldering.
 

 
After pinning, the paper was removed and the two joints soldered with minimal heat to limit the softening of the copper strips.  In the next picture the spreader assembly has been cleaned up and bolted to the crosstrees.
 

 
The bolts are copper wire pushed through the holes and riveted.  The next picture shows the crosstrees assembly placed on the hounds.
 

 
The last step was to add the eyebolts on the underside of the structure.
 

 
In this picture the assembly has been permanently attached to the topmast.  I am hopeful that the fragile spreader structure will gain some support after the stays are rigged through the fairlead cleats.Further work may now proceed on the detailing of the topmast head and fitting deadeyes the the assembly.
 
Ed

Hello,
thanks to all for the attention and kind comments.

In the meantime, I made the cheeks for the masts.



For the Mizen Mast they are ready made.

Hello everybody
after a short break here an update of the report
for the construction of the masts.

Thank you Nils.
I added some small items on the qurter deck, now remains the last item which will be placed on the quarter deck - stering wheels.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 227 – Fore Mast Cap
 
The fore mast cap, like the bowsprit cap, was fairly easy to make because both holes in both caps were 18" square or round and this converts to a very convenient ¼" cutting tool size at 1:72 scale.  The other 8 caps to be made are not so convenient.  A process for making those will be described later.
 
The wood cap shown below was first bored for the two holes, accurately spaced.  The aft hole was then squared with files. 
 

 
The picture shows the straightened copper strip that will be used for the band around the cap.  This is large and heavy because it must support the lower topsail yard Howes truss.  The cap itself is shown with a strip of masking tape around it perimeter.  This served as a gauge for the length of copper strip needed for the band.  The tape was transferred to the bench so the copper strip could be marked out as shown in the next picture.
 

In the next picture the band has been silver soldered to form the band and that has been fit over the cap.

In the picture, two bits of telescoping copper tube are shown.  These were combined and soldered to form a heavy boss that was then soldered to the forward end of the cap as shown below.

The tubing boss was filed flat on one side to fit against the band as shown.  The band joint may also be seen in this picture.
 
The lower caps are each fitted with an iron bar with eyes at the ends.  These support double blocks that take the lower yard topping lifts.  To make this piece, the concave aft face was first filed out and the holes for the eyes and the mounting bolts center-marked as shown below.

 
After drilling the holes, the bar was filed to its final shape and polished as shown in the next picture.

 
This also shows the blackened cap band.  The topping lift blocks will be shackled to the eyes in the bar.  Again, because the shackles are soldered assemblies, this must be done before fitting the bar to the wood cap.  In the next picture a shackle has been soldered at one end of the bar.
 

 
With the shackle made, the blocks were fitted.  It is much (very much) easier to strap and attach the blocks on the bench, so these were installed next.  In the next picture, the bar is being bolted to the cap.
 

 
One of the copper "bolts" is being inserted through the bar and into an undersized hole in the wood cap.  These were then cut off just above the bar and riveted flat to hold the bar.  Bolts through the forward end of the band were also added on either side of the boss to keep the band in place under the weight of the yard.  Five eyebolts are also installed in the cap at this stage – four on the underside and one aft through the band. The bolt heads and the blackening that was scuffed during this work was then touched up with a brushing of liver of sulfur solution.  The finished cap, still wet from the solution is shown below.
 

 
In the last picture the cap is temporarily fitted to the masthead with the topmast.
 

 
The top of the lower mast head tenon has been filed flush.  Before the topmast and the cap is permanently installed further work on the mast is needed – futtock band, crosstrees, futtock shrouds, etc. -.  All this must be done with the mast inserted through the cap.
 
I omitted the 1" lining between mast and cap in favor of a tight, unglued fit for the topmast and to avoid the complication of the very thin lining.
 
 
Ed

more

Let us now turn to the second and third bridges. We will always find the same basic structure of the framework. The arrangements differ as we shall see by their wealth.
The third bridge will be visible in part because it is masked by the front and back fellows.
It has a peculiarity that are the flats of the Admiral. The latter contained an unprecedented luxury for the period of painted decors, precious furniture, carpets and a parquet flooring plated on the edges of the bridge.
The structure includes a series of gratings to allow ventilation of previous bridges (such as the second bridge). Indeed during the battles, the firing of the guns emitted an intense smoke that it was necessary to be able to evacuate.
The leases you see above this bridge are those sketched out by the fellows and the poop.
The guns are set up and equipped with their hoists, tacks, braches. Through the partial opening of the bridge one can see the arms of the great capstan. The masts are fictitious at the moment.
Photos of details show these guns to post.
 
Here are the amenities of the Admiral's apartments on starboard
Entrance wall from the bridge with its wrought doors
Front view
Rear top view
The large room (14m x 9m) with its walls worked, the chests, the paintings (I did not reproduce those original!)

You are right, the Beautiful is a beautiful little frigate as well as Fame.

Let's make a small break by the sculpture of the elements of the prow
The jottereaux are in place on the spur and the frieze is carved.
Then a few steps of the sculpture of the marine horse, it was my first sculpture and I have to make touching soon.
The frieze, which is very fragile, required three weeks of work

The following coltis border was quite complex to make.

The doors are functional and the brass sheaves at the top of the pediment are also functional

Thank you and later.

I present here the latest photos of my Royal Sun. It is not finished and if it interests you I would put you following as work progresses.
Excuse me but not speaking English I use the Google translator

First draft of the herpes of the prow of the Royal Sun.
The port herpe is finished. Then there will remain a great work of decoration

Two views of the work in progress on the fellows including the draft apartments of the Pacha and the future poop.
 
I leave you for a good week because I go to a congress modeling exhibition MMB forum.
cordially
Michel

We'll look a little bit at the accessories. Many are repetitive and represent a work almost to the chain. Hints or tips to avoid this hassle.

The 16 upper and lower hats of the portholes of the fellows. They are the result of milling of a bar in general shape, then at the end sculpture with the scalpel and needle files, finally sawing, thickness by sanding back, and we start again.

The 15 sets of the third battery ports. Getting quasi perfect circles would be very long, and as I am old and slow then let's be crazy, work with the techniques of our time. So a draft in CNC milling machine (a friend of mine knows how to do this, thank you Luc) and pick up the scenery and needle files.

For the nailing of the pre-pleats on each chord, like the finer one of the vertical wall above, there is no way to do otherwise by working by hand. 2000 nails with orange head in three dimensions on the three pairs of pre-wires, one pierces, one sticks, next! ! !
And for the nails of 0.6 without brass head hardens, more than 3000, one drills, one engages the clamp that cuts flush. Needless to say, we have to do this on a virgin wall of all scenery and then sanding the whole.
I do not show the wall studded because one sees almost the nails that the nose on it.
 
But the result of these punishments is there too.
 
For the portholes is another story
See you soon

Hello everyone, outdoor trim, drainage channel, etc....

Good morning, everything is temporarily assembled for a first work

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 226 – Fore Topmast 1
 
The fore topmast is only slightly less complex than the jibboom.  It has two sheaves, one below its cross-trees for the upper topsail halyard tie, and one near the base to aid in erecting the mast.  The base is square, the area below the hounds is octagonal and the minimum diameter of the spar is below the hounds so that the top of the hounds flare out to provide a seat for the cross-trees.
 
As with the jibboom, mortises for both sheaves and one at the base for the mast fid were milled into the still-squared, untapered "first trim."  In the jibboom post (Part 217), I mentioned using an edge-finer to center the mortises on the spar, rather than relying on pencil-marked center lines.  This method eliminates error inherent in visually using a marked line.  The edge finder that I used, set in the 3/8" Sherline mill holder, is shown in the first picture.

The finder is precisely 0.375" inches in diameter.  The lower section of the finder is offset from the center but moves freely in the radial direction.  The pointed section at the bottom is not used in this instance. 
 
The first step was to align the fixed jaw of the milling vise parallel to the mill's X-axis.  This was done using a dial test indicator mounted in the spindle as described in an earlier post.  The edge finder was then installed in the spindle and used to precisely locate the face of the fixed jaw of the vise relative to the spindle centerline.  The next picture shows this being done.

In the picture, the finder has been lowered so the bottom part is able to rub against the vise jaw.  With the mill running, the jaw is brought slowly into contact with the lower section of the finder.  As the vise is moved inward, the lower section of the finder becomes more centered.  When the jaw has reached the precise diameter of the finder shaft, the bottom section "kicks out" to the left as shown above.  The finder is then removed and the vise moved further inward by one-half the finder's diameter, 0.1875".  The spindle is thus centered precisely over the fixed vise-jaw face.
 
In the next picture, a 1/32" bit has been fitted into a chuck on the spindle and the vise advanced by one half of the actual diameter of the spar blank, bringing it precisely over the centerline of the spar.

For this very light work, the bit is held in a drill chuck.  Due to the size of the spar and the short length of the milling bit, the mortises must be cut from both sides, further heightening the need for accurate centering.  The less critical lengths of the mortises are set visually by lines marked on the spar.  I cut all the mortises with the bit shown, then enlarge to the final width later using small files.
 
The next picture shows the spar with two of the mortises cut.

 Because the lower sheave is set 45 degrees from the fore and aft slots and is located on the full-diameter, untampered lower end, this milling was later done by the same method after the octagonal shape was formed on the spar.  The next picture shows the rough tapering of the square blank using a cabinet scraper.

The area below the hounds is being tapered from both directions to the minimum mast diameter as shown below using a flat file.

In the next picture the mast has been fully shaped. 

The bottom is left square with chamfered corners, the hounds are left octagonal and the masthead is left square.  The final diameter of the lower section was refined to its final size using the mast cap as a gauge.  The last picture shows the topmast temporarily mounted on the lower mast.

As with the bowsprit cap, the mast cap shown here was easy to make because the lower masthead tenon and the diameter of the lower end of the topmast are 18", converting to a convenient ¼" drill size at 1:72.  Precision in mast cap dimensions is important so that the masts will be properly aligned.  For all the remaining caps, where the hole sizes are less convenient, a different process will be described later. 
 
Ed

I could not have said it better myself.
Keith you build log is an inspiration period.
 
Michael

I spent the last few days doing a bit of tiding up on outstanding bits. Also my brother in law was over from Phoenix Arizona and he asked to see progress so far which gave me the opportunity to do an interim assembly.  
 
I finished off the cathead - but i will leave fixing until later in the build as they are a bit vulnerable. I also made and attached the rail protection plate that goes under the cathead.
 

 
I drilled the deck and bolted in position the previously made anchor winch and added the anchor chains.
 

 
I finished attaching and gluing the yards - and getting them in true alignment ready for gluing the masts in place - hopefully in a couple of weeks time.
 
I then took a series of shots to record the current state of build.
 

 
 
 

Plodding on:-
 
Today I concentrated on the demountable "cathead" and deck mounting brackets. They are more tricky than they appear, particularly as I wanted them to look somewhat authentic.
 

 
I scratched my head for a while playing with my box of assorted brass sections but eventually decided I didn't have anything suitable. I resorted to chopping out of solid.
 
The bracket was marked out on a piece of 3/8" bar and the profile was machined on the mill using a suitably sized ball end milling cutter.
 
I made the brackets as a matched pair - slotting out the centre of each bracket using the slitting saw.
 
 


 
the pair were finally separated using a jewellers saw.
 

 
The arm could have been easier but I decided I wanted to reproduce the "I" beam section as seen in the 2nd photo. This involved cutting a .030" wide slot in the arm which had a finished size of .100" x .100". I cut the arm from a .100" thick brass sheet using the slitting saw, the same blade being used to form the "I" section. It was all a bit small and hence difficult to see in the next photo. The 1st slot has been cut ready for turning the sheet round to cut the slot on the other side. The final operation was to part off the beam from the sheet.
 

 
Bending was a bit tricky as it would have been very easy to collapse the "I" section. Much heating and multiple gentle bends were required. The result however turned out as I wanted.
 

 
I should finish them tomorrow.

Working on the Fore Fife Rail....
These five stanchions supporting the fore fife rail are much too small to turn on my small lathe, so I'm spinning them on a cable drive Dremel. 
  
This second photo taken after the stanchions have been trimmed to length and also etched in the false sheaves.
Also included the two riding bitts.... note the copper top plates. 

 

Another try on the other side to prevent rotten wood.
In the background, the plan showing a notch each side of the keel for the water flow.
 
The notches, I think are drawn on this plan only. This is the kind of reason  when a detail is shown on 1 plan only, it can difficult to visualize the other dimensions.
 
This is in this kind  of reason why I would like to see a 3D keel  included with the drawings.