Cathead

That seems like it would cause problems later on. I've always liked planking when I can turn the hull over and work on it; if there's more delicate structures on the deck, won't that make it harder to work on planking later? Or at least require the construction of a proper supporting rig to protect those structure?

That seems like it would cause problems later on. I've always liked planking when I can turn the hull over and work on it; if there's more delicate structures on the deck, won't that make it harder to work on planking later? Or at least require the construction of a proper supporting rig to protect those structure?

I have completed Chapter 4. I added the hance pieces and the hull sheaves. One comment on the hance pieces – two pieces 3/16 inch thick each need to be glued together to form a piece of wood 3/8 inch thick that is sanded to shape after it is glued to the hull. This requires a lot of sanding with existing bulkhead extensions and other basswood parts in close proximity, and therefore the risk of deforming existing parts of the hull. I discovered that there are TWO sets of these provided in the kit as laser cut parts. One set is in basswood, and the other is in the same plywood as the bulkheads. NOTE TO OTHER CONFEDERACY BUILDERS: Use the basswood pieces because they will be easier to shape. The plywood ones are much harder wood.
 
I also constructed the ship's wheels, using the mini-kit from Chuck Passaro' Syren Ship Model Company. I am probably around the median skill level for folks on this web site, and I was able to assemble – two of them. I think they look pretty good. Someone with more skill would likely make fancier spokes. I would encourage other builders to consider them. Chuck has his usual excellent instruction sheet pdf for them on his web site. For me, the hardest step was adding the spokes. I used my large “yarn darner” needle to pin the hub to the center of the template and then it became easier. When you look at the pictures, remember that the actual wheels are 11/16 inch rim diameter so you are seeing them greatly magnified. I stained them with Watco walnut stain and finished with wipe on poly.  The finished rim is 3/32 inch thick, which is a scale six inches so that is not too bad.  
 
 

Back on track with the Scharnhorst after the quick bout of delivery problems.
 
Scharnhorst issue 12: 
 
Now usually at this point we would start planking the hull, but this kit does things a bit differently, so instead we start building the stern deck structures. I guess they want to get the easy stuff out of the way first.
 

Bill,
 
Thanks for looking in. I feel I have done a lot and thought that when I had finished the standing rigging the end would be in sight. But when I think about how much there is still to do it feels more like when I round the next bend I might see the stadium in the distance. However I am really enjoying this, especially the scratch building, so it is not that bad how long it is taking. It is just the list of stuff I would like to build keeps getting longer. While I have been building this I have added:
Another topsail schooner or similar Thames barge Viking ship of some sort. In other words this build has completely broadened my outlook from 18/19 century navel vessels to encompass whole new fields, maybe that should be oceans, of ships.
 
As for the French, languages were my worst subject at school. However I have now constructed my own French-English dictionary of nautical terms which I refer to often. I find when I am making a part, knowing what it is and how it is used is of great help in getting it right.
 
Glenn

It seems like some time since my last update. Every time I have thought of doing an update, I have put it off until I have just finished the next bit. However this seems a natural break. Rather than looking at updates chronologically I will start forward and work my way aft.
 
First I have fitted the safety net beneath the bowsprit. Thanks to popeye for the information, I am now the proud owner of a 23m x 15cm roll of tulle of which I have used about 10cm. I think it will take a few generations of ship modeller to get through this roll.

It took me about 2 days work to make and fit this. I first made a pattern which I then used to glue a rope edge to the required shape on a pin board, which I then carefully cut out with a sharp knife. I discarded my first attempt but was happy with my second. I used CA adhesive, but found this to be a long and difficult task to get this glued properly all the way round.

I then used spiral lacing to attach this to the bowsprit guy ropes. Again this was difficult as the thread kept catching on the glue on the netting. But now it is on I am pleased with the result. However I do think it would have been a lot easier to do if I had decided earlier that it I would like to include this.
 
I then finished the mainmast and glued this in position. I did this just by eyeballing it with the foremast and dropping a plumb line to get the correct rake. I almost did this before fitting the cheeks, but I remembered these just in time. I had made them at the same time I made those for the foremast, put them aside and forgot about them.

This enabled me to fit the hand winch, the engine hatch and the main deck house, all of which I had completed earlier. Next I used some BECC transfers to apply the decorative stripe to the side. I think It shows up best in this picture.

I now need to continue this and finish the pattern near the stern. It needs to look like this.

I think I need some drawing practice before attempting this for real.
 
At this point my new toy arrived. I used this to finish the fore topmast. I wish I had got this months/years ago.

Using this it was easy to cut a slot for a sheave and drill a few holes with an accuracy I could only dream of before.
 
It is a very long time since I have used a milling machine, 40+ years. But things do not change, the main problems generally relate to holding the job and finding a reference point. The way I did this for the tapered spar was to first mill a 2mm slot in a piece of scrap wood. Then glue a second piece crosswise, without removing the first piece. Then when the spar is positioned in the slot the cutting tool is automatically aligned to the centre line. Then to obtain a position along the length of the spar I can zero on the face of the cross piece, used as an end stop.
 
The topmast has a square section at the base which was used to set the face to be machined. I was thinking of various ways I could try and hold this in place, but in the end I just held it with one hand while operating the mill with the other. Probably would not try that if machining metal.
 
The next task was to move a porthole. I only realised this after I had glued the main deckhouse in place. I had made this a long time ago when still following the supplied plans. I have only just realised that this porthole has been moved to the side to allow the fitting of the engine controls to the exterior of the rear wall. This came out cleanly and I drilled a new hole in the side and refitted it. The hole left in the rear will be covered up by the engine control panel housing. This porthole supplies light to a shower room.

More pictures. The first shows the overall deck layout and the second a close up of the work just done in the area aft of the main mast.

The other thing I had been looking for is something to represent the power cable, coiled on the front of the engine hatch. Eventually I found some very thin copper wire with black insulation. The sort of stuff used for patching printed circuit boards in the electronics industry (where I used to work). Currently I have just hidden the end. Anyone got any idea of what type of connector might be used on a ship like this?
 
I can now see the end of building the hull is in sight. There are a few minor jobs to complete, but the only larger jobs I can think of are:
The work behind the main deckhouse Davits for the launch What I think is the exhaust funnel for the engine. The metal thing in this picture. (If this is daily rations in the French navy, sign me up).
Standing rigging after this. Though I want to get these tasks finished before starting on the standing rigging, otherwise I feel I will keep putting them off.
 
Thanks to everyone for looking in and I hope you have enjoyed it.
 
Glenn

This model is a great eye opener as to modern marine architecture. Very interesting hull shape. All in the name of efficiency I suppose. Nice work as usual Ken.
 

Patrick and Nils here are the results, Michael welcome aboard. I finished up closing the gap both outside and inside. Then sanded and blended the surfaces using 120 grit dry and then 320 using a block and sanding diagonally across the curves. Primed once again to seal the exposed wood then sanded with 320 grit avoiding to break the primed surfaces back to wood. Then a final prime coat. This will be a working surface until the balance of the construction is completed. This will allow normal scuffing while handling, but will really allow the primer to harden and the wood to set with the primer. Wood does expand and contract over time so hopefully it will set by the time I am ready for the final painting.
Here are various views of where the hull is now. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Now to move on and start adding the bay hold openings with coaming, basically extending those that are in place on the bow section. Evan is on his way to the ship today and I am looking forward to getting pictures of many details as his schedule allows.
 

I would have broken things out a little more.  Some kits for example have good plans but poor materials.  Some have poor plans but good materials.
 
I’d also note the results may not be fair to certain kit manufacturers.  For example, there aren’t many Billings or Bluejacket builds on here.  And the Lumberyard kit is a whole different kind of kit from the more retail mass market kit.

What's important to understand is that someone saying "I want this awesome thing made out of the best possible components which are all expensive, but I want it to cost a dollar" isn't necessarily insisting that all three of those things be true all the time, they're just telling you that those three things are important to them, just as a market customer is telling me that they care about cost, quality, and growing method.
 
It's not breaking news, but this collection of comments tells us that  majority of people here like 17-18th ocean-going ships, they have a budget they feel is appropriate, and they value good materials and instructions. Any given designer may not be able to meet all three goals, but they can make an educated decision about which of them to focus on.
 
Again, this thread asked people what they thought in general, as if I handed out a survey of farmers market shoppers. People giving their ideal ideas to a survey is not the same as people specifically criticizing a given vendor. Consumers that challenge my market prices directly and personally are annoying if they don't try to understand the business model. Consumers who tell a survey that they want organic, affordable, nice-looking produce are just telling me in general what's important to them. Respondents to this thread are, by and large, saying what matters to them in general; they're not saying "X company is too expensive or Y company doesn't make models I like".
 
For example, when I say I want a kit to be $250-$400, I'm saying that's as much as I can possibly justify spending. If the only way to make a kit I'd otherwise like is for it to be $600, then I don't want that kit made for me because I won't be able to buy it no matter how nice it is. That's important information for a manufacturer. I'm not insisting they lose money making me a $600 kit for $400, I'm saying that's my budgetary limit, period. We chose not to grow some things on our farm because we couldn't sell them at a price consumers would accept. I'd like to grow them, but I accept that people won't pay me to do so. They can grow them in their home garden if they want those items, or scratchbuild that model, or just do without if that's what life dictates. Again, don't misinterpret what's being said in this forum.

Whoops, fair enough!
We haven't yet resumed the build, (full schedule every weekend, affecting my build as well), but will definitely come back to it!

The time between updates seems to be getting longer and longer. I must try and get more organised.
 
Petervisser, thanks for the advice. I have tried Muslin in the past (HMS Shark), but think I needed to experiment. I have now picked up an offcut of a fairly lightweight cotton lawn for 30 pence in a charity shop; a lucky strike. I will see how this works out. I had also spotted a high quality cotton lawn at about £25.00/meter, for which I obtained a sample. This looks and feels excellent, but as it would also cost £12.75 delivery, I will try the offcut first.
 
At present for my next project, I was looking through MacGregor’s ‘Fast Sailing Ships’ and am drawn towards the Scottish Maid. Fine lines and I like the sail plan. There is a kit by Artesania Latina which I could use as a starting point and I could try and obtain a set of the plans held in the Brunel Collection. Not certain how easy that is at present.
 
To get back to the current project, I have now just about finished the standing rigging. So I took a few pictures:


I would have said finished but looking through these I realised I had forgotten the ratlines on the fore topmast shrouds. There are only 3 each side, so that will not take long. I suppose I also have to neaten up the loose ends on the tackle anchored to the poop deck. Those that tighten the backstays. These are there so the backstays can be slackened off so they do not interfere with the mainsail boom when it swings out.
 
I have also been doing some metalwork

These are, from the left:
 
A bottle screw to tension the for topmast stay. This was made from 1.5mm OD brass tube with 0.8mm ID and 0.75mm brass rod. The only tools required were a jeweller’s saw, needle files, small pliers and a soldering iron.
 
The funnel/exhaust for the engine. This was made from ¼” brass rod, 3mm tube and 2mm rod. As I do not have a metal lathe, two lengths of ¼” rod were cut off and finished on a Proxxon MF70 milling machine. This was also used to drill holes in the centres. I then cut off 50mm of the 3mm tube and soldered the two pieces of ¼” tube to each end. A short length of 2mm tube was then soldered in the centre to make a pin to go through the deck.
 
A spreader for the foremast backstay. This was milled from solid stock. I milled a length to this profile and then used a 1mm end mill to part off 2 of these. I made enough that another could be made if required. Unfortunately it was, as I snapped one off while doing the standing rigging. This proved extremely difficult to remove and replace. I had to cut the broken piece off using a length of broken blade from the jewellers saw, which was hand held.
 
It is easy to spot the spreaders in the above pictures. It is possible to spot the bottle screw if you are keen sighted, its just forward of the bow above the bowsprit. The funnel is still to be fitted.
 
Next are a few minor tasks like the port and starboard navigation lights and fitting the funnel. Then the next major task is the spars. This is what is supplied in the kit.
 

 
From the top these are the mainsail gaff and boom, the foresail gaff and boom, the fore topsail yard and the foreyard (which I have already started). There are two sticks for the fore topsail yard as the topsail is self-reefing. I think the type may be Colling’s and Pinkney’s, but am not certain. If not it is similar. These now have to be converted to what is required for the model. More on that next time.
 
Again thanks to everyone that looks in.

This is really cool; I love builds that help me learn about the ship itself. And I really appreciate the captioned photos that clearly document your steps. I'm going to try that angled plank end approach, too, seems obvious now that it's pointed out.

Finished up the inner walls and container racks and cut the solid hold walls and installed the hold wall in the bow section. One of the challenges I am having is that in the plans provided there are no view drawings, just a great deal of sub components. Evan, showed me where the solid hull walls were located. He goes back to sea on Tuesday and will be taking the ship into dry dock for some serious maintenance and updating and new paint. He will be sending me a bunch of photos to use.
 
Here are two pictures showing the hold walls.
 

 

 
 
I then sanded and fitted the bow section to the main hull just a little bit of fussing to get the three reference points to touch without any pressure to assure a good tight level fit.
 

 
Once fitted I glued the two sections together and once the glue set overnight I then sanded the hull section to match the hull. The bow section plank ends splayed a little which I had thought would happen since they were not glued to anything and required a little sanding to blend before adding the filler plank pieces.
 

 
Here I am adding the filler pieces and here is where cutting the beveled ends comes in handy for a tight fit on the hull section.
 

 
Now back to finishing filling the gap.
 
 

We have a very well organized system in place throughout the country for news agents to order issues. Basically you can walk into any newsagent anywhere and ask them to supply you with any magazine they don't carry. Man-in-the-middle suppliers make sure you get the issue 1-2 days later. They also keep back issues, in the case of partworks for about 2 months. If you missed that timeframe they will get the issues from the publishers archive (about 1-2 years worth of issues are ususally kept on hand). I have a standing order with my news agent for another partwork, where he will simply grab the newest issue out of his delivery and keep it behind the counter for me, even collecting them for several weeks. Most agents offer this service
 
A lot of partwork modelers for reasons unfathomable to me just collect until the entire run is finished and only then will start building. That's the point in time where they notice they forgot to buy issue 34 of 120 and there's a broken part in issue 62. Then they try to find these issues which at this point has become difficult. The UK has specialiced partwork resellers that will collect and sell individual issues. And then of course there's Ebay.
 
Usually you will have to subscribe within the first year with Hachette. You have more time with DeAgostini, they like to convert magazine runs into a subscribable product some time after the run is done. The HMS Victory partwork for instance has been available (with intermittent pauses to allow for new production) for over 10 years now.
 

There is an article linked below from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) an organization member of the NRG, about a hull survey done in Fairbanks, Alaska of the Steamboat Nenana a museum boat in Pioneer Park.  This might be of interest to the followers of this forum topic. There will be an expanded article in the next issue of the INA Quarterly and I will link it when available.
Kurt
https://nauticalarch.org/first-look-at-a-rare-northern-steamboat/

Another Steamboat book.
" STEAMBOATS out of Baltimore"
 
By Robert H. Burgess and Graham Wood
 
".... 282 graphic illustrations of the Steamboats, their crews and landings..."
 

I've gotten some results on my Caroline researching. This website is a great springboard from which to branch out from when looking at early steam vessels in the United States: http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/Research.asp  and it put me in touch with a guy who had knowledge of Caroline. He sent me a PDF of a 1947 American Neptune that had a drawing of the Caroline and more details about her machinery and layout.

Please welcome and thank "Navarino Models" for becoming a new sponsor of MSW. 
 
Navarino Models produce model kits of ancient and traditional Greek ships as well as commercial vessels. 
 
Visit their web site and check them out.  I am happy they contacted us to become a sponsor.
 
 
 www.navarinomodels.com
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Basically what happens is that every week there is a magazine at the newsstands with articles on the topic you're building and related materials. You also receive a number of kit parts with the magazine and the corresponding instructions to add these parts to your model. You have the option of taking out a subscription instead where you will receive a pack of four issues every month. This is what I did and is also why we have no update yet this week. I've been calculating a bit too close to comfort and have no parts yet. Delivery should hopefully arrive over the weekend and we should be back on track next Wednesday.
 
The instructions are also online for ease of access: https://scharnhorst-bauen.de/vorschau/ (though it's in German)

Maybe you should include the question on how many different brands each voter has had experience with.
In the Australian hobby shops the majority of models available are from Artesania Latina. I have only used one other brand. So I can only compare and vote for the 2, which doesn't do justice to the better quality kits I don't know about.

Well said, Imagna, it's not about laziness but about efficiency. Yes, if you only need one calculation, it's quite easy to do the math. But at the scale of a full build, there's nothing wrong with setting up a more efficient way to do the work. Or should we all hand-cut every bit of railing rather than using a stopper to automate the cuts?
 

Oops, you're right. I searched for O scale figures and didn't double-check that Google returned the right scale. HO is actually about half the size (hence Half-O scale), at 1:87, so those would actually be midgets. But here's an example that should work. Overall, your best best is still to search for model railroad figures with a western, old-time, or steam-era theme, making sure they're American or at least not blatantly European. The company I linked to there, Walthers, is about the biggest retailer of model railroad products in the US and a good starting point for a search. I have no idea if/how they ship overseas, but their catalogue will at least give you a sense of what's out there.

Chris,
 
1:50 is very close to the model railroad O scale (1:48), for which there are a variety of figures available. If you like for "old-time" or "western" style figures, you'll be in roughly the right time period (mid-late 1800s). Here's one example I found with a quick search. Just be careful about European brands like Preiser, their prototypes tend to be European and you could get some very strange uniforms and styles for a riverboat on the American frontier.
 
As for color, I definitely feel that white is the correct choice. It was by far the most common color and thus will "feel" authentic. As you suggest, shoot for a thin coat of paint that lets the planking show through; it would have been visible on the real thing. You really can't go wrong with a white hull and superstructure, dull red/brown main deck and wheel(s), and dark grey/black tarpaper covering on the exposed upper decks.

Yeah, Way's is a lot of fun to browse, though a bit mind-blowing in its diversity and complexity. Once you've read through the logs Kurt suggested, I'd also suggest Glenn Grieco's Heroine and, humbly, my Bertrand (see link in signature).