UpstateNY

How did we all know this was coming????  Nice work and more size-appropriate.

Hi All,
 
Spent the last few days redoing the ships boat to make it about 50% larger. I used the same method to build it as the first version except I changed up the design a bit to accommodate a larger crew and add some side rails. I also made a larger platform and then took a try at making the mast, yard and oars from some toothpicks. Just have to remove some dust I just noticed in the pictures!
 
Overall I am pretty happy with how this version turned out and thanks to all for helping me   !
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

 

Sorry to hear about your illness Dave...hang in there and keep fighting!
 
Wonderful thought to build this for your surgeon...I will follow along if you don't mind.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Hi All,
 
Spent the last few days redoing the ships boat to make it about 50% larger. I used the same method to build it as the first version except I changed up the design a bit to accommodate a larger crew and add some side rails. I also made a larger platform and then took a try at making the mast, yard and oars from some toothpicks. Just have to remove some dust I just noticed in the pictures!
 
Overall I am pretty happy with how this version turned out and thanks to all for helping me   !
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

 

So after spending a wonderful long weekend in San Diego enjoying the Festival of Sail, I haven't gotten back to the AVS yet because I had to catch up on work and some other issues.  Today was fix the plumbing in the house day, and then I wasted the rest of the afternoon & evening finally watching the final season of Justified off of Amazon streaming service.
 
If you don't check the General Nautical Discussion forum - here is a link to the thread I started where I've posted over 100 photo's of the ships from the Festival of Sail - http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/11351-san-diego-festival-of-sail-2015/
 
I have gotten back into the hobby room and pretty much figured out where I was when I last left off, and am going to try to get re-started on the rigging tomorrow and see what I can get accomplished.
 
In the mean time, I took a couple pictures of where it was left off prior to the trip.  Seems I managed to skip taking pictures and documenting the last couple of work sessions based on my last update here vs. what it looks like today!
 

 
The jib traveler/inhaul arrangement looks much better now I think, and the main boom is mounted with foot-rope and the flag halliard, as well as the traveler on the cabin top (blackened brass) and the boom sheet is rigged.
 
 

Hi all
 
Just made the bitts and fife rail.
 
Just dry fitted, now will take it apart and clean it up.
 
The belaying pins are 12mm but may change them to 10mm ones.
 
Denis.

Hi everyone
 
Another quick, but important update - Symphony's now sporting her full set of sails. Although they're still temporarily rigged, they at least give oneself an indication of what the final look will be....which, to my mind, isn't too bad.
 
Not long to go, now folks....before Symphony plays her last concerto and a new ship will arise on the slipway!
 
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy these photos.
 
Cheers and all the best!
 
Patrick

Another update for the build log.
 
I have the waterways and lower deck pillars installed.  I used walnut for the waterways and poplar for the pillars.  Tomorrow, I plan to frame out the gun ports and cut some strips for the bulwark planking.  At first I was thinking about using walnut for the bulwark planking; and I still may.  I want to see what the poplar will look like on the bulwarks instead of the walnut.  Of course I am open to any suggestions and/or opinions on the matter.  The outer hull planking above the wales will be done in basswood and the deck planking will be done maple just as the lower deck.
 
 

Thanks Patrick,
 
in answer to your question.....
in order to save time, and instead of making it from wood, I made the boat from two cut off (30 mm long) front portions of those odd plastic rowboats I still had, by glueing these face to face together. The resembled lapstrake planking is by stripes of self adhesive aluminium foil. Deck and interior of the small lifeboats will be done later. I would be happy if the "masterboat" will allow an appropriate and clean negative mould to be taken from it, for the resin casting of the "mass-production"
 
Nils

Part 2 of 2......
 
 

 
these tin, nickel plated feet for bags, will do for making the scoop bowls of some of the vents
 
 

 
first trial for lifeboat production....
 
 

 
scale 1:144, 60 mm long
 
 

 
supports for covering deck
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
I still had some odd plastic dinghis, from which I cut off the first 30 mm with the bows, glued those together for total 60mm length
 
 

 
added more year 1900 nostalgic (more straight) bow and sternpost (double-ender boats), and dd the lapstrake planking by means of self adhesive metal foil stripes
 
 
Nils
 
 
 
 
 

A little update....
 
Build log part 18
 
Part 1 of 2
 
 
the long promenade deck has to be roughly fitted, and to be supported with I-beams in the areas of the aft waist (one deck below). Although it`s a later building sequence I`ve been experimenting with the making of bollards, scoop bowls for the vents (there are so many different sizes !)
And also the making of the small 60 mm long lifeboats....., here is a first trial in clinkered version, if it works out OK, that would be my master lifeboat-plug for doing the whole batch in resin cast afterwards, other solutions pending
 
Nils
 
 

 
here a preliminary adjustment gauge (distances, alignment and perpendicularity of stanchions) is created
 
 

 
the markings will be transferred to the covering deck afterwards
 
 

 
the promenade deck will be made of sections, whereby the center remains open and unplanked
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
here some of the many bollards are made ( hollow rivets soldered into brass plates, and the center filled with a piece of round rod), then primered
 
 

 
final mounting to a wooden base plate
 
 
 
 

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 19 – Planksheer
 
In the angle between the toptimbers and main deck beams, a massive 12” x 11” waterway was fit to reinforce the deck beam connections to the frames and to provide a watertight seal around the outer deck planking.  The planksheer was a large member that fit directly on top of the waterway and enclosed the toptimbers.  It provided a watertight cap over the hull frames, waterway and outboard planking.  It was wide enough to show as a molded rail both outboard and inboard.  It was either mortised to fit down over the toptimbers or, more likely, made in two parts that were notched to fit both inside and outside, then bolted through horizontally.  On the model, I installed the planksheer as spacers between the toptimbers capped by rails inside and out.
 
Since the planksheer rests on the waterway which in turn rests on the deck beams, I believe the height of the planksheer is most accurately set by fitting the inboard rail first.  The height was set using a temporary pine spacer cut to the depth of the waterway.  This is shown in the first picture.
 

 
Why not install the waterway first, then the planksheer?  If the model is to be painted, the waterway will be painted blue, the inboard works, including the adjoining inboard planksheer rail white.  To avoid having to cut in sharp paint lines after construction, I wanted to paint the white then install the pre-painted blue waterway below it.  The natural finish decking would later be installed against the blue waterway. The sequence to accommodate painting is also described in the posts for the 1:72 framed model – as well as in detailed in the book.  The inside rails were molded using a scraper and cut to size as described for the larger version.
 
With the inside planksheer rail glued in place to the toptimbers, spacers between toptimbers were cut and fitted – glued to the outboard face of the inner rail and end glued between toptimbers.  In the next picture, these spacers have been installed and their outer edges are being faired to the outside of the frames.
 

 
In the next picture the tops of the spacers are being filed flush with the top of the inside rail.  The upper face of the rail is horizontal in the athwartship direction.
 

 
Before the outer part of the planksheer or any exterior planking could be installed, it was necessary to fit the knightheads.  I will describe that work in the next part.
 
Ed

The Book is out!
 
I hope I may be permitted some euphoria over the publication of Modeling the Extreme Clipper Young America, Volume I.  It took a lot of effort by Sea Watch Books and me to get this to market this year.  There were times early in the year when the amount of modeling and writing required to meet this deadline seemed insurmountable.  All the generous and supportive responses to the two build logs on this site helped us keep our nose to the grindstone.
 
The picture below of the book and its supplementary material hardly does justice to Derek Gardeners beautiful rendering of Young America on the Irish Sea on a winter’s morning as she approaches Liverpool – but it does serve as proof that the book is in print.  I have examined every inch of this first copy and am delighted with the result.  We hope you will be as well.
 
As I did with the Naiad books, I will start a topic in the book review section for comments, questions, addenda, and what I hope will be very few corrections. In the meantime, this posting on each of the two build logs will at least serve notice that the book is out.
 
Thanks again for all your support.
 
Ed
 

 

Thanks for the all the comments & likes!  Marcus, yes I'm leaving both labels on so it is both one of my hot sauce bottle collection & a SIB.
 
Pictures of the finished build.

I want to thank everyone for all the likes and kind words of encouragement. I owe my gratitude to everyone here for the daily inspirational threads. This is the jest of the wheel making process.
 
Reinventing the wheel. It began with picking a design I liked and then deciding how big to make it. I found this photo on Google images and liked the design. Then I put my 6ft tall stick-man on deck to determine the size. Four feet seemed a good size for a pirate cutter, scaled to 1:64 made it about 19mm. So began the layout. All adhesives are up to the makers choice. I chose CA exclusively for this item.

I chose to use bamboo since it's very easy to turn and strong for such tiny little pieces. I drew up the size I wanted and the amount of spokes there would be. Two thin rings were cut off brass stock that would lend strength and aesthetics to the wheel. Next was to cut a slice of small diameter bamboo for the center piece. The bamboo slice was then turned to thin it to the desired thickness and placed into the center of the brass ring for alignment.

After both rings were lined up, they were pinned into place. A measurement was taken for the distance between the two rings. In this case it was 6mm. Then the turning began. I took a small length of bamboo and split it into pieces that were slightly larger than my target diameter of 1,3mm. The design of the spokes were completely random and took shape as I began turning the piece. The spokes were constantly checked against the circles making sure the 2mm handles were past the brass ring, that the piece that lined up with the brass was the thickness of the brass(1mm), that the distance of 6mm were maintained and the stem stayed at least 3mm long to fit into the center wheel.

Eight holes at 0,8mm were then drilled into the center bamboo ring. After the spokes were shaped, the 3mm length of stem was then turned down to 0,8mm to fit into the drilled holes. The spoke was then cut off the stock and fit into place to determine if I liked it or not. Afterward, the fun of duplication began seven more times.

Once all eight spokes were finished, they were fit into the pre-drilled holes, making sure that the 1mm section below the handle was even with the brass ring. Now the spokes were glued into the bamboo center and to the brass ring. Cork was used between the handles on the brass for its flexibility. Oversized pieces were glued into place and trimed flush to all the spokes, followed by glueing the second brass ring on top, centered on the lower brass ring. The center of the inner bamboo ring was then cleaned up and fit with brass stock that was drilled out to fit the piano wire axis. The cork was then carefully soaked with CA to harden it, and once dry trimed flush to both sides of the brass.

Everything was then cleaned up and fine tuned before the brass was blackened with Casey's Brass Black. I used the same method of antiquing that I use on the cannons and other brass fittings.

The process was fairly time consuming and far to long to describe in every detail. If there's anything to question, feel free to ask.

Ok finished my little boat oars made out of round tooth picks and basswood veneer left over from planking Used a couple of pins and made a cute little rope coil Made a wooden rudder and handle since the metal one was ugly Figured it should match the ship Hope it looks good to you guys sorry the pictures aren't great my iPhone 5c does not have the best camera

Thank you George, Boyd, CaptainSteve and everyone for the likes and kind words.
 
First off was the making of the wheel. I'm going to make an additional post on how I made the wheel, so for now here's a view of some of the stages.

 
I want to thank Robb and his Scottish Maid for the inspiration of the steering system. I decided 4ft was a good size for the wheel so I made it first and built the assembly to fit it. The posts were made from 3mm x 3mm brass stock and the axis point is piano wire.

 
The spokes and tiller were made from bamboo. Bamboo is very strong and easy to work with as well as the light color and grain are a nice contrast. The wheel that holds the rope was turned from brass stock. The blocks were made from walnut.

 
I began with dry fitting everything. The tiller handle was removed and one end of the rope was seized to the handle. With the tiller put back into place, the rope was fed through the first block, wrapped around the small brass wheel twice and then fed through the second block. Everything was pulled snug, the rope wrapped around the tiller and marked where the second seizing will be.

 
Then everything was disassembled and the rope was seized to the tiller handle.

 
Next, everything was reassembled and checked thoroughly so that I was satisfied with the results. Everything was glued into place leaving the wheel to be able to freely turn.

 
All the clamps holding the rudder straight were removed so that it coul freely move as well.

 
The final step was placing my 6ft tall stick man next to the wheel to give a perspective of the size of the wheel.

Hi everyone!
Many thanks for your interest in this project and your LIKEs!
 
The next step - I tried to make a ladder.
The first attempt... It was unsuccessful... (
 

 

 
The second attempt... It was unsuccessful too... (
 

 
The third attempt... It seems something like a ladder... ))
 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok did a little fabrication to my long boat see what you think

Got the ship in the bottle. Glued it down, raised the masts, glued the lines & cut them off.
 
 

Ok Started working on the starboard davits and long boat Not leaving the boat white Mainly just wanted to get rid of the grey metal color built the inside out of wood to make it a little less heavy and more true to the ship I can tell you now that the emergency steering chain is proving to be a pain to attach My big old fingers don't work well with tiny chain links Oh well I've done harder things

After a hiatus from building over the Labor Day weekend helping my wife at an art show I am back at adding all the mast stay lines for the standing rigging. I added the balance of the lines to the bowsprit and then basically worked fore to aft and bottom to top. I quickly learned that it requires a delicate touch when seizing the lines so as not to warp or deflect the thinner mast sections out of alignment. I left most of the top ends of the lines not glued to allow for rope stretching under tension and adjusted as needed and will not glue them until all the yards are in place.
 
I found the assembly instructions not very helpful and I felt like a detective tracing the lines to their attachment points; especially when not identified. I am sure part of the problem is my lack of specific knowledge of rigging since this is my first ship build. Following are pictures of most of the lines in place. I also need to acquire a better background for photographing since she is getting bigger.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Once the final stay lines are completed I will then start the yards working from bow to stern, bottom to top and then add the booms.

Hi Vic,
 
You, Augie and all the rest of you experts who have built or are building this gorgeous kit by Chuck also inspired me, so I will be building the Confederacy as my next kit build.  While I am biting off more than I can probably chew, I am also going to fully rig her as well so it is great to know you plan to blaze the trail here! 
 
In case it helps you, Chuck was kind enough to point me towards the Corother's plans to follow for the rigging.  Note in case you purchase them as well, Chuck warned me the belaying points are wrong, so I am now looking for Hahn reference plans from a similar era frigate, so I can figure out what exactly is wrong! So see the below image of the plans. I can't post anything more detailed given copyright concerns.
 
For mast and spar dimensions, take a look at the 1956 NRG article by Douglas Robinson. He has multiple measurements from different sources including the Admiralty measurements taken after the Confederacy was captured. Note the main mast per the Admiralty measurements was much higher at 97ft as compared to 88ft noted down by Joshua Humphreys.  Robinson notes it could have been stepped in England as seems the main was badly sprung after her capture.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

Thanks Chuck .
 
And now for something SMALL - the Deadeyes.
 
These are 1.6mm in diameter, and each has three #80 (0.25mm) holes. I turned them on the lathe in sections of 4 or 5, held them in a Pinvise to drill them and then turned them around in the vise, cut them off the section and sanded the "sprue" off :
 

 

 

 
Two down, six to go.
 
  Danny

Hi all
 
As I did not make the stove I only did the chimney that comes out of the forecastle deck.
 
I did add a lip to the top of the chimney.
 
I thought that I would also add some rivets to the sides.
 
I got some PVA glue and mixed it with some flour to give the PVA some body (thicken the PVA up).
 
I know the photo looks bad but it looks Ok in real life if you know what I mean ha-ha.
 
Well it is only about 16-17mm high.
 
Denis.