kurtvd19

Virtual Workshop
Saturday, June 17, 2023
10:30 AM Central Time
 
DIORAMA WATER CRAFTING
By NRG Director Ron Neilson
 

 
The workshop will explain various materials and methods for creating realistic-looking seascape settings for large-scale wooden ship models. 
Ron’s sailing ship dioramas have garnered several awards for his depictions.
 
Sign up information will be sent to all NRG member's on or about June 1.
 
The workshop will explain various materials and methods for creating realistic-looking seascape settings for large-scale wooden ship models. 
Ron’s sailing ship dioramas have garnered several awards for his depictions.
 

*The HMS Camilla model & her diorama won Best of Show: First Place, Sail and the judged, Jim Roberts Award at the recent 40th Annual Northeast Joint Clubs Ship Modeling Conference & Show, April 29, 2023.
 
 

Some different advice:
 
Assuming that you have access to a basic collection of hand tools and know how to use them, your first model should be the one that you really want to build; kit or scratch it really doesn’t matter.  Plodding thru a beginner kit that does not interest you will not increase your interest in the hobby.  It is my opinion that .most ship modeling projects are abandoned when the builder loses interest not because they are too difficult.
 
I likewise, do not see plastic modeling as an entry to building wooden models.  Plastic modeling appears to have reached a level of sophistication where it can stand on its own as a separate modeling experience.  While I don’t personally build plastic models, I enjoy scanning the threads posted for both ship and aircraft plastic models.  Much of the work is incredible.
 
Another entry point would be the series of kits developed and sold directly by the Nautical Research Guild.  So far they offer three modeling kits:  A planking model, A capstan model, and coming soon a rigging model.  These are short term projects that would give the novice builder a taste for ship modeling without a making a major time or cost commitment.
 
Roger

CAF is legitimate.  They are a MSW Sponsor/Advertiser.  Check the right hand column of the home page.
 

CAF is legitimate.  They are a MSW Sponsor/Advertiser.  Check the right hand column of the home page.
 

CAF is legitimate.  They are a MSW Sponsor/Advertiser.  Check the right hand column of the home page.
 

The futtock staves were made from 3” served rope and are located as far below the trestle trees as the top of the mast is above the trestle trees, approximately seven feet.  For ease of installation, I used served 24 gauge wire, rather than rope.  They were lashed to the shrouds.  The picture on the left shows the lashing in white for clarity and the finished product on the right.
 
And now it is time for the dreaded ratlines.  There are some lines on a ship that are a do not change with the size of the ship, such as the footropes and ratlines, both of which must hold a seaman’s weight.  The ratlines are made of tarred 1.5” rope.  At this scale, I simply tied, rather than lashed, them to the outer shrouds.  They are secured to the inner shrouds with clove hitch knots, a drawing of which is below.  This picture is also from The Boy’s Manual.

Ratlines are spaced 12-15” apart and are parallel to the waterline.  The easiest way to keep them even is to make a line jig.  There is a tendency to pull the shrouds inward as the ratlines are added.  I like to secure a brass rod or stick to the outer shrouds to keep them straight.  This is my setup.  The clips are holding the line jig in place.  The ratlines are parallel to the waterline, not to the deck. After several hours, 220 knots and fifteen scale feet of rope, the ratlines were finished. 
 
Catharpins are ropes with an eye at each end which extend across and are seized to the shrouds at the level of the futtock staves.  According to Steel, sloops were not equipped with catharpins but I included them in the kit to illustrate their construction.  I made them from 22 gauge wire with a loop on each end.  As there is no tension on them, I did not solder the loops closed.  The catharpins are served and the ends are painted black to simulate the eye splice.    The first catharpin is located just aft of the mast and the other two are spaced out evenly along the futtock stave.

This completed the standing rigging of the lower mast.  As mentioned earlier, because this is a cross section model, lines that would not terminate on the model, such as the stays and backstays, were omitted.

Not for sale, LOL...
 
Interestingly enough,  there were about eight or nine models that I placed on the set.   Several of mine and many others from members of my local Ship Model Society of New Jersey club.   Someone was so taken by one of the models  that they bought it.   And for a very handsome sum.  I have no idea who.   It was an anonymous sale through the production studio.  So it was a success for many model ship modelers I know.   Maybe if it goes well and enough ship model content isnt cut from the final movie, it will also encourage a few to give it a try.   You never know!!!

Actually it survived without a scratch.   I was very lucky.   But yes they clearly dont know how to handle a ship model.   I wonder if Ed Harris also autographed an original Jackson Pollock with a sharpie during that film....LOL.  Not that you would be able to tell.
 
 

Looks like the one from Harbor Freight -cheaper to go buy one than the cost of shipping.  I don't often mention Harbor Freight but for some stuff they are pretty good.
 

Looks like the one from Harbor Freight -cheaper to go buy one than the cost of shipping.  I don't often mention Harbor Freight but for some stuff they are pretty good.
 

The flanking rudders move to aid maneuvering.  Water flowing over a rudder from the props is very effective in turning the boat (high velocity) while water flowing over the rudder in baking up and not from the props is very ineffective in steering (low velocity).  Thus the flanking rudders being ahead of the props work very well in controlling turning while in reverse.   The boat can move sideways when the flanking rudders are turned one way with the steering rudders (behind the props) are turned in the opposite direction with one prop in reverse and the other going ahead.  I can't remember the combination of port or starboard props in forward and port or starboard in reverse with the direction of the flanking rudders being to port or starboard and steering rudders to being to port or starboard, but both props and rudders must be set in opposite directions to move the boat sideways.
 
Pilots can do this in their sleep before they are entrusted to operate a towboat with barges.  I have spent a lot of time on towboats on the IL River when I was associated with the owner of the business and while I did a lot of steering on mostly straight parts of the river or gentle sweeping turns I would never have thought of asking if I could attempt a sharp turn where operating both sets of rudders and using reverse on one prop to aid turning knowing the pilot would absolutely not allow it.  Back then I was into R/C boats and had a twin screw towboat with steering and flanking rudders with individual motor control.  The towboat company had a real nice shallow pond adjacent to their office building and our Radio Control Model Boat club was able to enjoy operating our boats there.  I used to truly enjoy calling out to a Captain or Pilot and ask them if the wanted to operate my tow.  They all said yes without hesitation - the first time.  After a quick explanation of which control lever on the radio was the steering rudders with the other by default the flanking rudder, the port and starboard motor controls were very obvious which controlled the props.  On a 1:1 towboat the steering controls are horizontal levers that operate on a concentric pair of control rods to the rudders.  The engine controls are side by side levers with duplicate sets of motor controls on each side of the steering levers.
 
Like I said earlier all Pilots and Captains can make their boats move in any direction by combining steering and motor controls as describer earlier.  They don't have to think about forward/reverse/port/starboard.  But the simple fact that there  is a different R/C control layout than in any towboat caused them to screw up the simplest maneuver.  Most would hand me the radio and walk away after just a few minutes.  But most of them came back later because "no toy boat is smarter than me!"  We did have a lot of fun operating at the shipyard.
 

Looks like the one from Harbor Freight -cheaper to go buy one than the cost of shipping.  I don't often mention Harbor Freight but for some stuff they are pretty good.
 

I started with the Taig lathe with many accessories including the milling tool.  It did everything I wanted to do including pens.  I had a chance to purchase a slightly used long bed Sherline lathe and jumped at the opportunity.  I have to say that Sherline has more accessories than Taig but I am not a machinist and both lathes are capable of doing much more than I will ever be capable of doing.  I have come to the conclusion that the Taig was perfectly good enough for me and I didn't really gain anything by purchasing the Sherline lathe until I late had a chance to pick up a very slightly used Sherline mill.  The ease of switching from turning to milling having both Sherline machines far out weighs the conversion from turning to milling with the Taig lathe with its milling tool.  A big difference in price to add the Sherline mill but I am very happy I did it.
There are times I wish I had stuck the Taig lathe in the corner because some things I found were easier to do with the Taig but I got my entire investment in the Taig back when I sold it so overall selling it to a club member worked out for both of us.

Most kits come with deadeyes and partially completed chains.  Usually, the upper link (the link that goes around the deadeye) is pre-formed, with the bottom cut for insertion of the deadeye.  Wire is provided for the builder to form the other two links but the entire assembly has very little strength and the cut ends of wire are ugly.  The only way to make this assembly stronger and better looking is to solder the links closed.  I prefer silver soldering, even though regular soldering will give sufficient strength.  The benefit of silver soldering is that the metal is fused together rather than connected by a dissimilar metal, tin.  This makes it easier to bend the part without worrying about the solder joint breaking.  The downside is that there is a learning curve and the tools are more expensive.  Silver solder also blackens well.  There are also low melting point silver bearing solders (Tix) which can be blackened. 
 
The measurements for all the parts of a British warship were determined by the Admiralty.  There are reference books that contain this information such as Steel’s Tables.  An easily read version of the tables is sold in the NRG store.  The main mast diameter is given on the plans as 18”.  Using the information from the tables, I determined that the main stay is 9” and the shrouds are 5.5”.   Lines are measured by their circumference. The diameter of the deadeye is 1.5 times the size of the shroud or stay it is attached to, in this case 8 ¼”.  A spreadsheet comes in handy in determining all the measurements.
Let me start by saying that my metal work has a bit to be desired.  The chains are made from 1 ¼” wire, which is 22 gauge.  I temper the wire by drawing it through a gas flame until it glows red.  This makes the wire more malleable and removes any factory applied coating.
 
The deadeye chain is the same length for all the deadeyes.  Make one and use it as a template for the others.  I wrapped wire around the deadeye, leaving long tails, and inserted this into the slot in the channel.  The tails were cut long enough to be able form the loop below the channel.  I removed the deadeye and applied a finish. 

The lower links are all the same length.  From the plans I knew that the toe of the lower link is bolted 5” below the top of the wale and that its overall length was 9”.  Two T-pins were inserted into the soldering board and the wire was wrapped around them, with the cut ends on the side.  The middle link is different for every shroud because each is at a different angle to the mast as seen in the two pictures below.  The link becomes longer with greater angulation of the shroud.  You can see the difference in the shroud angles and how this would affect the length of the middle link.


To determine the angle of the chains, I put masking tape on the hull above and below the channel.  A loop of rope was placed over the mast head and inserted through a slot in the channel.  The angles made by the shroud were transferred to the tape.  I dimpled the wale where the toe of the lower link and the lower preventer chain bolts will be located and removed the tape.

A hole was drilled through the wale where the toe of the lower link would later be bolted.  The lower link and deadeye were temporarily installed. The length of the middle chains was determined by trial and error.  With the deadeye and lower link in place, I formed the middle link from rope the same thickness as the wire and transferred those lengths to wire.  I formed the middle link and soldered it closed, keeping the joint on one of the long sides.  Then I inserted the lower link through the middle link and soldered it. 

A T-pin was pushed into the soldering board and used to form the lower link toe.  The lower link is also bent at the toe, allowing it to lay flat against the wale. 

Finally, the wire for the upper link was passed through the middle link and  soldered.  The deadeye was inserted into the loop and the wire was crimped around it to fit into the channel slot, placing the solder joint in the slot camouflaged it.  

And here are the ten chains, ready for blackening.  The blackening chemical did not damage the wood deadeyes. 

 
After blackening, the chains were installed.  I have a piece of wire temporarily holding the lower link to the wale. 

The preventer plate prevents the bolt securing the lower link from going all the way through the toe. It was made from square bar stock that was forged to the correct shape.  Mine are made from sheet brass, cut and filed to the correct shape.  Just like the middle links, they varied in length. The top of the plate makes a step over the bottom of the lower link toe to cover it. To determine the distance between the bolt holes on the plate, I measured the distance between the toe bolt and the previously marked lower preventer plate bolt and added the diameter of the wire the link was made from.  The sequence is shown in the drawing below. After they were finished, they were blackened and installed.  

To hold the upper links in the channels, a strip of molding was placed over them.  Next up, the rigging begins.

 

I started with the Taig lathe with many accessories including the milling tool.  It did everything I wanted to do including pens.  I had a chance to purchase a slightly used long bed Sherline lathe and jumped at the opportunity.  I have to say that Sherline has more accessories than Taig but I am not a machinist and both lathes are capable of doing much more than I will ever be capable of doing.  I have come to the conclusion that the Taig was perfectly good enough for me and I didn't really gain anything by purchasing the Sherline lathe until I late had a chance to pick up a very slightly used Sherline mill.  The ease of switching from turning to milling having both Sherline machines far out weighs the conversion from turning to milling with the Taig lathe with its milling tool.  A big difference in price to add the Sherline mill but I am very happy I did it.
There are times I wish I had stuck the Taig lathe in the corner because some things I found were easier to do with the Taig but I got my entire investment in the Taig back when I sold it so overall selling it to a club member worked out for both of us.

I started with the Taig lathe with many accessories including the milling tool.  It did everything I wanted to do including pens.  I had a chance to purchase a slightly used long bed Sherline lathe and jumped at the opportunity.  I have to say that Sherline has more accessories than Taig but I am not a machinist and both lathes are capable of doing much more than I will ever be capable of doing.  I have come to the conclusion that the Taig was perfectly good enough for me and I didn't really gain anything by purchasing the Sherline lathe until I late had a chance to pick up a very slightly used Sherline mill.  The ease of switching from turning to milling having both Sherline machines far out weighs the conversion from turning to milling with the Taig lathe with its milling tool.  A big difference in price to add the Sherline mill but I am very happy I did it.
There are times I wish I had stuck the Taig lathe in the corner because some things I found were easier to do with the Taig but I got my entire investment in the Taig back when I sold it so overall selling it to a club member worked out for both of us.

I have reached another small milestone.  All of the below deck fittings and cabins are completed.  The gun deck is fully framed as well.   Next up I will start planking the inboard bulwarks.   That should make a huge difference.  
 
I hope to see many of you this weekend at the New London show.   It should be a very enjoyable weekend.   I am looking forward to it.
 







 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chuck

Something that we offer to members are the Virtual Workshops we offer throughout the year on Saturday mornings (10:30 AM Central).  We record the workshops and within a week or two they are available on the website for members to view as often as they want.
We have a new workshop on May 4 on Basics of the Air Brush.  We also have a two part one on June 15 on Creating Realistic Working Sails and Creating Furled Sails.  Check out the recordings in the Events section of the website.  Also, they are priced right - FREE!  All members will get an email with the Zoom link real soon.

Absolutely. To my way of thinking, not only does it show off your workmanship more effectively, but it gives the viewer a better angle into something we otherwise never see in the real world (details below the waterline). If part of the goal of modeling is education (a core mission of the NRG), then given you've put the work into those normally hidden details, make them as accessible as possible! I'd bet the vast majority of people have no idea that's what towboat propulsion looks like, as opposed to a vague idea of some sort of basic ship's propellor like on the Titanic or something. 
 
As for proper lighting, pretty much everyone has a flashlight in their pockets these days, so it's not hard to get light to where it's needed. This is one of the reasons I haven't bothered running lighting into my steamboat models; it's so much easier just to point my phone light in toward the machinery if anyone wants to see it in detail. That and I don't like working with electronics but that's not the point!

I started with the Taig lathe with many accessories including the milling tool.  It did everything I wanted to do including pens.  I had a chance to purchase a slightly used long bed Sherline lathe and jumped at the opportunity.  I have to say that Sherline has more accessories than Taig but I am not a machinist and both lathes are capable of doing much more than I will ever be capable of doing.  I have come to the conclusion that the Taig was perfectly good enough for me and I didn't really gain anything by purchasing the Sherline lathe until I late had a chance to pick up a very slightly used Sherline mill.  The ease of switching from turning to milling having both Sherline machines far out weighs the conversion from turning to milling with the Taig lathe with its milling tool.  A big difference in price to add the Sherline mill but I am very happy I did it.
There are times I wish I had stuck the Taig lathe in the corner because some things I found were easier to do with the Taig but I got my entire investment in the Taig back when I sold it so overall selling it to a club member worked out for both of us.

I started with the Taig lathe with many accessories including the milling tool.  It did everything I wanted to do including pens.  I had a chance to purchase a slightly used long bed Sherline lathe and jumped at the opportunity.  I have to say that Sherline has more accessories than Taig but I am not a machinist and both lathes are capable of doing much more than I will ever be capable of doing.  I have come to the conclusion that the Taig was perfectly good enough for me and I didn't really gain anything by purchasing the Sherline lathe until I late had a chance to pick up a very slightly used Sherline mill.  The ease of switching from turning to milling having both Sherline machines far out weighs the conversion from turning to milling with the Taig lathe with its milling tool.  A big difference in price to add the Sherline mill but I am very happy I did it.
There are times I wish I had stuck the Taig lathe in the corner because some things I found were easier to do with the Taig but I got my entire investment in the Taig back when I sold it so overall selling it to a club member worked out for both of us.

I started with the Taig lathe with many accessories including the milling tool.  It did everything I wanted to do including pens.  I had a chance to purchase a slightly used long bed Sherline lathe and jumped at the opportunity.  I have to say that Sherline has more accessories than Taig but I am not a machinist and both lathes are capable of doing much more than I will ever be capable of doing.  I have come to the conclusion that the Taig was perfectly good enough for me and I didn't really gain anything by purchasing the Sherline lathe until I late had a chance to pick up a very slightly used Sherline mill.  The ease of switching from turning to milling having both Sherline machines far out weighs the conversion from turning to milling with the Taig lathe with its milling tool.  A big difference in price to add the Sherline mill but I am very happy I did it.
There are times I wish I had stuck the Taig lathe in the corner because some things I found were easier to do with the Taig but I got my entire investment in the Taig back when I sold it so overall selling it to a club member worked out for both of us.

Something that we offer to members are the Virtual Workshops we offer throughout the year on Saturday mornings (10:30 AM Central).  We record the workshops and within a week or two they are available on the website for members to view as often as they want.
We have a new workshop on May 4 on Basics of the Air Brush.  We also have a two part one on June 15 on Creating Realistic Working Sails and Creating Furled Sails.  Check out the recordings in the Events section of the website.  Also, they are priced right - FREE!  All members will get an email with the Zoom link real soon.

I started with the Taig lathe with many accessories including the milling tool.  It did everything I wanted to do including pens.  I had a chance to purchase a slightly used long bed Sherline lathe and jumped at the opportunity.  I have to say that Sherline has more accessories than Taig but I am not a machinist and both lathes are capable of doing much more than I will ever be capable of doing.  I have come to the conclusion that the Taig was perfectly good enough for me and I didn't really gain anything by purchasing the Sherline lathe until I late had a chance to pick up a very slightly used Sherline mill.  The ease of switching from turning to milling having both Sherline machines far out weighs the conversion from turning to milling with the Taig lathe with its milling tool.  A big difference in price to add the Sherline mill but I am very happy I did it.
There are times I wish I had stuck the Taig lathe in the corner because some things I found were easier to do with the Taig but I got my entire investment in the Taig back when I sold it so overall selling it to a club member worked out for both of us.

It might be worthwhile getting a larger piece of brass and machine the part you require. Saw and files or power tools if you have them. I think this method would be more easily controlled and offer you a better chance of success. Brass is quite soft and files to shape quickly.