trippwj

Elijah, boat building isn't a race. The fun is in the doing. The fact that you end up with a nice looking model at the end is a bonus, giving you good memories of your build. And congratulations on your new baby brother!

Not slow at all, sir! You are moving along quite nicely. Congratulations on your baby brother!
 
Getting that pesky bow to fit drove me crazy as well (I have a log here somewhere for the Phantom, renamed the Elsa - building it with my 9 year old grand daughter). As I recall, I overcame that gap by making my keel piece a mite thicker.
 
Carry on, you are doing well!

I hope I don't offend some builders here, but I am confused about something. Some builders will buy a very expensive kit and then throw out most of the expensive parts and supplies to replace them with scratch built parts. If they have the talent and skills to build from scratch, and they obviously do, then why not save the kit expense and just buy the plans and scratch build. I can see replacing some parts in kits, as improvements can be made here and there, but not to discard most of the kit, like lumber, metal castings, fixtures etc. By the time they are finished, there is very little of the kit left.
 
Vince P.

Hello again! I have realized something… I am a really slow builder ! Please excuse the snail pace of this build log. I (finally) finished getting the hull to the correct length. There is one large dent I will need to correct with a lot of wood filler that I will have to purchase, due to the fact that I don't have any.
You can see it at the bow area. I will have to get to cutting cardboard again for the side templates. Also, I have a new baby brother as of this night, which is super awesome! I hope to have some more building time this weekend as well.
Until next time.

Thats a hard one to find, where are you located?   
 
In my capacity as rare book conservator in a large academic research library I've been able to locate it in many libraries across the country but so far 0 are for sale.   
 
Incidentally I fly-fish off of Bainbridge Island all the time...  

Dear friends,
 
I am very saddened to write that our friend Augie passed away on December 18th.
 
Popeye has opened 'Augie Bruno' in the Shore Leave section.
Please join us there to say goodbye and in offering his wife Diane, family and friends our condolences.
 
Goodbye Augie, rest in peace.
You are gone, but not forgotten.

Nice when the kids give the old guy an appropriate gift!  Looking good, Denis!

Well, my belt sander came in Friday and I've completed the base, mounted the ship to it, and I have a 3/16" scale Sperm Whale that I sculpted to go alongside the ship along with a fully fitted out whaleboat complete with sails. the whale has been harpooned and lanced and tied alongside. I am now officially finished. The base is a slab of wood cut from the Bowsprit of the real Morgan, obtained from the Dupont Preservation Shipyard, Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT., rough finished and Satin Varnished to protect it.
 
I'M DONE!
 
Anyone interested on the steps to accomplish this can find all the details in my website BUILD LOG - PART VI at the bottom of the log as well as a lot of photographs.
 
THANKS GUYS - IT'S BEEN FUN!!!
 
LINK TO WEBSITE: http://charleswmorganmodel.com

Fairing in the side wheel covers with sheet styrene and wood decking for that "built in "look.Very cool indeed!

Small update.
 
I have create the masts but not painted yet !
I will start painting this afternoon and somewhere next week you will see the painted result.
A few more things to do before the masts are totally finished.
But first.....painting time   
 
Sjors

more was done yesterday.........I was in and out a lot.    I hope I have time to get this all posted.......I have to work this morning,  and I'm running late       the sails {furled} were painted......didn't have any grays,  so I stuck with flat tans and whites.   since I'm not planning to work with different color threads, the rope detail was painted flat black.  there is some touching up to be done.........I know    
 

 

 
here is the relation between the tan color and the second step of flat white....kinda rushing it .....
 

 
then the black accented rope treatment
 

 

 
the fore mast was cemented in place along with it's lower ratlines.   no room on the chain plates
 

 

 
the yards were added
 

 
the fore stays were added next.   
 

 

 
it's thin thread........kinda hard to show it to you.   it will be the lifts next and the back stays.......how ever will be the most easier to work with.......such a small model  

The evolution of the eventual connection of the forecastle and quarter decks is tied directly to the evolution of the cannon.  In the early days of fighting sail the ship was more like a floating castle full of infantry.  Combat was mostly coming alongside, firing off volleys of arrows, the occasional shot from relatively weak cannons, and then boarding the enemy for hand to hand combat.  Hence the need for towering fore castles and stern castles, just like on land, to give a height advantage and additional fire power.  As cannons became more powerful and accurate, they came to be more the primary weapon.  Take a look at the Sovereign of the Seas.  Initially she had cannons mounted in her fore and stern castle pointing in every direction, even inboard towards the waist.  That is because the fighting tactics had not caught up to the technology.  They were still focused on closing and boarding more than gunnery.  But she was also one of the first ships to be a true ship of the line.  During her day line of battle tactics were developed and ships began to focus all of there fire power to the sides.  In fact, during one of her later rebuilds all of the Sovereigns armament was shifted to fire outboard as broadside batteries. As the guns got bigger they needed to be carried lower in the ship.  This obviated the need for the towering castles fore and aft and eventually they disappear altogether in favor of gun decks.  The logical next step was even more cannons so the covering over of the waist provides more room for cannons.
 
Regards,

PS Robin you are right I exchanged the last two numbers, it was 1836 :-)
But still not in the early days after Trafalgar.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarkson_Frederick_Stanfield
 
XXXDAn

Sorry Druxey,
 
I forgot, for stupid german legal reasons one has  to register there first ...
 
Please be our guest, if ever someone needs help please contact me. 
 
XXXDAn

Those are good points, Bart.  I guess I was thinking more of folks like Joshua Humphreys.  In his youth, he was a ship carpenter’s apprentice in Philadelphia, and after the death of the master, Humphreys was given control of the ship yard. His later creation of his own ship yard made him well-known in the colonies as a naval architect, and he was commissioned by the U. S. government in 1776 to build ships in Philadelphia and prepare them for the Revolutionary War.  As I recollect, he did not visit Britain prior to the start of the 1800's, if at all.
 
Many of the New England ship builders actually had closer ties to French influence (Canadian influence) and Irish than strict British practice.  In fact, when you look at ship yards such as Portsmouth NH while the builders had British ancestry, they had been in New Hampshire since the mid 1600's - whatever influence came from Britain would have been long since diluted by the local maritime environment and nature of the fisheries and mercantile activities from those regions. See (for example) Preble's History of the United States Navy-yard, Portsmouth, N. H. (1892). 
 
In the Historical Society records for this region, the early permanent settlers of this part of Maine were from Massachusetts - and had been there for many years. The records on ship builders I have seen so far are for locally trained folks - they started building their own boats for fishing (patterned after the French, Portuguese, Spanish and British vessels in the  Newfoundland/Bay of Fundy fisheries) but to their own preference.  These evolved into privateers and merchant vessels in response to market pressures (for lack of a better phrase).  While there were similarities to boats built in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, they also had some unique characteristics that set them apart.

In thinking about the timber for masts, the British had been using New England (particularly Maine) trees for masts and spars for many years - see The Kings Broad Arrow for some good information.
 
As to a side by side comparison, I have not seen any good comparisons.  Below are a brief comparison of the British fifth Rate HMS Lark of 32 guns and the Continental Navy Frigate Randolph of 32 guns.  have not done any digging yet for mast and rigging details - doubtful there is much for the Randolph unless in a painting somewhere.
 
Class & type:   British Richmond-class fifth-rate frigate HMS Lark
Built in 1761-62
Tons burthen: 680 61⁄94 bm
Length:            127 ft 2 in (38.76 m) (gundeck)
                       108 ft 0.375 in (32.92793 m) (keel)
Beam:              34 ft 5 in (10.49 m)
Depth of hold:            12 ft 0.5 in (3.670 m)
Sail plan:         Full-rigged ship
Complement:   210 officers and men
Armament:     
32 guns comprising
    Upperdeck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
    Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pounder guns
    Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounder guns
 
Type:   Continental Navy Frigate Randolph
Built in 1776 by Wharton & Humphreys (Philadelphia)
Designed by Joshua Humphreys
Length:            132 ft 9 in (40.46 m)
Beam:               34 ft 6 in (10.52 m)
Draft: 18 ft (5.5 m)
Depth:             10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Armament:      26 x 12 pdrs; 10 x 6 pdrs

are they called ship bows /frames? Also working on cannons trying different" idea's from wood ,to bondo molding,getting some wood together. Get back in a few with some pics ...also found essex build on this site.Can i mention currently a nice essex model kit on EE baay for around 350.00 . There are so many online to say the least a lot of work" .Nothing is cemented yet', so some alignment you see ?...thanks

Nice when the kids give the old guy an appropriate gift!  Looking good, Denis!

Sounds like a couple of well thought out gifts!

Sounds like a couple of well thought out gifts!

Hello again! I haven't been able to get anything done for the past few days, but I plan on doing more modeling this week. On a side note, I will be receiving some late Christmas gifts this weekend. I will most likely receive a Nautical Research Guild membership, and some 1/16" by 1/32" by 24" boxwood strips for planking from Crown Timberyard. I have heard a lot of good things about Crown Timberyard, and look forward to seeing the wood (and using it of course).
Until next time.

Hi Denis
 
Chase and Tripp are going to be the proudest grandkids on the planet when they see what you've done!  What better way to introduce the younger generation to our wonderful hobby.
 
Be warned however, because I predict more models will be suddenly appearing for you to work your magic upon.  Sorta like the 'ultimate compliment' and a testament to Grandad's skills.
 
Nice job!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick 

Nice when the kids give the old guy an appropriate gift!  Looking good, Denis!

Nice when the kids give the old guy an appropriate gift!  Looking good, Denis!

Nice when the kids give the old guy an appropriate gift!  Looking good, Denis!