demetri

Hi everyone
 
It's been quite a while since my last update.  I've just been sidetracked with other things, which meant that regular visits to MSW has been difficult.
 
Anyhow, I've made some more progress with Shadow's Lower and Bilge Deck accommodations.  
 
Principally, Shadow's Lower Deck now has her Laundry and Crew's Mess installed.  The crew's mess consists of some bench seats as well as seven individual chairs situated around two tables.  Directly opposite the crew's mess is the Laundry.  Just forward of these areas are two crew cabins (one port and one starboard).  Still a lot of work to go...
 
The Bilge Deck has the makings of the gymnasium, another crew cabin, as well as other sundry cabins, storerooms, cabinets, etc.
 
I hope you can enjoy these photos.
 
All the best everyone!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick
 
 

 

continuation
 
Glad I'm almost done with the rigging part

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 237 – Fore Spencer Gaff
 
The term "spencer" describes gaffs rigged on masts with square sails – except for the spanker gaff at the mizzen.  They were used to support fore and aft sails that were occasionally used, or sometimes to suspend pennants to keep them out of the other rigging.  The fore spencer gaff is shown in the first picture.
 

 
The gaff is a small, very simple spar attached to the mast with a gooseneck/eye fitting.  Stops for the standing lift are roughly centered on the spar as shown in the picture.  The upper end of the lift has an eye splice shackled to the eyebolt in the top.  A stop cut into the end of the spar will take a doubled "vang" pendant pair with a single block spliced into each end.  The long pendants may be seen in the next picture.
 

 
Each vang pendant is attached to a simple whip, with the standing end seized to an eyebolt on the main rail.  The fall is belayed nearby on the main pin rail.  In the picture the falls are temporarily clamped to center the gaff.  The next picture shows them belayed to the main pin rails port and starboard.
 

 
The limited required movement of the gaff requires a relatively short fall, so the coil of rope shown in the next picture is fairly small.
 

 
The masking tape shown over the open beams, does not do a lot for the photographs, but my sanity demands it.  I finally acquiesced to this after yet another part dropped into the hold and could not be retrieved.  While it is relatively easy to blow out small bits of thread, the main mast fid did not respond to this.
 
Finally, a test for clearance around the outboard boats is shown in the next picture. 
 

 
I need to think about this and decide if a lead block would be appropriate for this relatively small line, perhaps on one of the backstays.  I love rework.
 
Ed
 

I've completed the Lower stunsul/stay sail/ jib, and flying jib.  All the hanks are in place.
Someone a couple of years ago recommended using hook and eyes used for clothing, the bra in particular for the hanks. size o for my scale.
I bought a pack, which I thought was expensive and found that only 7 of the eyes our of the pack were the ones that I needed.  Since it looked like I was going to spend a small fortune on these, I decided to build a jig and make my own for about the cost of one pack (the cost of the wire).
 
Here is my jig with the hanks.
 

 
Here is the stunsul and jib.  I decided that they looked a little bulky (right) so I cut the ears off. (left).  In my research both versions were found on ships during that time.
 

 
Also, I went to finish the fore stays and put the forward pin rail in place and found that there wasn't enough room for the pin rail.    I mounted the hearts on the knightshead based on photos that I took of the ship and separately I made the pinrail and located based on the photos that I took.  So what went wrong???  I'll tell you what went wrong.. the (expletives go here) stupid model kit with which I started this build is off in the framing and height of the bulwark in this area!!!!!!!!!!!!    I tell you, I've ended up scratch building almost everything on this ship past the frame and the pinrails (also with exceptions of the deck pump, deck wench, ship's bells, mast caps). I should have stopped and thrown the hull in the garbage back in 15 years ago when I first noticed something was off  and just used the hand full of fittings and scratch built everything.  I by the way, the pin rail on the bulwarks are missing 3 back stays.. Stupid model... too late to go back now.  
 
Ok rant over.  If it was not for this model kit, I would have never started to build in wood and a I would have never found that I actually had the ability to build things from scratch... 
 
Here is the fore stay before.  The run of the stay goes directly through where the pin rail should be.  I can't move the bollard on the rail (can't think of the correct name) back toward the cats, they are epoxied on the rail and actually they are in the correct position anyway.  
 

 

 
So after lots of thinking about fixes, I decided to bite the bullet and remove the forestays and hearts and rebuild/replace them.  I thought that if I didn't do this, I would tick me off for the rest of my life when I viewed the model.  I was able to keep the upper hearts.  I had to remake the lower hearts.  luckily the stays were in pretty good shape.  I hadn't actually glued the siezing yet (still concerned about the epoxy from the previous issue).  the acetone that I used to soften the expoy on the bottom of the brass wire mounting the hearts to the knightshead did a number on the paint finish - no big deal. I damaged the lower hearts with pliers drying to pull them out of the knightshead.  
 
Here is the result.  The forward pin rail can go into its correct position and the heart and stays clear the pin rail and the look is close to the actual ship.
 

 

 
Sorry for the mess of all of the extra line.  After I'm sure everything is ok, I'll take photos without all of the extra line removed.
 
Thanks for the help, advice, and likes.
Marc

It's been a while since my last post but I've been working on my Father's Day's present that I treated myself to (it's always a good excuse for a new toy ).  This is something I always wanted to try and it only took a few weeks.  I won't go into a lot of detail just a few pictures.
 
Started with this

 
Finished product

 

 
Now back to the ship.
 

Nice name there Joe. Sophie was a contender for me as I've got a daughter by that name, however with three girls I didn't want to explain to the other two why the boat wasn't named after them!  Great links to the war of 1812 for an American with that  vessel.
That stern name plate looks very good and crisp little pumps there. Looking forward to more.

Well...I've decided to go a different route with regard to which actual ship within the class I am building. I had wanted to use the nice brass cannon barrels supplied by Caldercraft and build her as Cruizer, but alas they will just not work. When scaled out on the Syren gun carriage and barrel plans, they are nearly 18 pounders; not the 6 pounders Cruizer carried. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Therefore I have bitten the bullet and ordered carronades from Cornwall Model Boats. The 6 pound bow chasers I'll get from Syren, as I already have the carriages. With that massive change in plans I have now moved forward and added the bow and stern platforms that were commonly found in the class. I still haven't settled completely on a specific ship, but am leaning HMS Reindeer, which is known to have had at least the bow platform, based on it being mentioned in accounts of her battle with the Wasp. Which ships had the stern platform is far less well known and documented.
 
The wheel was installed and rigged prior to installation of the aft platform for access purposes. Both platforms were constructed over a basic support framework and planked with the same maple as the main deck, and then treenailed. 

I've been busy with a (partial) bathroom remodel but have managed some work now and then on the model. The head is now complete. As mentioned above, it is based as best I could find off the Chapelle Epervier drawings. 

last update....
 
today the KWdG went into it`s glass case in my hobby room....
The shelf was lowered a bit in order to compensate the case hight, an with the admirals help the glass surfaces were cleaned inside / outside before closing the bonet and everthing was fitted into position. This now closes the project...
 
Nils

No u r right... pictures are foggy. I did paint yellow because my desicion.is that am building the replica not the original ship

Cheers gents.
 
Christian - I'm being consistent in using the Admiralty paints yellow ochre which I quite like.  Constant handling of these parts seems to be no match for any paint and paint rubs off the high spots despite an undercoat.  Should not be a problem to get looking OK when the time comes.
 
Cannon Conundrums (or "Armament Angst")
 
I felt I needed a bit of a change of pace while continuing to work slowly on the stern, and decided to get a head start on the cannons as I foresee these being a rather repetitive activity.  Psychologically, it feels like I'm getting a head start on things a little by commencing work on these now rather than waiting until I have to do them.
The first decision was to finally decide on which barrels to go with.  Photos below show 3 options, specifically left to right, Chuck's Syren offering, RB Models and the kit supplied barrels.  I know I posted these pics in Andy's Diana log, but can't remember if I did here so pls forgive any repetition!
Kit provide barrels - Painful as it is, the kit provided ones just don't cut the mustard with the bore being too large, the muzzle not being the right shape and the pommel just way too big. Chuck's barrels are very nice indeed, while the length certainly works, the bore seems a little small and for a 1:64 18lb'er and overall the barrel is a little dainty to my eye RBs Models (44mm) are also very nicely shaped and to my eye seem to fit the needed proportions best.  Each barrel is also supplied with a scale precut trunnion of high quality, so some labour would be saved there.
Next up, carriages.  I had ordered a set of Chucks Syren carriages a while ago and finally got round to building one up in addition to a kit carriage for comparison.  Pictures are self explanatory and show the kit carriage with kit barrel (left) with Syren carriage and RB models barrel (right).  Making these up allowed all the possible permutations to be tried, but these are best comparison.  Note - these were built over a number of very brief 10 minute sessions when I could escape to the boat yard, i.e. very quick and dirty, with quick paint job and no fittings. 
 
Couple of things are apparent:
The kit walnut is not great, being very splintery with pronounced grain, and would require a lot of work to get an acceptable finish.  The carriage is noticeably a little more squat, and the 2mm thickness of the ply looks less substantial, and the trucks a little on the small side. Similar level of finish work on the Syren laser cut parts gives a much better result.  Dimensions all around look a little more pleasing to my eye.  
The width of the Syren carriage were made slightly wider than the plans indicate to try and better scale to the RB barrel.
 

 
Final comparison was to place in situ.  The RB/Syren combination seemed to sit nicely mid port.  Placement of a quoin will need to be thought about as the barrel is probably already at approximately the right elevation.  Feel the RB/Syren combo is  clear winner, despite the additional investment that will be needed my view is that this will ultimately provide a more enjoyable building experience, especially as 28 of these puppies will need to be made up...
 

 
 
 
 

I am finding that putting the bottom plates on is fussy work. Not happy with the first 2. Trying a new technique on plate 3. align and glue the center-line first. Then do the ends and sides.

Thank you all for your kind words and following along this build and helping with my ongoing education on ship building. This will prepare me for the future build of the HMS Victory 1:90 scale by Mamoli which will include some kit bashing. My next build which I am starting to work on and doing CAD drawings for is the container ship Maresk Detroit which my son-in-law is the Captain. This is the first ship he has command of since being promoted to Captain. This will be a complete scratch build at 1:356 scale with an overall length of 32" long x 4" wide x 7.25" high. Size is dictated by future display location in their home. I will start a build log once I have something more interesting than just CAD drawings.
 
I am also working on a couple of commissions which I will disclose at the time allowed.
 
Jon, my son is building a display case and once we get the word that it is ready we will drive the model across country from Morro Bay to Southold, at the end of Long Island. Literally coast to coast. I am sure both nose and finger prints will be a constant with the grandsons as they grow. Not exactly sure yet where my son will have it displayed in the house.
 
Anyway, for now the ship has be shelved out of the way here to clear the deck for my next projects.
 

 

 
 
Again, thank you to all for your kind compliments and advice throughout this build. 
 
 

Jon, not really a diorama, just figures for a sense of scale and something for the grandsons to enjoy when they get older.
After cleaning up the figures the next thing I decided to do was drill holes in the hands of the two crewmen to be able to feed the ropes through. I used a .024" dill bit and angled carefully into the hands. The one with his hand on his chest required drilling form both top and bottom to create a tunnel for the rope. Here is the test fit of the rope.

 
Next came my first attempt at painting any kind of figures. I checked for the uniform colors of the period and here are the results; I used a gold marker stick to do the gold hat trim and buttons on the jacket. 
 

 

 
Here are the crew glued in place at their different activities.
 
 

 

 

 
This shows the overall bow section with the one man climbing the ratlines.

 
Simultaneously, while waiting for paint to dry on the figures I made the various flags and pennant for the main mast. First I flipped the artwork in Photoshop and then printed a copy on T-shirt transfer paper for Staples. I then carefully cut out each flag unit and folded them down the center lines making sure that the artwork aligned front and rear. Each was then added to the edge of the white fabric and carefully with the iron set on "Cotton" ironed each flag in place both on the front and the rear. All were ironed in place making sure they were hot enough for the ink to transfer and then allowed to cool before removing the backing paper. I cut them out along the inside edge of the black outline which I added in the artwork to differentiate the flag white from fabric white. Each flag was glued in place using thickened CA along the contact edge and allowed to set. Flags were then moistened with water on both sides and carefully formed slightly. Here are the results.
 

 

 

 

 
Next onto the last detail the cathead faces.    
 

Upper hull base coat (pre weathering), done. It's come up nicely and tomorrow I'll add a varnish coat before putting in depth markers and weather it. 

And complete, only requires a lick of paint and some railings 

To give you some idea on the original, a couple of pics, there isn't many more, as the ship led a rather quiet, not to say dull life....
 
the pic with the three white ships is taken in Amsterdam, and Evertsen is the middle one. The ships had higher masts in this pic, as they were wired for radio-receiving equipment that was used for communication with the far east.

Looks great Danny, well done.

I am finally finished with the gun rigging . The deck is pretty complete by now. I also started with the bowsprit as far as it was necessary to be able to finish the bowsprit bitts without having a bad surprise later on. Below is a selection of views of the current state of my Syren model. Btw, in image 8 it looks like the bowsprit is resting on the head of the figurehead. In reality this is not the case. But as the bowsprit bitts are not yet glued in they came lose during the time I made the photos and the bowsprit hit the head of the poor figurehead .
 
Thomas
 

Image 1
 

Image 2
 

Image 3
 

Image 4
 

Image 5
 

Image 6
 

Image 7
 

Image 8
 

Image 9

Gun rigging continued . . . 11 down and 7 to go.
A little sign of life . . . with more guns being rigged additional deck furniture could be permanently mounted: the ladders, five rail, and pump. The deck starts to get a ‘finished’ look (images 1 - 4) .
 
Thomas
 

Image 1
 
 

Image 2
 

Image 3
 

Image 4
 
 
 

 

Gun rigging continued . . . 7 down and 11 to go .
I am proceeding with the gun rigging in steps of 4 guns each to keep things interesting. Starting from the stern of the model it also allows to permanently mount all the deck furniture which will no longer be impacted by the rigging of the carronades, e.g. at the current stage the steering wheel with tackles, binnacle, and capstan (image 1). Image 2 shows the rigging of the steering tackles. I chose the method where both sides are rigged and the 2 ends of the rope combined underneath the steering wheel drum (see images 2 and 3). And to answer the obvious question of how these guns could be operated in such a confined space: in case of operation the tackles for the steering wheel were unhooked and the rudder operated via the tiller without wheel. That is also the reason for the shape of the tiller which has the length and the round end typical for direct manual operation. Image 4 shows some little add-ons to my Syren serving machine. It allows seizing very small eyes but also shows the potential for other simple modifications which will come in handy when I move into the rigging phase of my model. Images 5 and 6 are some additional views of the current state of the model.
 
Thomas
 

Image 1
 

Image 2
 

Image 3
 

Image 4
 

Image 5
 

Image 6
 
 

Looks great Danny, well done.

Thanks Rob and Michael. I appreciate the support.
 
Well, the lower mast rigging is just about completed. I finished the ratlines on the futtock shrouds, added the breast backstays, and the sheer poles on them. I made the sheer poles from brass rod that I served in the serving machine, like the ones I made for the lower deadeyes. I also cleaned up a lot of the excess rigging line around the bow.
 

Next up is the topmast rigging, so I made a few more thimbles for the topmast burton pennants and will start making up the shrouds tonight.

The Pagoda tower, just needs a bit of weathering, 7 triple 25mm's and rangefinders, flag lanyards and flags.