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Roger Pellett

NRG Member
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About Roger Pellett

  • Birthday 06/04/1943

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Duluth, MN
  • Interests
    Naval Architect, Scratch Modeler and maritime history researcher. Current modeling interest- Great Lakes Steamship Benjamin Noble
    Nautical ResearchvGuild Member
    Author: Whaleback Ships and the American Steel Barge Company published by Wayne State University Press

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  1. During my working career, I saw a number of these Jarmac saws in use at model ships operated by large engineering firms (Bechtel, Fluor, etc.) to build models of industrial installations. The saws were used to cut plastic scale pipe and structural shapes to length. Ripping would not have been required. In the case of piping, the fittings all had sockets cast into the ends. The cut length was slipped into the socket and glued so the length of the assembly could be adjusted slightly before gluing. End play of the blade was therefore not a problem. Roger
  2. Paul, Have you looked at the build log for Ed Tosti’s Young America. If not, I recommend it. If you’re not familiar with it is a meticulous build of a Clipper of the same era. See how he handled this. Roger
  3. As Welfack points out these lights like much else aboard ship required maintenance. They also had to be refilled with fuel (whale oil and later kerosene), and the wicks had to be trimmed. Ships were therefore equipped with Lamp Rooms, an enclosed space where lamps could be worked on and stored out of the weather when not in use. Roger
  4. Basswood strips are often stocked by craft stores like Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc. Basswood lumber is carried by some Big Box Home Improvement stores. Roger
  5. Unless you live on the East Coast or highly populated areas of the West Coast everything that Ian posted about totally Electric vehicles also applies to the USA. I don’t foresee that these cars will ever be practical for the long distance driving and weather that we encounter in the Northern Midwest. Roger
  6. Archi, There are instructions here on MSW written by Jim Byrnes for aligning the fence on one of his saws. It’s a “pinned” topic here on this machinery category.
  7. Bob, I don’t have one, so can’t comment on its performance but the late Jim Byrnes used to offer a draw plate specifically for wood. Hopefully his company will get back on its feet Roger
  8. This is supposed to be an activity that’s enjoyable so if planking is a problem, choose a project that doesn’t involve it. If you are limited to kits check out solid hulls. Bluejacket offers some, as does A.J. Fisher. A well made solid hull model is no less authentic than a planked POB one. The important thing is correctly reproducing the hull shape. OR. Find a POB model that is easy to plank. How about a Skipjack? There is at least one Skipjack kit on the market and their relatively small size allows modeling at a scale that allows detailing. Roger
  9. Square brass and copper wire is used by the jewelry people. It is available in different sizes on Amazon. 1/32” is the smallest that I have found. Roger
  10. A very strong El Niño has given us a record winter; much above average temperatures and almost no snow. As a result, the SOO locks intend to open several days earlier than planned. Noteworthy this past month was the recent announcement of the discovery of the SS Arlington sunk in 600ft of water off Lake Superior’s Kweanee Penninsula. Arlington, sunk in 1940 shares several similarities with Benjamin Noble. Both were close to the same size and were designed for the pulp wood trade. Both were built by the same yard (five years apart). Arlington was loaded down with a late season grain cargo. Heavy seas washed off hatch bars, tarpaulins, and la least one hatch failed entirely flooding her hold. Work since my last post involved assembling the hatch covers on a backing piece of 1/64” plywood and fabrication of the hatch bars. Wooden hatches float, so hatch bars were fastened atop to restrain them. These were pieces of 3” steel angle bolted at the ends to padeyes attached to the deck. For the model I used 1/32” square brass wire. At each tip, I soldered a short piece of I/16” brass tubing. A #75 hole through the top of the tube will accept the simulated hold down bolt. A fussy detail requiring a frustrating amount of time. Roger
  11. Underhill appears to be doing it the hard way! Of course he was writing many years ago and new tools and materials have become available since. Unless oyou are planning to put your chain under considerable tension, high temperature silver solder is not necessary. Lead free solders are now available in a wide range of diameters. I have recently been using .010” diameter solder with good results. Like Underhill, I like the liquid fluxes applied with a small brush. They do a good job of drawing solder into the joint. Finally, I prefer a fine tipped electric soldering iron to a torch. With the very small sizes involved here an electric soldering iron will fuse the joint instaneously. Roger
  12. Andy, really nice work. In the years before Covid, my wife and I went on three Sisley Garden Tours to different areas of rural England; a wonderful experience. We heard from more than one gardener maintaining these magnificent gardens that there is an Asiatic blight killing the Boxwood Trees. It would seem that someone could scavage some nice Boxwood before it’s too late. Roger
  13. Definitely not splitting hairs, apples and oranges! Allan refers to sailing warships of the 17th and 18th Centuries. These vessels had large permanent lanterns affixed to the transom; one to three depending on the status of the ship. Samual Pepys bragged that one on the Royal Sovereign was large enough that he kissed a woman while standing inside of it! The main purpose of these lanterns was to allow formation station keeping at night. Much later in the Nineteenth Century, maritime nations developed “Rules of the Road” in an attempt to eliminate collisions at sea. These would not work at night if the vessel’s could not see each other. This lead to the legal requirement for vessels to carry navigation lights, specifically red (port) and green (starboard). These would have been attached to the lower mast shrouds on sailing ships. Exactly when did this happen? I don’t know. Roger
  14. Of course, Constitution has had a very long life during which she has been rebuilt and repaired several times. For a considerable part of this time she sailed as an active unit of the US Navy so until recent times, her refits did not necessarily involve ensuring historical accuracy. Even today, she is a hodgepodge of different periods. Constitution underwent a major repair in the 1920’s. There are photos of her during this repair in drydock with all exterior planking removed. Apparently, during this repair a series of as built drawings were prepared. In the 1990’s these drawings, on a DVD disc, were offered to the public. I believe that the drawing that you have posted is one from the 1920’s. To be useful to the level that you want you would have to be able to determine when different structural elements were added during which historic period. Roger
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