Roger Pellett

A Folbot!!  I built one of these years ago for a friend who ultimately gave it to me.  I eventually traded it for a battered Shell Lake wood canvas canoe that I restored.

Roger

Michael,

Wonderful!  Will you have  crane operator riding in your overhead crane?  When I began my career we still had crane operators riding in our overhead cranes; later replaced with floor operated pendants operated by the pipe fitters themselves resulting in arguments and a fight once over “waiting on the crane.”

The first shop where I worked had a floor made from wood blocks standing upright with their end grain exposed.

Roger

Considering what this vessel must have cost, it is interesting that the designers relied on the tried and true cowl ventilators instead of some mechanical ventilation system.

Roger

Beautiful work and interesting innovation to produce detailed work at this small scale.  

Perhaps you you should consider a tiny Dulcinea (Riddle of the Sands)!

Roger

The Aluminum base plates are home made- 1/8in plate from the scrap bucket.

Many years ago while living in Ohio I tried to play golf and even joined the Company golf league- 9 holes every Thursday night and pick up the ball after 10 strokes.  After a while, my golf partner suggested that I keep score by keeping track of the number of strokes less than 10 on the few holes where I didn’t pick up.  Lessons helped but when I moved to Duluth in 1989 struggles to revive a business and the opportunity to take part in a Wednesday night and Saturday sailing league effectively ended my golfing.

I got the golf ball from my son to use as a final check to ensure that the bench top was flat and level.

Roger

Old but still good and not “dumbed down” -  Sailing Ships of War 1400-1860 by Dr Frank Howard.  Look for it on used book sites.

Roger

Testor’s DullCote

I wonder what happened to his huge collection of stuff?

Roger

Beautiful!

Roger

A.J. Fisher also made a number of Clipper Ship model kits.  Piel Craftsmen lists an A.J. Fisher Sea Witch on their home page and lists the over all length of their model as 18-1/2 inches; I assume that this is the model’s hull length only.

If you intend to display the model fully rigged, there are lots of references available. An old standby that your uncle might have used when he built the model would be Ship Model Making (Volume II) by E. Armitage McCann.  This covers building of the Clipper Soverign of the Seas.  Try to get a copy with the large scale plans included. This includes a rigging plan.  Don’t get Volume I as this is for building a decorative (aka-ugly!) “Spanish Galleon.”

It is my opinion that the rigging for these older ship models was not unique from ship to ship.  In other words, you can use the rigging plan for Soverign of the Seas for Sea Witch.

IF you decide to go down this path and have trouble finding these reference materials, send me a PM.

Roger

I have a Sherline Lathe with 17in bed and optional milling column.  I also have the riser block and toolpost that I bought for a special project ( turning the turret of a 1:96 scale Passaic Class Monitor from a large bronze bearing sleeve). I also used the milling column to machine the oval gun ports.  I agree with the posts above that it is an excellent tool backed by a high class company.  

It it does have one feature that I do not like. Unlike a conventional metal lathe where the tail stock can be set off center to turn a taper, the Sherline does this by rotating the headstock.  There is also a bass ackwards optional cross slide that can be used for this but as of yet, I have not wanted to spring for the $250 plus or minus to buy one.  This unfortunately prevents use of any sort of tailstock support when turning a taper, but more seriously prevents use of the key in the joint between the headstock and base with predictable results if one is not extremely careful.

Since I suspect that many modelers who invest in a metal lathe dream of turning a cannon barrel this should be considered.

Roger

How about telling us a little about your skills.  It’s a nice model and worth restoring. You have several options, ranging from completely rerigging to showing it with “stub masts.”  You should also plan for a glass or plexiglass case to prevent future dirt and damage.

Roger

Interesting!  I am also a dependent of Nieuw Amsterdam Immigrants,  grandson via many generations of Hendrick Jansen Spiers.

Roger

No need To do that Mark!

Roger

No Mark, I meant Constellation.   Kirby was pondering the type of finish to give to his model.  I was suggesting that he finish it like the 1860 period half model of Constellation.  I was not suggesting that the 1860 Constellation resembles Constitition.

Kirby's A.J. Fisher plans do reflect Constitution with her mid Nineteenth boxed in head structure.

Roger

All’s well that ends well!  Very nice job.

If you take a piece of brass wire and carefully heat it with a torch until it melts , it will form a ball on the heated end.

Like most old ships, Constitution has only survived by being repaired several times.  These repairs, or rebuilds have each changed her external appearance. 

Now that  you have a nicely carved hull you should consider which stage in her long life you wish to represent.  A.J. Fisher was the ultimate in ship model kits during the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s so the drawing that you are using probably represents her appearance following her rebuild in the 1920’s. Her boxed in head structure is typical of mid-late Nineteenth Century style.

The US Government has a handsome half model of the Civil War Era USS Constellation.  If you can find a photo of this model it might give you an idea for finishing yours.

Roger

Paul,  I don’t see a vise.  Both a small bench top machinist type and an under counter carpenters type are useful if not necessary for any workshop.

In my opinion, no two people will work the same way or will adapt to the same tools.  For example, most modelers find small rotary tools (Dremel) necessary.  I personally have never been able to use one productively, so I do my work using other tools.

Therefore, follow the advice posted above and buy tools as you need them.  Some will work for you, some may not so you will have to figure out what will work.  That’s part of the fun.

Roger

Very nice Eric.

Roger

Looks good!

I’ve bought stuff from Online Metals too. In the past, good reliable company.

This tubing also comes in metric sizes.  Look on Amazon.

It’s a shop!  Unless you have a magic ability to avoid spilling or splattering paint the floor is going to take a beating.  What’s wrong with the flooring that you already have?  If you want to dress it up a bit add a coat or two of grey alkyd porch and deck paint.

Roger

A (somewhat) dissenting opinion.  This double planking system is a kit manufacturer’s method to provide a fair hull shape for the “second planking” while minimizing the number of bulkheads provided with the kit. If this were my model, I would tear off the planking and fill in the spaces between the bulkheads with solid blocks of wood- pine or basswood.   Then I would shape the blocks between the bulkheads until I had a fair solid surface.  Then referring to the references provided by Toni above, I would correctly plank the model with its finish planking.

Roger