Roger Pellett
-
Posts
4,519 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Events
Everything posted by Roger Pellett
-
review BlueJacket Shipcrafters Lobster Boat: A Review
Roger Pellett replied to Cathead's topic in REVIEWS: Model kits
Three nice lobsterboats! Eric, I don't believe that the reverse curve three frames forward of the transom is incorrect unless your kit actually included a lines drawing showing something different to compare your model to. These boats require a wide stern and rather flat hull form at the after end to avoid trimming by the stern when carrying heavy loads and "squatting" under power. They also favored a rather deep hull form forward. Had this deep hull form been carried all the way to the transom, drag under way would have been greatly increased and flow to the rudder and propeller restricted. The reverse curve that you are seeing is the transition between the deep V foreody and the flat, shallow, afterbody. Roger -
Some professional restorers claim that human saliva, not water on a Qtip is the best solvent for cleaning surfaces such as decks, deck furniture, and the small boats. Roger
-
Not just in the Phillippines! A good friend of ours wanted a "no frills" cabin on her Minnesota lake property. She contracted with someone in Ohio who transforms shipping containers into tiny houses. When the cabin was finally delivered she was unhappy with what she felt was a sloppy job and had to hire someone local to redo it. Roger
-
You might try using the trick used by restorers of wood canvas canoes to replace broken ribs- use the hull itself as a form. Bend the steamed rib blanks over the OUTSIDE of the hull and let them dry. Remove and install the now bent ribs on the inside. Since the rib shape will be inaccurate by the thickness of the hull planking you can adjust for this by bending the rib around a slightly smaller cross section of the hull either foreword (or aft) of the actual cross section. You might also try laminating the ribs in two layers- gluing them together after bending. Roger
-
Beautiful work Keith! Sorry for a quibble but your staysail appears to be set on the port tack, not the starboard. Roger
-
I made some by spinning on a lathe. I chucked the tube in a lathe, and fed it into a tapered tool held in the tail stock. I then cut it off with a razor saw. I then turned the now cut off piece in a holding fixture and flared the other end. Fiddley but it works. Roger
- 525 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- anchor hoy
- hoy
- (and 1 more)
-
Congratulations on a nice job! The overall proportions resemble the Red Bay Galleon found in Canada so you got things right. Unless shown by your documentation, my personal preference would be to build the model without the high open railing around the poop deck. Roget
- 756 replies
-
- 4
-
-
- galleon
- golden hind
- (and 2 more)
-
Am I correct that we don't know if this vessel was actually built? If Grice's drawing is just a proposal than details such as running shrouds inside or outside of the rails could be sketchy. It is also notable that the drawing does not specify the method of terminating the shrouds at the hull. It is quite possible that some of the after shrouds could have terminated with block and tackles to allow them to be slacked off when sailing as loads on the rig would presumably be less. Roger
- 525 replies
-
- 3
-
-
- anchor hoy
- hoy
- (and 1 more)
-
Maury,. Rule of thumb- Follow your source material! The original Grice drawing nicely shows some details of the capstans. Bar holes and pawls only on the capstan driving the pinion. Hour glass self fleeting shape of the drum. Multiple pawns that "automatically" drop into a notched ring (possibly wrought iron) ring beneath the capstan. Roger
- 525 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- anchor hoy
- hoy
- (and 1 more)
-
Micro mill and planer
Roger Pellett replied to Haliburton's topic in Modeling tools and Workshop Equipment
I own a 12in Dewalt Planer. I bought it to mill 3/16 rib stock and 5/32in planking for wood canvas canoes from rough cut Northern White Cedar. The planer has worked beautifully. I have also used it to mill rough cut pear wood into finished billets for ship models. Again, the planer worked fine. For both of these projects I also used a 10 in table saw and a small but well built jointer. To do its job, the planer needs one surface of the board to be flat and that requires a table saw and/or jointer. Feeding a twisted board into a planer will either cause the planer to jam or if the planer is powerful enough will result in a twisted planed board. For me, an enjoyable part of modeling is producing my own milled lumber and I have the space for the two essential tools, a large table saw and a jointer as well as a nice to have planer. Usefulness of a planer without the other two tools is limited. Roger -
American sailing warships with no plans or records
Roger Pellett replied to CharlieZardoz's topic in Nautical/Naval History
Charlie, Books on American ship decoration: I suggest Shipcarvers of North America by M.V. Brewington. Roger- 401 replies
-
- 3
-
-
- John Adams
- Alliance
- (and 3 more)
-
As far as I am concerned the two are apples and oranges, and I have both. The shop notes are predominately technique. In my personal experience, once I have studied them I have "gotten the idea" and seldom refer to them. On the other hand, the CD's contain a record of several decades of modeling research, so you might think of them as project oriented and in my opinion the articles of 30-40 years ago are much more detailed than those in the recent journals. Eric Ronnberg's multipart series of the Boston Pilot Boat Hesper and Rob Napier's articles of the mid 19th Century sailing ship Sooloo come to mind. If you will be satisfied assembling kits, you probably don't need the CDs but if you want to take this avocation further buy them. Re; the lack of a disc drive When I needed a new laptop, I made sure that it had a CD drive. Roger
-
The NRJ back issues from the 1980's and 1990's contain some excellent articles written by such world class ship model builders as Harold Hahn, Eric Ronnberg, and Rob Napier. Not only do they include modeling tips but also demonstrate the research required to produce a first class model. The two disc CD is well worth the cost which I recall being about $40. Roger
-
Before spending a lot of money, I suggest that you spend some time deciding what you intend, and want to do. Do you intend to build 18th century classic sailing warships, 19 th century vessels, 20 th century steel navy, or small craft. Do you intend to assemble model kits or build from scratch? Each of these choices involves different choices and different modeling techniques. My advice would be to pick a project and to then buy the books to support this particular build. I would lighten up on the "how to" books and to instead buy books that broaden your knowledge the actual subject that you are building. As you progress you will develop techniques that best suit your abilities and the way that you like to work. Limit your selection to high quality books. Charles Davis's book, for example will produce an attractive model of the brig Lexington but one that does not represent the actual appearance of the real ship. Include the two CD set of Nautical Research Journal Articles on your list. They contain a huge amount of material for building some really high quality models. Roger
-
In a misguided effort to hurry up something that I don't enjoy doing (building a glass case) I have bought a piece or two of whatever they call mahogany. Both times it was pretty nasty stuff coarse grained, stringy, and hard to stain. Roger
-
Not their construction lumber but their specialty hardwoods were plastic wrapped the last time that I bought some. Roger
-
That mainsail is basically a spinnaker that is only going to take the ship one way- downwind. The mizzen could only be there to balance the rig on some points of sail. Going directly downwind, the ship would sail well without the mizzen and by furling it you would minimize the risk of an unintended gybe. Bearing up to sail on a broad reach the mizzen could be set to give the helmsman some control. On any higher point of sail, anchor and wait for more favorable wind. These ships must of been extremely dangerous to sail in any kind of blow with the danger of rounding up and capsizing ever present. Roger
-
Good point regarding the plastic wrap. Up here the local name for Aspen is "Popel" and it grows aggressively in areas cut over by loggers. It doesn't get very big and is cut for pulpwood and is increasingly being used by the "engineered" lumber people. We can expect to see more of it as it is sustainable. I agree that although it has a good appearance it is a poor choice for modeling. Roger
-
My store of choice is Menards and they stock maple. My only objection is that I can't get used to buying lumber wrapped in plastic! Another great source of maple is flooring- the kind that you nail down vs the free floating type. Several years ago we had a maple floor installed in our family room and I made sure that I got all of the scrap. First class stuff but you have to be able to mill it to size. Roger
-
The poplar that Home Depot is offering may not be yellow poplar. Aspen is also called poplar here in Minnesota and is sold in milled thicknesses in big box home improvement stores. It is almost white, while the yellow poplar is darker, sometimes with a greenish cast. I tried using some of the Aspen/poplar and was unimpressed. Our big box store also sells maple in milled thicknesses. If you can find that it would be a much better choice. Harold Hahn's first POF models were framed with maple. Roger
-
I have a same saw that I bought several years ago and it is a workhorse. Try to find fine tooth hollow ground blades intended for cutting veneer. Harold Hahn built his exquisite models using a Sears "Thin Rip" hollow ground veneer blade, and I have used the same with good results. In Mark's example above, produce 1/8in sheets using a more conventional rip blade, sand in your thickness sander, then use the veneer blade to slice off 1/16in planks. Cutting up wood to standard sizes only wastes it. Cut it as you go. Roger
-
I belong to a men's book group. We meet once a month at a local restaurant. Each of us has the opportunity to tell the others what has been happening to them over the past month, and then we discuss the book. Book selections are eclectic, ranging from local authors to classics, and are arrived at by consensus. Our ages range from the late 50's to over 80. Of our dozen members, perhaps a third are dedicated e-book readers. Another group only read hard copy, in part because they usually get books from the library. The third group is like me. If we are reading a novel, I usually read it as an e-book. I can get it instantly, it is sometimes cheaper, and it is not something that I want to keep. Works of nonfiction, particularly those with illustrations and maps I would rather read as hard copy as it is much easier to refer back to these materials. Books bought for my permanent collection are printed, preferably hard bound. I hope that publishers will not be seduced by the trendiness of e-books and abandon the printed word as many of us still want to read it. Roger
-
The post by me about Admiralty draughts was posted to the wrong topic -my goof up. I intended to post it to the build log for HMS Deadlight where this topic is being discussed. I certainly had no desire to critique your beautiful model and I apologize. I removed the post. Roger
- 943 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- hahn
- oliver cromwell
- (and 1 more)
-
I don't know if it can be scaled down to model size but a wooden canoe wood bending trick involves shifting the neutral axis of the bend outward by attaching a light metal strap to the outside of the piece while bending it. This reduces the elongation of the wood fibers around the outside arc but increases compression of fibers around the inside arc. For bending full sized work a light steel strap with a hook that fits over the end of the piece being bent is used. Roger
- 525 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- anchor hoy
- hoy
- (and 1 more)
-
If you are planning to paint the hull you might consider using a species of wood with better bending properties for these few planks. The NRG shop notes discuss wood bending properties but I believe pear and holly both have superior bend strength. Also, pay attention to grain orientation. Are you bending straight grained wood? Flat sawn wood is easier to bend than quarter sawn. You might try bending in two steps. First bend, then steam again and twist. Roger
- 525 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- anchor hoy
- hoy
- (and 1 more)
Our Emblem ®
