Roger Pellett

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

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

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

I recently bought a bottle of analine wood dye.  It didn't produce the effect that I was looking for on basswood but did work well on some pear wood blocks.

Has any one tried this dye on rigging line?

Roget

Another very cheap paint used at the time was red oxide using iron oxide mixed with a binding agent such as linseed oil.  The linseed oil would harden, providing a durable finish.  The iron oxide pigment was finely ground iron ore bearing dirt.  Before the development of UV inhibited varnishes, non-pigmented finishes could be quickly degraded by sunlight.

Red oxide primer, now produced in a low VOC water based form is still used as a cheap construction primer.  We used barrels of it in the pipe fabrication industry as a temporary coating for piping that would later be insulated.

Roger

I have scratch built solid hull models with lifts cut from either waterlines or buttocks.  Both can produce good results.  Several years ago I built a hull by setting up thin stations cut from body plan sections with the spaces between filled with soft wood blocks.  This is an easier way to build an accurate hull because the thin body plan sections are in fact templates embedded in the hull.  The problem with this method is that after painting the hull I found several thin cracks running along the joints between the thin section pieces and the filler blocks.  If you are planning to plank the hull anyway you won't have this problem.

Since you already have the kit I would set up the bulkheads and fill between with blocks.  Since the bulkheads are supposedly accurate, shaping the hull should be easy.  If you go to the scratch build forum, Ed Tosti has a series of posts about building a 1:96 scale POB model of Young America.  This is the method that he used.

Roger

The Constitution book has been sold.

Roger

I have a copy in excellent condition of Olof A. Eriksen's. Constitution: All Sails Up and Flying for sale.  If you are not familiar with the book it is 350+ pages of drawings, photos and text describing in detail the rigging of a large scale (1:24) model of the ship as she appeared in 1815. The book's large, approximately 8in x 10in format allows the author's well made drawings to be  shown in great detail.

The list price marked on the book is $122.95 and used copies are selling on Amazon and Alibris in the range of $85 to $90.  I am asking $48 plus shipping for the book.  As I don't want to deal with international post, customs, and payment my offer is limited to US destinations only.

If you are interested, send me a PM.

Roger

Hi Steve,

It's a small world!  In 1997 my daughter Rebecca, a senior at the University of Michigan wrote a thesis titled Jane Austin and the Royal Navy.  If you google Rebecca Pellett + Jane Austin it is listed on the University's English Department website.  The key document that inspired her to write the thesis was a book of her letters that demonstrated that Miss Austin was very involved in her brothers' careers.  I think that the book was either Jane Austin's Sailor Brothers by John H. Hubback or Jane Austin's Letters by R.W. Chapman as both are listed in her bibliography.

In addition to the sources listed by others, The Command of the Ocean by N.A.M. Rodger also includes much on your topic.  It should be easy to find.

Roger

A number of years ago, I read about using potassium permanganate to stain curley maple muzzle loading rifle stocks.  I bought some and used it to stain a stock.  At first it worked fine but over time it developed an ugly green tint.  I don't know if rigging line would be affected the same way.

Roger

I have found three examples of models or drawings of rigged Royal Navy longboats from this era:. 

Rigged model in the NMM, the "Medway" model.  Evidence that it was restored by Norman Ough in the 1930's.  Traveler runs below tiller.

Rigged model in the Kreigstein collection. Rigging is not original.  Traveler runs below tiller.

Longboat drawing on page 126 of Lavery's Arming and Fitting apparently a redraw of Admiralty draught reproduced on page 90 of May's Boats of Men of War.  Rigging is highly detailed and shows traveler running OVER the tiller.

If anyone has found additional examples, I would appreciate knowing the details.

I will concede that someone making a model of a model as a work of art might wish to reproduce the NMM model, but would this would certainly not be a practical sailing arrangement.

Roger

If you have your heart set on building a plank on frame model as your first effort, I recommend the Hahn system which provides a datum to align pre fabricated frames. The Ancre method involves cutting out and erecting many separate frame segments on the keel.  While the Ancre method more resembles construction of a real ship, Hahn's system is a great introduction to POF modeling.

Hahn was a prolific writer and in addition to publishing two books, many of his articles can be found in the Nautical Research Journal- check the on line index.  The NRG is about to republish the first volume of their Shop Notes and this includes an article by Hahn describing his method as well as patterns for building on of his Revolutionary War era schooners.

When Hahn built his models he used an 8in table saw with hollow ground veneer blades, not a miniature saw.  I built a POF model of the New York Pilot Boat Anna Marie with good results from Chapelle plans using Hahn's system and 8in table saw.  

Hahn's early models were built from maple, not box or pear wood.  If you are an experienced modeler, I don't think that you need to buy a kit.

Roger

I'm sorry but must disagree with Chuck's comment above.  With the main sheet traveler located below the tiller it would be impossible to either tack or gybe the boat.  I do have primary source information of a longboat traveler located above the tiller- the Admiralty draught of the rigged longboat shown on page of 90 of W.E. May's Boats of Men of War.  I cannot explain the traveler arrangement on the period built rigged models cited, but real boats could not be sailed with this rig.

Roger

Great model!  How did you make the brass letters on the stern?

Roger

I agree with Welfalk.  The winch in the photo is a Jarvis brace winch. The double drum arrangement allowed the brace on one side to be wound in while the other paid out.  There is a good discussion of these winches in John Harland's book Capstans and Windlasses.  Closer to home (for you) Allen Villers has written about these from a sailor's point of view.  See his  The Way of a Ship.

Roger

If you know someone who has original archival materials from the Browns relative to the construction of the Lake Erie brigs, that would be a major find.

Roger

In purchasing the five volume set of books about the archaeology excavations at Red Bay in Canada, I wound up with a duplicate copy of Volume III.  For modelers this is the best of the five volumes as it contains complete information about the galleon that was recovered and documented.  It includes a reconstructed lines drawing as well as longitudinal and cross sections, isometric assembly drawings and details of many parts.  An envelope on the back cover includes a separate large scale fold out drawing.

The book measures approximately 8in x 11 in and is 319 pages long.  It includes 100's of photos as well as drawings.

The book is brand new, never read, and the galleon is a perfect subject for an accurate model of the period.

i am willing to trade this for a similar maritime history book.  Send me a PM if interested.

Roger

Can I offer something for trade?

Roger

50 years ago the wood of choice of professional model builders carving models for the University of Michigan's ship model towing tank (now called their Marine Hydrodynamics Lab) was "pattern makers pine."  This stuff came in beautiful, long, clear, straight grained lengths. The models towed in the tank were large- 8 or so feet long.  Today, the models are styrofoam core fiberglass made by outside contractors.

So what is pattern makers pine?  One Internet site that I looked at said that Northern White Pine was used for patterns.  This is the stuff being recovered from the bottom of Lake Superior near Bayfield WI.  Living in Maine and Illinois you should be able to find some at a small mill.

The other possibility would be western Sugar Pine.  Our local Menards store has been carrying some nice 5/4 lumber that I believe is sugar pine.

The preferred way to build a large solid hull is from laminations to minimize chances for warping and cracking.

Roger

Does anyone who has built this Model or is otherwise interested in the subject understand why the kit manufacturer chose the to show this boat with a round stern?  Existing contemporaneous drawings show these craft with square sterns.

Roger

A number of years ago I bought a set of tiny end mills from my local hobby shop.  They were carbide mills sold by Drill Bit City that had been recycled from printed circuit board manufacturers.  I tried to use them to mill brass and everyone of them broke.  I have not tried to use them since.

i tend to be heavy handed, so perhaps I was too aggressive with them, but these Drill Bit City carbide mills seemed awfully brittle.

Roger

Gerhardt/ John, Thanks to each of you for your kind remarks regarding my Passaic Class monitor model.  It is interesting to watch two models of USS Cairo being built simultaneously to high standards.

Regarding authentic Civil War ship's boat details.  The best photo that I have found that shows a US Navy ship's boat up close is one taken by James Brady of USS Onondaga in the James River in 1864.  The photo shows a group of soldiers or marines in what appears to be a small cutter up close with the Onondaga in the background.  Google Onondaga and you will find it.

The photo shows the distinctive sheer strake design that I mentioned above, and the brass castings that formed the openings in the wash strake for the oars.  If you are ordering photo etched parts you might want to include a supply of these.

Also interesting is the variety of boats moored along side Onondaga.

The Civil War navy museum in Columbus, GA has a Ship's boat from USS Hartford and there is a photo on their website.  Hartford, however, had a very long life and photos of many of these Civil War Ship's that survived into the 1900's show them outfitted with standard 1900 pattern boats.  Additional research of this boat is in order.

Roger

Personal Experience!!  For working on carved hulls you need to buy a carver's glove or at least a heavy knit glove to protect your hands.  Use this to protect the hand that is not holding the tool.  One slip with a sharp chisel and you are on your way to the emergency room.

Roger