Roger Pellett

There was a series of posts on  March 12 on this same topic.  

I have two models built by my father that might make it to 100 years.
 
The First is a 1:96 model of a steam fishing trawler.  It was built before I was born and I would estimate it to be 80 years old.  After my father died it sat in my daughter’s apartment for a while and the rigging was damaged.  I repaired the rigging and it now sits in my bookcase.  Considering it’s age it is in beautiful condition.  I hope to get it in it’s own glass case.
 
The second is an unrigged 1:96 model of Flying Cloud.  It is 75 years old.  When we disposed of my mother’s things, the movers damaged it.  I repaired it cleaned it, repainted the hull, and touched up paintwork on the deck structures.  I also built a glass case to protect it.
 
Both of these models were built from A.J. Fisher kits.  A.J. Fisher’s fittings were made from brass and real boxwood.  Although both of these models needed cleaning and repair the Materials that A.J. Fisher put into the kits and the materials that my father used to build them have withstood the test of time.  I hope that each of my two children will eventually take and care for a model.

There was a series of posts on  March 12 on this same topic.  

Heavy glass lenses called deadlights have been recovered from wreckage of warships lost during the War of 1812 on the Great Lakes.  There seems to have been two varieties; a lens shape, and a prism.  Both were intended to project light into spaces below.  They would have been set into metal frames.  The deadlight would have been flush with the deck and far more resistant to damage than a skylight.  These would not have eliminated the need for a skylight in areas where more light was considered necessary or desirable.
 
As a sidelight, we discovered deadlights in the steel hulled whaleback steamship Meteor launched at Superior, Wisconsin in 1896.  In the compartment housing the rudder quadrant, the shell plating has been perforated with several rows of 2in diameter holes.  A glass lens had been set into each hole and a similar perforated plate riveted in place to sandwich the lenses between the two plates.   We later found out that the builders of the ship had patented this feature.   Although the ship was launched with an electric “lighting plant” the need to capture sunlight in this space was still deemed to be important.
 

Heavy glass lenses called deadlights have been recovered from wreckage of warships lost during the War of 1812 on the Great Lakes.  There seems to have been two varieties; a lens shape, and a prism.  Both were intended to project light into spaces below.  They would have been set into metal frames.  The deadlight would have been flush with the deck and far more resistant to damage than a skylight.  These would not have eliminated the need for a skylight in areas where more light was considered necessary or desirable.
 
As a sidelight, we discovered deadlights in the steel hulled whaleback steamship Meteor launched at Superior, Wisconsin in 1896.  In the compartment housing the rudder quadrant, the shell plating has been perforated with several rows of 2in diameter holes.  A glass lens had been set into each hole and a similar perforated plate riveted in place to sandwich the lenses between the two plates.   We later found out that the builders of the ship had patented this feature.   Although the ship was launched with an electric “lighting plant” the need to capture sunlight in this space was still deemed to be important.
 

Hello everybody, thank you very much for your messages and all my apologies for not being active the last couple of month... I just discovered the warm PM you sent me and I'm really ashamed... 
The build has gone very little forward because it's a quite long work to do the carvings, and something I told  would never happen again has happened... I'm a father of a little baby girl born 08.22.20 ! Of course it made me busy quite a lot, and I can at last go back to the workshop. As you know the pandemic make my job more tricky but hopefully I'm not working in a hospital so I'm fine.
Thank you all for the kind words, I'm really sorry I did'nt see them earlier...
I hope everyone is alright, take care,
Marc
 

Thank you everybody for your kind words and encouragements. You know, I really hate to be an unreliable man, and I feel unconfortable with saying I will post pics and I can't. But everytime I think I will have some time to go back to the workshop the amount of work (my real work I mean) increases and I'm away from home much more than I would like to... And as you can imagine with the Covid-19, things are not going to be better anyway soon. But that's my job and of course it is the priority.
Anyway, I have at last some real improvement to show so here are the pics !
At first I had to make some shaped pieces of wood (lisses de rabattues, don't know the english word, wich are molded) with a tarabiscot. Then I can plank the rest of the ship. I had to correct my drawings concerning the sheer cap railing (rabattues) and make them more parallel to the other "préceintes". (I don't find the english word, but I suppose it makes sense anyway). It came from an advice Marc gave me a few years ago. I did not make them more curve, in fact I even made them more straight, but I gave them less a "fan" shape. 
So at last it goes forward. The left side is a little late but will be done in a few days. 
Thank you for your interest, regards,
Marc

 
 

I have a Blue Nose model I built In 1976 using cheap “model airplane” glue and spray paint. I built a plywood box for it and carried it around in our many moves while in the Army, exposed to all kinds of things. Other than dust since it’s now on top of a cabinet in my work shop, it doesn’t look much different than when I built it. 
 
I doubt my 10 models or the ones I build after them, and not counting that one, will be valued heirlooms by my kids. So I’ll just enjoy them while I’m here and not be concerned about their archival quality. However, so far I’ve experienced zero problems with the better quality CA and Acrylics I use now. A fun discussion but I have no expectations of a call from the Smithsonian 😁  

That's fantastic, Roger!
 
We, too, have some models handed down, but in this case they're decades-old tourist models from my grandmother-in-law's world travels as a wealthy widow. The kind of thing people sign up on MSW to ask what they're worth. Not nearly as meaningful, but still cool in their own goofy way. They're barely "models", but they'll have a long lifetime simply because there isn't much to them.
 
Lesson: If you want your model to last 100 years, build a barge, not a square-rigger!

I have two models built by my father that might make it to 100 years.
 
The First is a 1:96 model of a steam fishing trawler.  It was built before I was born and I would estimate it to be 80 years old.  After my father died it sat in my daughter’s apartment for a while and the rigging was damaged.  I repaired the rigging and it now sits in my bookcase.  Considering it’s age it is in beautiful condition.  I hope to get it in it’s own glass case.
 
The second is an unrigged 1:96 model of Flying Cloud.  It is 75 years old.  When we disposed of my mother’s things, the movers damaged it.  I repaired it cleaned it, repainted the hull, and touched up paintwork on the deck structures.  I also built a glass case to protect it.
 
Both of these models were built from A.J. Fisher kits.  A.J. Fisher’s fittings were made from brass and real boxwood.  Although both of these models needed cleaning and repair the Materials that A.J. Fisher put into the kits and the materials that my father used to build them have withstood the test of time.  I hope that each of my two children will eventually take and care for a model.

I have two models built by my father that might make it to 100 years.
 
The First is a 1:96 model of a steam fishing trawler.  It was built before I was born and I would estimate it to be 80 years old.  After my father died it sat in my daughter’s apartment for a while and the rigging was damaged.  I repaired the rigging and it now sits in my bookcase.  Considering it’s age it is in beautiful condition.  I hope to get it in it’s own glass case.
 
The second is an unrigged 1:96 model of Flying Cloud.  It is 75 years old.  When we disposed of my mother’s things, the movers damaged it.  I repaired it cleaned it, repainted the hull, and touched up paintwork on the deck structures.  I also built a glass case to protect it.
 
Both of these models were built from A.J. Fisher kits.  A.J. Fisher’s fittings were made from brass and real boxwood.  Although both of these models needed cleaning and repair the Materials that A.J. Fisher put into the kits and the materials that my father used to build them have withstood the test of time.  I hope that each of my two children will eventually take and care for a model.

According to the NRJ index, the model that I remembered was of Pauline and the article was in Issue-39, pages 215- 223.
 
Roger

Michael,
 
Rob Napier built a model of a Gill Smith catboat and published an article about it 20? or so years ago.
 
Roger

I’ll give Moab an answer to his question with a story.
 
Twenty years ago I got involved in the restoration of wood canvas.  These projects all involved replacing the heavy canvas that had to be stretched over a fully planked wooden hull.  Procurement of this heavy cotton duck canvas could have been a problem.  Fortunately there is an excellent builder of new wood canvas canoes in Knife River, MN, a short drive from Duluth who was willing to sell me the canvas that I needed.
 
On a trip to buy canvas, as I pulled into his driveway I noticed a table saw and a canoe trailer in his yard each with a sign that read $150.  When I asked him about the saw, he said that it was a 10in Delta Contractor’s Saw and he was selling it because he had bought a new Saw Stop Saw.
 
I wrote him a check for $150 plus the cost of the canvas.  While wondering aloud about loading the saw into my SUV, he said, “How about a toofer, take the trailer too.”
 
I got the saw home and managed to get it into my shop.  20+ years later it still runs as well as it did the day that I bought it.  Unfortunately my wife and the lady next door conspired for me to “get rid of the ugly trailer” so I no longer have it.  I remind her of this whenever she wants something hauled.
 
This saw was bought from a professional canoe builder who had used it to cut miles of wood into canoe parts and I use it constantly.  I doubt that any  table saw on the market today sold through a big box store would give this kind of trouble free service.  There are, of course, high quality table saws available from specialized woodworking dealers, but these sell for many times what I paid.
 
Roger
 
 
 
 
 
 

It was like an early birthday gift! The six drawings arrived today I opted to let them be folded because of the difference in the postage costs, as it was they cost $27 postal fees. Although the drawing state that they cannot be reproduced, I think that the obligatory picture of the plan chest drawer that they are now safely nestled in wont be infringing any rules.
 

 
So with the table of offsets and the drawings as a guide I will be able to prepare a set of model building plans including the sawn oak frames. Still lots of preparatory work yet though.
 
Today I am a happy camper.
 
Michael

I have two models built by my father that might make it to 100 years.
 
The First is a 1:96 model of a steam fishing trawler.  It was built before I was born and I would estimate it to be 80 years old.  After my father died it sat in my daughter’s apartment for a while and the rigging was damaged.  I repaired the rigging and it now sits in my bookcase.  Considering it’s age it is in beautiful condition.  I hope to get it in it’s own glass case.
 
The second is an unrigged 1:96 model of Flying Cloud.  It is 75 years old.  When we disposed of my mother’s things, the movers damaged it.  I repaired it cleaned it, repainted the hull, and touched up paintwork on the deck structures.  I also built a glass case to protect it.
 
Both of these models were built from A.J. Fisher kits.  A.J. Fisher’s fittings were made from brass and real boxwood.  Although both of these models needed cleaning and repair the Materials that A.J. Fisher put into the kits and the materials that my father used to build them have withstood the test of time.  I hope that each of my two children will eventually take and care for a model.

I have two models built by my father that might make it to 100 years.
 
The First is a 1:96 model of a steam fishing trawler.  It was built before I was born and I would estimate it to be 80 years old.  After my father died it sat in my daughter’s apartment for a while and the rigging was damaged.  I repaired the rigging and it now sits in my bookcase.  Considering it’s age it is in beautiful condition.  I hope to get it in it’s own glass case.
 
The second is an unrigged 1:96 model of Flying Cloud.  It is 75 years old.  When we disposed of my mother’s things, the movers damaged it.  I repaired it cleaned it, repainted the hull, and touched up paintwork on the deck structures.  I also built a glass case to protect it.
 
Both of these models were built from A.J. Fisher kits.  A.J. Fisher’s fittings were made from brass and real boxwood.  Although both of these models needed cleaning and repair the Materials that A.J. Fisher put into the kits and the materials that my father used to build them have withstood the test of time.  I hope that each of my two children will eventually take and care for a model.

I have two models built by my father that might make it to 100 years.
 
The First is a 1:96 model of a steam fishing trawler.  It was built before I was born and I would estimate it to be 80 years old.  After my father died it sat in my daughter’s apartment for a while and the rigging was damaged.  I repaired the rigging and it now sits in my bookcase.  Considering it’s age it is in beautiful condition.  I hope to get it in it’s own glass case.
 
The second is an unrigged 1:96 model of Flying Cloud.  It is 75 years old.  When we disposed of my mother’s things, the movers damaged it.  I repaired it cleaned it, repainted the hull, and touched up paintwork on the deck structures.  I also built a glass case to protect it.
 
Both of these models were built from A.J. Fisher kits.  A.J. Fisher’s fittings were made from brass and real boxwood.  Although both of these models needed cleaning and repair the Materials that A.J. Fisher put into the kits and the materials that my father used to build them have withstood the test of time.  I hope that each of my two children will eventually take and care for a model.

As much as I admire McCaffery’s work, his insistence on using ‘permanent’ materials on about every second page in his book becomes tedious after a while. 
 
When it comes to the survival of artefacts, it is always a combination of factors and materials choices is but one of them. Storage conditions are of equal importance. Even brief periods of unsuitable conditions by accident can permanently damage a piece that has otherwise been kept under perfect conditions. Even changes from one set of conditions to another one, which both could be benign in themselves, can cause permanent damage. Most private homes do not offer the stable conditions one would find in the better museums.

Totally get that Bob.  I think most of us are just building for ourselves, not for a museum, and not as a family heirloom.  A few years ago when my mother-in-law saw that I was working on three wooden kits, she asked where I was going to put them.  I told her I would send them to her condo so she could have a nautical theme going.   She wasn't too excited by that idea.  😬

Ron,
 
I’d order a couple of spare blades for two reasons:
 
1.  If you are working on a project and your blade gets dull or loaded up with resin, you can change blades, finish your work, and deal with the dull blade later.
 
2.  If you bought a saw with a 1/2in arbor, as time goes by blades may become harder to find.  Thurston used to be the go to US supplier but they no offer these blades.  Jim seems to sill have a source for quality blades that will fit a 1/2in arbor.
 
I’d also have him make me an adaptor to allow me to use blades with a common metric sized hole.
 
Roger

I’ll give Moab an answer to his question with a story.
 
Twenty years ago I got involved in the restoration of wood canvas.  These projects all involved replacing the heavy canvas that had to be stretched over a fully planked wooden hull.  Procurement of this heavy cotton duck canvas could have been a problem.  Fortunately there is an excellent builder of new wood canvas canoes in Knife River, MN, a short drive from Duluth who was willing to sell me the canvas that I needed.
 
On a trip to buy canvas, as I pulled into his driveway I noticed a table saw and a canoe trailer in his yard each with a sign that read $150.  When I asked him about the saw, he said that it was a 10in Delta Contractor’s Saw and he was selling it because he had bought a new Saw Stop Saw.
 
I wrote him a check for $150 plus the cost of the canvas.  While wondering aloud about loading the saw into my SUV, he said, “How about a toofer, take the trailer too.”
 
I got the saw home and managed to get it into my shop.  20+ years later it still runs as well as it did the day that I bought it.  Unfortunately my wife and the lady next door conspired for me to “get rid of the ugly trailer” so I no longer have it.  I remind her of this whenever she wants something hauled.
 
This saw was bought from a professional canoe builder who had used it to cut miles of wood into canoe parts and I use it constantly.  I doubt that any  table saw on the market today sold through a big box store would give this kind of trouble free service.  There are, of course, high quality table saws available from specialized woodworking dealers, but these sell for many times what I paid.
 
Roger
 
 
 
 
 
 

Lloyd  McCaffery’s Model are works of art that command commensurate prices.  As such, his clients have a right to expect them to last 100 years.  The same is true for many of the carefully researched and beautifully built models that we see in the scratch built section of the forum.  Hopefully, these will eventually be acquired by institutions, collectors, or appreciative family members who are able and willing to care for them.
 
On the other hand, there are the run of the mill POB kit models, often with crudely shaped hulls, over scale fittings, etc.  (There are now on the market some kits that will produce beautiful, accurate models.). I continue to be surprised by builders of these models who obsess over minute details when the model itself is not an accurate representation of the real thing.

The following is from my wooden canoe restoring experience.  It may or may not be applicable to the much smaller cross sections that we encounter.
 
Wood canvas Canoes use wood for two structural elements; Ribs 5/16in thick x 2-1/2in wide, steam bent into a U shape, and Planking 3/16in thick x 3in wide.  Material is Northern Cedar and in some cases Red Cedar.
 
Stock for ribs is usually flat sawn as it is considered to be easier to bend.  quarter sawn stock is preferred for planking.
 
 

This forum is read by people that range from World Class professional model builders to assemblers of mass market kits.   A recurring theme on the forum is “What amI going to do with my models when I am no longer around?”
 
If you are assembling a USS Constitution or HMS Victory kit, there is a high probability that it’s never going to see the inside of a museum and your heirs may or may not appreciate trying to find room for it in their home.  Therefore, you should enjoy yourself and not worry about what the model will look like in 100 years.
 
If you are a professional you have already answered these questions.