Roger Pellett

Two other great books on the subject are American Battleships 1886-1923 by John Reilly and Robert Scheina and US Armored Cruisers by Ivan Musicant.
 
Roger

Two other great books on the subject are American Battleships 1886-1923 by John Reilly and Robert Scheina and US Armored Cruisers by Ivan Musicant.
 
Roger

Two other great books on the subject are American Battleships 1886-1923 by John Reilly and Robert Scheina and US Armored Cruisers by Ivan Musicant.
 
Roger

I have one book that I really enjoyed "The American Steel Navy" by John Alden.  Try Amazon - it's pricey, but read the reviews! https://www.amazon.com/American-Steel-Navy-Photographic-Introduction/dp/0870212486  I would also recommend using the search term "great white fleet" on the different book websites. Steve
 
 

Back in the good old days, plywood was made with "resorcinol glues."  These were synthetic plastic resin glues.  The glues came in two parts, a resin and a powder that were mixed together.  My father and I used a lot of the stuff in 1960 in the construction  of a sailboat.  It was easy to use, worked every time ind did not involve water.  
 
According to the internet resorcinol glues are still available.  DAP apparently makes one but it is sold as a powder to be mixed with water.  Titebond III is apparently another and is sold premixed (with water?). The two part resorcinol glues like I used appear to be available but I didn't see any small quantities. In the boatbuilding world resorcinol glues have supposedly been superseded by epoxies.  I have personally had excellent experience using WEST SYSTEM epoxies and these would work well for your purpose.  In recent years these have been produced in small disposable units so you might research this option.
 
Roger

We, the St. Louis Gateway Model Shipcrafters are currently scratch building a 1:24 scale plank-on-frame model of the USS Cairo's City Class, sister ship USS St. Louis for the Missouri Civil War Museum (MCWM). We started this project in September 2014 using the Vicksburg 1981, 28 sheet set of plans by Ashley and their Historic Structural Report(HSR) which seemed to be the standard source for the  modeling community at that time and appeared to cover everything we needed to build an authentic model worthy of display at the MCWM. The attached photo represents our progress as of March 2017. The starboard side of this 7.5-foot long model will represent the ironclad's finished exterior while the port side will have substantial openings to reveal substructure and internal equipment.
Unfortunately, we immediately began to detect obvious errors in these plans such as a lack of deck camber and deck house roof camber which would be particularly noticeable at our large scale. Correspondence with NPS Vicksburg led us to NPS Denver, who actually managed the USS Cairo reconstruction project, confirmed these errors and our fears that others probably existed partly because of the poor condition of the USS Cairo's remains in 1981. We therefore began our own concurrent intensive research activity to verify everything we could before we fabricated it. This included referring to an earlier 1968 NPS Philadelphia survey drawing of the USS Cairo hull and a later 2005 Vicksburg subcontractor reconstruction of the gun carriages which were very useful. We also found drafting errors and inconsistencies in Ashley's 1981 drawings, some of which have been superseded by Vicksburg 2015 PDF drawings. Some other sets of plans, such as those by Meagher and Geoghegan(1970), appear to contain reconstructions which make sense.  Unfortunately other plans such as Bob Hill's simply relied solely on the accuracy of Ashley's drawings or introduced figments of their own imagination such as C. A. Raven's NRG Journal Article(Summer 2012) which is counterproductive. All existing plans appear to be flawed and the many USS Cairo models currently on public display reflect these errors.
Obviously some of the issues we are discovering would not necessarily apply to smaller scale or less detailed models. We are compiling a list of our findings and intend to submit it to the NRG Journal for use as a cautionary "heads up" to future City Class model makers.

Back in the good old days, plywood was made with "resorcinol glues."  These were synthetic plastic resin glues.  The glues came in two parts, a resin and a powder that were mixed together.  My father and I used a lot of the stuff in 1960 in the construction  of a sailboat.  It was easy to use, worked every time ind did not involve water.  
 
According to the internet resorcinol glues are still available.  DAP apparently makes one but it is sold as a powder to be mixed with water.  Titebond III is apparently another and is sold premixed (with water?). The two part resorcinol glues like I used appear to be available but I didn't see any small quantities. In the boatbuilding world resorcinol glues have supposedly been superseded by epoxies.  I have personally had excellent experience using WEST SYSTEM epoxies and these would work well for your purpose.  In recent years these have been produced in small disposable units so you might research this option.
 
Roger

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 204 – Tops and Futtock Shroud Wrap-up
 
I am happy to be finished with the dust case and to resume the model work.  The completion of the three mast assemblies with their pre-erection detailing, including their futtock shrouds, required just a bit more work and is now complete.  The first two pictures show the mizzen top with its futtock shrouds installed.
 

 
As mentioned earlier, these shrouds are served, fitted with brass thimbles at both ends, hooked to the deadeye straps at the top and secured to eyes on the mast band with lashings.  The futtocks are 4 1/2" rope (5 ¼" on the main and fore), spun from three strands of linen thread, right-handed.  The rope was dyed black with diluted India ink.  Making these was described earlier in Part 196.
 

 
The last task on the lower mizzen mast was fitting of the mast coat at the base.  This is shown in the next picture.
 

 
The next picture shows the model with the three completed lower masts fitted – still temporarily.
 

 
The next step will be to make the lower shrouds.  The next picture shows numbers 1 and 2 on the fore mast, port side, looped temporarily over the mast head.
 

 
These two will actually go over the corresponding starboard pair.  In each case the #1 shroud is served over its full length.  The serving on #2 extends down to the futtocks as it will do on all the other shrouds.  Parcelling has been wrapped over the serving around the mast head down to the top of the seizing, but has not yet been "tarred."  More on all this in the next post.
 
 
Ed

Les,
 
This is a nicely made piece of equipment.  Mine works fine. The locking mechanism is intended to fit the 1/2 in wide miter slot of US made table saws and bandsaws.
 
Roger

I did a little more internet research on glues.  Apparently the family of glues known as Urea Formaldehydes are preferred for laminated structures such as plywood.  These were used way back in WWII to build the famous RAF Mosquito bombers. These were built with balsa cores and birch veneer laminated inside and outside to produce a very stiff structure.  The same principal as a foam or balsa cored fiberglass boat.  These glues which are readily available and cheap will stand up to the high clamping forces required.
 
Roger

Back in the good old days, plywood was made with "resorcinol glues."  These were synthetic plastic resin glues.  The glues came in two parts, a resin and a powder that were mixed together.  My father and I used a lot of the stuff in 1960 in the construction  of a sailboat.  It was easy to use, worked every time ind did not involve water.  
 
According to the internet resorcinol glues are still available.  DAP apparently makes one but it is sold as a powder to be mixed with water.  Titebond III is apparently another and is sold premixed (with water?). The two part resorcinol glues like I used appear to be available but I didn't see any small quantities. In the boatbuilding world resorcinol glues have supposedly been superseded by epoxies.  I have personally had excellent experience using WEST SYSTEM epoxies and these would work well for your purpose.  In recent years these have been produced in small disposable units so you might research this option.
 
Roger

Six or seven years ago, my wife and I were visiting Stockholm, and I saw this ship along the pier with steam up.  I walked up the gangway and told them that I volunteered for an organization in the US working to preserve an historic steamship (the SS Meteor) and that I would like to see their engine room.  They said OK.
 
The power plant is a thing from the past- coal burning boiler hand fired, reciprocating engine with auxiliaries driven from the crosshead.  I don't remember which it was, a compound or a triple.
 
Unfortunately, she was booked for a private party so we could not take a cruise.  She is very elegant with lots of polished brass and varnished brightwork and should make a handsome model.
 
There is a whole fleet of these but almost all have been converted to diesel.
Roger
 
P.S.  I believe that she has an iron or steel hull.o

Back in the good old days, plywood was made with "resorcinol glues."  These were synthetic plastic resin glues.  The glues came in two parts, a resin and a powder that were mixed together.  My father and I used a lot of the stuff in 1960 in the construction  of a sailboat.  It was easy to use, worked every time ind did not involve water.  
 
According to the internet resorcinol glues are still available.  DAP apparently makes one but it is sold as a powder to be mixed with water.  Titebond III is apparently another and is sold premixed (with water?). The two part resorcinol glues like I used appear to be available but I didn't see any small quantities. In the boatbuilding world resorcinol glues have supposedly been superseded by epoxies.  I have personally had excellent experience using WEST SYSTEM epoxies and these would work well for your purpose.  In recent years these have been produced in small disposable units so you might research this option.
 
Roger

I did a little more internet research on glues.  Apparently the family of glues known as Urea Formaldehydes are preferred for laminated structures such as plywood.  These were used way back in WWII to build the famous RAF Mosquito bombers. These were built with balsa cores and birch veneer laminated inside and outside to produce a very stiff structure.  The same principal as a foam or balsa cored fiberglass boat.  These glues which are readily available and cheap will stand up to the high clamping forces required.
 
Roger

Back in the good old days, plywood was made with "resorcinol glues."  These were synthetic plastic resin glues.  The glues came in two parts, a resin and a powder that were mixed together.  My father and I used a lot of the stuff in 1960 in the construction  of a sailboat.  It was easy to use, worked every time ind did not involve water.  
 
According to the internet resorcinol glues are still available.  DAP apparently makes one but it is sold as a powder to be mixed with water.  Titebond III is apparently another and is sold premixed (with water?). The two part resorcinol glues like I used appear to be available but I didn't see any small quantities. In the boatbuilding world resorcinol glues have supposedly been superseded by epoxies.  I have personally had excellent experience using WEST SYSTEM epoxies and these would work well for your purpose.  In recent years these have been produced in small disposable units so you might research this option.
 
Roger

I did a little more internet research on glues.  Apparently the family of glues known as Urea Formaldehydes are preferred for laminated structures such as plywood.  These were used way back in WWII to build the famous RAF Mosquito bombers. These were built with balsa cores and birch veneer laminated inside and outside to produce a very stiff structure.  The same principal as a foam or balsa cored fiberglass boat.  These glues which are readily available and cheap will stand up to the high clamping forces required.
 
Roger

Back in the good old days, plywood was made with "resorcinol glues."  These were synthetic plastic resin glues.  The glues came in two parts, a resin and a powder that were mixed together.  My father and I used a lot of the stuff in 1960 in the construction  of a sailboat.  It was easy to use, worked every time ind did not involve water.  
 
According to the internet resorcinol glues are still available.  DAP apparently makes one but it is sold as a powder to be mixed with water.  Titebond III is apparently another and is sold premixed (with water?). The two part resorcinol glues like I used appear to be available but I didn't see any small quantities. In the boatbuilding world resorcinol glues have supposedly been superseded by epoxies.  I have personally had excellent experience using WEST SYSTEM epoxies and these would work well for your purpose.  In recent years these have been produced in small disposable units so you might research this option.
 
Roger

Les,
 
This is a nicely made piece of equipment.  Mine works fine. The locking mechanism is intended to fit the 1/2 in wide miter slot of US made table saws and bandsaws.
 
Roger

Les,
 
This is a nicely made piece of equipment.  Mine works fine. The locking mechanism is intended to fit the 1/2 in wide miter slot of US made table saws and bandsaws.
 
Roger

Hi Greg, Chris has basically nailed it.  
 
Unless the ship was in an operational environment for a prolonged period, the upper decks were well maintained with a washdown as required.  Noting in older ships, up to 1980s or so, fresh water was a real hassle and needed to be carefully managed (I well remember the 3 minute rule of the splash, lather, rinse and dash daily shower :)), so a wash down was done with sea water unless the salt had caked too much.   Breakwaters etc would only rust if maintenance access was a problem or the area had been chipped due to shell casing chipping or other operational wear and tear, (prolonged periods in an operational environment where crews were closed up in two watches and manning their weapons, making maintenance a lower priority).  
 
So, if depicting a ship in an operational environment which had been at sea for awhile, then there would have been some minor upper deck rust runs etc from fittings, depending on how long at sea and in what Defence State the ship had been operating.  But it would not have been too much as basic maintenance, such as wash downs would have been observed regularly, for crew safety, weapon and ship husbandry etc.  As you have depicted significant rust etc on the sides, this I would assume would mean she has been at sa for a while, and some minor rust and streaks on upper deck fittings may have ensued, especially in unmanned areas (away from some weapons and ready access).  Things such as capstans, boats, davits and cranes that were required for safety and weapons service would have been well maintained but painting/ship's husbandry may have been minimal.
 
As to salt, minimal on the upper deck and superstructure areas ready to hand, unless immediately after some roughers, at which time a wash down would have been organised.  Ship's are designed to shed water so accumulation of salt would have been in nooks and crannies only, and then would only have been a slight puddle of crystals, and a powdery effect on some screens - I would stay away from showing too much salt build up as it would have been a very poor XO and Bosun who let it build up to an extent that it would show, even in war time.  Then again, on the Murmansk run   In the tropics we would actively chase down passing showers etc when possible to provide nature's wash down
 
cheers
 
Pat
 
 

Probably a good time to discuss how pins work. The way a line is belayed to a pin has not changed for centuries, and the method I'm describing is the ONLY method currently in use universally on every sea or at any time in the past, there are no variations in this procedure. The facts: lines come down to deck and they need to be secured in a way that they stay where the sailors put them. Some of those lines are slack and just need a place to "live" and be kept out of the way. Most of the lines however will be under strain, sometime a lot of strain and these lines need to be fixed in a way that is easy to do, secure enough to hold any weight, and easy to undo in an instant. The pins are simply a cylindrical object passing through a shelf of some kind in a way that has half the pin over the shelf and half under. ( the "shelf" is the pinrail, cap rail, spider band, fife rail etc) usually pins are vertical but they can be horizontal.
to Belay the line a sailor takes a bight of line and passes it behind or under the lower half of the pin or the half farthest away from the load, then diagonally across and over the top and behind the upper half of the same pin. thats considered one turn and the diagonal path the line took makes it resemble the letter "S".  He or she repeats this operation twice more, creating three turns each turn crossing over the one beneath it on a diagonal across the face of the pinrail- picture a letter "S" with a reversed left raving "S" over it with a final Right facing "S" over that. These are known as figure eight turns and it's the way that they cross over each other that creates enough friction to hold the line in place. Three crossing turns. Never four, never two. Always three. You can hold the heaviest load with three turns, a fourth turn is just a waste of rope. Now you can coil and hang the rest of the line.
Here's a video of a guy demonstrating 
 

There is more to pins than simply belaying though, pins are also used to ease lines under strain. Let's say you have a eight hundred pound load on a line belayed on a pin. You want to lower the load six feet then belay it again at a height above the deck with the line still holding the weight.  One person can do this singlehanded even though it may have taken six or more sailors to initialy raise the load. The sailor takes the First of the three turns off the top and bottom of the pin and holds the line tight then pauses to observe. Did the line start to creep around the pin? If he or she takes the second of three turns off, the line may start to creep on its own around the pin, the weight it's holding being so great, and this is what the sailor wants, but he or she wants to CONTROL the speed at which the line creeps or renders around the pin. The line starts to render slowly so the sailor has time in which to act. Maybe the two remaining turns are still providing enough friction to hold the line in place? But the sailor WANTS to lower the eight hundred pound load so he NEEDS the line to render so they have to remove more friction. He or she then takes a turn off the top or bottom of the pin, again keeping the line in their hands tight between them and the pin.now the friction the belay had provided has been reduced by more than half and the line does start to render around the pin, the sailor feels it moving in his or her hands and can see and hear it too. The weight above begins to lower toward the deck. But the sailor can control the speed at which the line eases off the pin by taking off or putting back on the turns AND by adjusting the angle the line takes from their hands to the pin. The sailors muscle power is the determining factor in how fast the line eases at this point, but the sailor has first managed the friction the pin provides so that the forces involved are comfortably within their muscles ability to control the line. It's all a matter of observation and judgment on the part of the sailor. It NEVER takes two or more people to ease on a pin, regardless of the weight of the load.
Often the order is to simply cast off the line and "let it run". In this case the sailor makes sure the coil is free to run and quickly takes all three turns off the pin in quick succession and the coil runs out on its own. Note that in All these descriptions the pin itself never moves. It doesn't even rotate in its hole as the crossing turns always oppose the rotating tendancy even when the line is under tremendous strain. Nobody ever pulls a pin out as a way of freeing up a line or letting it run. Note also that in nearly everything I've said above, the two horns of a cleat could be substituted, the operation for handling a line on a pin is exactly the same for the use of line on a cleat, from line as thin as a signal halyard up to the size of a dock line.

Thanks for all the "Likes" and especially the comments.  The deck planking has been re-stained. 


The variation in color is a result of having scraped the planks earlier, then staining over them.  There were some planks that were still "too light" so I just stained over them again to bring the variation to how I wanted it.  Brush it on and wipe off right away.  I went through a dozen Q-tips.  Personal choice.  The masking tape is Tamiya, well burnished.  The joint between the planking and the waterway (barely visible) is caulked with Ebony Minwax putty and rubbed off.  A few touch-ups are needed on the black paint on the waterway.
Maury

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 203 – Dust Case
 
The dust case mentioned earlier was completed this morning.  The first picture shows the framing of the case after the initial paper covering was removed.
 

 
As I mentioned earlier, the framing was made from scrap, so it is not fine furniture.  It is meant to be an inconspicuous part of the project – to keep dust out and allow me to take pictures of the rigging without having to drag out backdrops.  Both sides are easily removable.  The top is Plexiglas® sheet to pass light from the fixtures above.  Six screws at the base permit the entire case to disappear.
 
For those who offered suggestions on covering material, thanks again.  I went with Elmer's white foam board, which is what I used on the previous Victory case.  It is glued to the frames with water-based contact cement.   The next picture shows the port panel covered with the board.
 

 
The panel is covered with two 30x40 sheets.  You may just make out the center seam.  Finally, in the next picture, the completed case, with the starboard panel removed.
 

 
The case is certainly a major presence in the shop.  Now back to the model work.
 
Ed

I have a Rockler thin rip jig that I use with my 10in table saw.  It works great as by using it you don't have to pinch the wood between the fence and the saw.  There is also a U tube video of a guy using one of these to rip paper thin strips with a bandsaw.
 
Roger