michael mott

Hi again to everyone –
 
Thanks as always for the compliments and interest.
 
Tony – I may try CPES the next time I have to make sails.  I have never been completely satisfied with the stiffeners I have used in the past.  It should work on thin fabric too, yes?
 
Bob – Yes, victory it is!  But I work in a space that is barely 6 feet by 7 feet with only one small French door (it used to be a walk-in closet).  I am also 70 with a bit of asthma.   I use solvent based materials only when there is no water based alternative.  If I do, I clear out for a while until a small fan can clear the vapors.  As you said, it’s all about common sense.
 
Back on the model, with the lower rigging strengthened and repaired, I turned to the first break, the bowsprit.  As it came to me the jib boom was broken right behind the bowsprit cap with the martingale detached and hanging only by its rigging. 
 

 
 
To test some ideas, I moved the broken forward piece around a bit and found that I could lay it in place on top of the aft piece, but the stays and other lines had shortened so they had to overlap about 2mm.
 

 
I could also set the heel of the broken piece in place, but then trying to pull down the forward end would overtighten the lines and pull the fore topmast much too far forward.
 

 
To mend the break I first cut off the martingale and all the raffle of lines that led to it.  To get the pieces to fit I gently ground off about 1mm from each face and flattened them so they met snugly.  Then I drilled into the ivory on both ends.  I knew that with such limited mobility I could only use a very short length of brass rod across the joint.  It was more used to locate and keep the two pieces centered than to provide any real strength against a future impact. 
 

 
Once in place with the brass rod inserted I gently clamped them against a straight piece of wood.  When I was satisfied that they formed a straight line I bonded them with cyano.   This is one of only two places where it is used.  The other is to stiffen the ends of rigging line that has to feed through small holes, and is then discarded.  Once the cyano had cured there was only a little groove where the pieces met.  I took a sanding wheel and ground some ivory into a powder.  Mixed with MC it made a nice filler.  Here is how it came out.
 

 
As mentioned, I was not at all happy with the “Y” shape of the martingale and the fact that it was not made of bone or ivory.  I consulted my sources and, although large models of ships of the line had “V” shaped martingales, the most common was a simple spike rigged to the boom, the bowsprit, and the hull.   You can see these features in the models in the Lloyd book much like these.
 


 
Although many martingales are mounted under the bowsprit cap, the stub of the bowsprit tenon that extended through the cap suggested that the martingale here had originally been mounted to the front face of the cap and had been vertical.  I decided that this solution had plausible deniability and went with it.  I took some ivory and cut a piece the width of the cap and a length that looked right for the size of the model.  I carved it down to a round spike with a mortise in the head that fit the bowsprit tenon.  Three holes were drilled for rigging lines at approximately equal spacing.
 

 
It was mounted to the cap with glue and metal pins, then martingale guys were made up of dyed linen line.  One ran from the tip of the jib boom to a notch at the base, and then two went to eyebolts already in place on either side of the hull.  Smaller lines were run from the boom through the holes in the martingale and tied off to the bowsprit.  Between the guys and the inner rigging they form a triangular truss arrangement that would have strongly resisted the pull of the headsails.
 

 
The various foremast stays that led to the bowsprit and jib were tightened by sliding their collars out on the boom or up on the mast till the stays were barely straight.  This left just a bit of slack for further tightening when the mainmast is fixed and its stays that run to the foremast are rigged and tensioned.
 

 
One break fixed, three to go.
 
Stay safe
 
Dan

Hi all –
 
After reviewing all the experiment results and considering Druxy’s suggestion, I decided to go with a combination method.  I will use the methyl cellulose (MC) on lines that will not have to be manipulated, like the lower shrouds and stays.  I will need the increased flexibility and strength that the PVA will give me on the lines that I will have to move around when I repair them.  If needed I will tone down any shiny finish with an overcoat of the MC.  This should give me some additional strength as well.
 
So I took my softest sable brush and started to paint the MC onto the foremast lower shrouds.  Disaster!  Despite how gently I tried to apply the liquid to the forward shroud and ratlines, the ratlines crumbled all down the length of the shroud.  Of course I stopped immediately.
 

 
It appears that the ratlines are so thin and so cooked that they must be held together by will power alone.  I tried blowing on one and it crumbled with just a moderate puff.    To deal with this I thinned the MC some more, then painted it onto only the shrouds, hoping that capillary action would infuse the ratlines from the shrouds both left and right.  I tried it on the rest of the lower foremast shroud gang and happily got good results.  No more of the ratlines broke and, after the MC cured, I found that the ratlines were now strong enough to give them a second coat of MC without further damage.
 
Now I had to repair the damage that I caused, and to fix other ratlines that had broken over the years.  I wanted to use linen line, but ran into a problem.  Linen makes for a pretty stiff thread.  Even in the smallest diameter that I have, 0.007”, it acts like steel cable at these small scales.  You can see how it does not curve compared to my softest thread, Mettlar’s silk finish embroidery thread.  It is a mercerized cotton product, not linen, but I don’t think I will have to worry about shrinkage in this use.  It has a bit of an irregular finish, but the 50/3 size generally mikes out to between 0.007” to 0.009”.
 

 
I cut short pieces of the thread and soaked them in thinned PVA.  Carefully laying them across the gaps they were smoothed down using a wet brush and the tip of a dry toothpick.
 

 
After drying I gave them a coat of MC to tone down any shine.  Once this was dry the extra ends were trimmed with a sharpened cuticle clipper.  I use this tool from the cosmetics counter in almost all rigging situations.  It cuts cleanly, with the cutting edge laid very close to the knot/junction, and without the danger of a wayward blade slicing through a line that I want to keep.
 

 
Here is how it came out.  There are a few tiny stubs where the new lines overlap the old ones, but they are only visible under magnification and then only when there is a contrasting background like this pale Post-it note paper.
 

 
Other ratline repairs were needed from causes other than my clumsy hands.  Here is how I found the main lower shroud gang on the port side.  On the left of the photo you can see that the first and second shrouds have somehow been reversed.  The forward shroud is twisted and at the masthead actually runs behind and aft of the second shroud.  This must have put increased stress on the ratlines between them.  At the upper right the brace for the lower mizzen yard is rigged, properly, to the aft main shroud.  But the line is a replacement (it is a slightly different color) which shrank and pulled on the shroud, breaking the ratlines around it.
 

 
And here it is after repairs.  The yellow color is because I shut down the camera flash and used only and incandescent bulb.  The picture is less confusing when there are no shadows of the ratlines on the paper backing.
 

 
I did this for all the lower shrouds and ratlines.  Here is the port lower mizzen gang during repairs and after.
 

 
There will be many more repairs needed on the topmast shrouds, especially those on the broken main and mizzen masts.  But those are for later.  Now I need a stiff drink.
 
More soon.
 
Dan
 

Hi again to all –
 
Thanks for all the likes and comments.  I love it when there are wider topics discussed in a build log than just the building.  
 
The past several days were spent trying out 7 different glues and varnishes to see if they could help the original rigging.   I was looking for a liquid which can be painted on gently and which will strengthen the lines and make them flexible so they do not break when they have to be manipulated to fix the current problems.
Here they are.   I tried to set up as wide a range of solutions as I reasonably could.  If there wasn’t a suitable one in this group then there might not be one.
 

 
Next I needed something to test them on.  The original rigging lines were probably made of linen.  Every time that similar old lines have been chemically examined, as far as I know, they turned out to be linen.  It was readily available in England at the time since it was made from flax plants which grew there.  Cotton was scarcer since Egypt was in French hands most of this time.  Linen is also quite dimensionally stable, so rigging lines do not sag or overtighten.  Fortunately, I had snapped up a collection of linen line spools about 20 years ago which includes diameters from 0.007” to 0.048”.  I use them for all of my museum work that requires rigging.  Although most of it is very white, it dyes black or tan quite easily and permanently.
 

 
To simulate the cooking that the original lines had endured over the years, I took lengths of 0.02” and 0.04” lines and baked them in the over overnight at 350 degrees.  Nothing!  They came out hot, but as flexible as before.  The same thing happened at 450 degrees. 
 
Finally, I simply wrapped the lines in foil and set the packet on top of the naked flame of the gas stove.  In a few minutes wisps of smoke started coming out of the seams.  I turned it over for another 30 seconds then removed it from the heat.  When it was unwrapped the lines had been blackened and charred, just as I hoped.
 

 
After cooling I tried one of the thicker lines and gently pulled it along its length.  It took little effort to break the line, with the ends, under magnification, looking a lot like the ends of the broken rigging on the model. These would be acceptable stand-ins for testing purposes.
 

 
Now that I had my test materials I took seven short pieces of both the large and small diameter lines and mounted them on a piece of file folder.  Some of the thinner ones were extremely delicate and one broke as I was mounting it.  Then each was painted with the liquid corresponding to the numbers on the composite photo. 
 

 
After they dried overnight I examined them under magnification and then tried to bend each around a ¼” diameter dowel.  Here is the photo of the results.
 

 
What I found was as follows, recognizing the limitations of my not very precise or controlled materials and methods:
1.    Krylon spray – I decanted some and painted it on with a soft brush.  I worried that the power of the propellant might damage the smaller lines, and also that I would not have a lot of control over the application on the actual model.  It dried stiff with a matte finish.  It did not seem to improve the pull-apart strength of the line, but made it too stiff to bend easily.
2.   Lineco pH neutral PVA – It was diluted to skim milk consistency with distilled water and painted on.  It significantly improved both the pull-apart strength of the line and was quite flexible when dry.  The one drawback was that it dried quite shiny.
3.   Liquitex gloss varnish – Painted on direct from the bottle.  The result was not very strong, not very flexible, and shiny.
4.   Liquitex matte varnish - Somewhat improved strength and flexibility, matte finish.
5.   Paraloid b72 – significantly improved strength but not very flexible.  Shiny finish.  The biggest drawback is that it requires a strong solvent like acetone for dilution or clean up.
6.   Powdered methyl cellulose - Dissolved per the instructions in distilled water.  It markedly improved strength, had decent flexibility, and dried with a matte finish.
7.   Gel cyano – It was laid on as thin as I could with a wooden toothpick so it would not heat up as it cured and damage the fibers even more.  It was the strongest in the pull-apart test, but was the most brittle when dry, especially for the thinner line.  Shiny finish.
 
The decision came down to two choices, the PVA and the methyl cellulose.  I am leaning toward the PVA just because I am very familiar with its properties.  On the other hand, the MC could be used to strengthen lines that will not be handled, with the PVA used where the line might have to bend and twist.
 
I am open to any and all further thoughts that you all might have. 
 
Stay safe
 
Dan

Hi again to all –
 
As you can tell, I really like POW models.  I first ran into one at an antiques show that my mother dragged me to when I was about 10.  I found that it was pretty interesting looking at old artworks and furniture.  But a large, intricate, bright white model of a sailing warship captivated me.  When I was told that it was made of bones and rigged with human hair, I begged my mother to buy it.  I have no idea why she decided not to  spend $7,000 (about the cost of a good car back then) on such a simple request.  In the 60 years since then I have learned many things about them, such as that they were not actually rigged with hair, and that I still can’t afford one.
 
I do get a bit of satisfaction in restoring them for others.  I have been fortunate enough to be given this pleasant task several times.  Each is its own unique fine art object, and each has its unique set of restoration puzzles to be solved. 
 
For this one I spent that past two days trying to solve the hull puzzles.    The easiest one to access was the small triangle at the gripe where the wide stem plank had lost its point.  It had been repaired by replacing it with a piece that was much too white for the surrounding bone planking.
 

 
I removed the offending triangle with a dental pick.  It turned out not to be ivory, as I expected, but was actually a hard plastic.   Not very original.  The old glue in the corners was removed with the pick and the tip of a hobby knife.  
 

 
To fill the hole I used the ivory top of a piano key.  I have a small stash of ivory, most of it whale tooth ivory, from when I was playing around with scrimshaw.   It was also too white, but unlike the plastic I could change it.  Many years ago I came across an article that recommended using used coffee grounds as an ‘aging’ agent for ivory.   Fresh grounds have too much acid and volatile chemicals to use for this.  I have used the method before with good results.  Here is the key with its left end having been buried in damp grounds overnight.  
 

 
After drying out, a piece of the stained side was cut and fitted.  It was installed with PVA since it is mounted on the wood of the stem.
 

 
I next turned to the figurehead.  It had obviously suffered some serious damage in the past.  Although the figurehead itself was in pretty good shape, the area behind it was missing all of the hull planking.  It had been crudely filled in with a putty of some kind that was tinted grey or had aged that color.  As I said in an earlier post, I also did not like where the head was fitted.  My understanding is that the back of the bust’s head should be at the level of the topmost rail, which is why it is called the ‘hair rail’.  This bust was mounted at least ¼” too low.
 

 
Using rotary tool I carefully ground away the putty.  I used a flat bottomed bit to help insure that I would not unintentionally dig too deep into the original substance of the model.  With the putty mostly removed I found that the entire tip of the stem was a replacement, being a separate piece of wood carved to fit.  Removal of the putty also revealed a hole in the shoulder of the bust, probably indicating where a separate arm once fit.   It was while taking this photo that I realized that there was a gap between the bust and the scroll which the bobstay runs against.
 

 
On the port side the putty was similarly removed.  It revealed a clearly broken end to the upper planking.  It must have been quite an impact to do that much damage.  But the bobstay appears to be original and shows no break or repair.  How that could be possible I don’t know.  The loose lines that are in the photo are some replacements that ran to the incorrect and broken martingale.  They were soon removed to keep them from getting in the way.
 

 
I thought about moving the bust up to its proper place and then carving a middle piece, perhaps a dress, out of ivory.  But the bust would not come loose with gentle leverage, so I left it in place.  All I could do was to fill in the open spaces with new planking.  To take the shapes needed I laid on some translucent tape and drew the outlines.
 

 
The tape was laid on the aged ivory and pieces cut out.  I drilled holes for metal pins that would help secure the pieces to the hull.  These are for the port side
 

 
Here they are test fit, ready for final shaping.
 

 
And here they have been glued and pinned in place.  I also carved a rounded wedge of ivory to fit in the gap below the bust.  This is the finished port side
 

 
And the starboard side.
 

 
I’m considering scratching some ‘grain’ into the ivory to make it look a bit more like bone, but that may be a bit on the obsessive side.  It’s still an option.
 
Stay safe
 
Dan

Hi all - 
 
Druxey - yes, and thank you .  I have ordered some of the glue and will test it with the others that I have.
 
Roger -  the conditions of French POWs was not usually that dismal.  Yes, the prison hulks were not pleasant, but you do not abuse the enemy's POWs or he may retaliate against yours.  In fact, towards the middle of the period most of the naval POWs were housed in large camps like Norman Cross.  Think "The Great Escape" or "Hogan's Heroes" rather than "The Bridge on the River Kwai".  Officers could give their parole and live outside camp in nearby villages.  All sorts of activities and athletics were permitted.  There is even evidence that there were fencing lessons.
 
The British also believed in having the prisoners keep busy, so they allowed them to make all sorts of handicrafts, not just ship models.  There were bone spinning jennys, bone guillotines, and straw work of all kinds, like this jewelry box.
 

 

 

 
 
The POWs were allowed on market day once a week to sell their wares to local customers at tables outside the camp stockade. 
 

 
They also sold to merchants and brokers in larger volume.  Since they did not have labor costs, and did have lots of time, they excelled at making time consuming products like lace and straw hats.  This trade grew so great, since they could easily undercut the competition, that the English lacemakers and straw hatters petitioned Parliament for help and the POWs were prohibited from making them.
 
If you can find it, this is the bible on the POW arts and crafts.
 
 

 
Stay safe.
 
Dan

Hi again to all.
 
I spent yesterday working on things other than the rigging.  First I did some cleaning.  The hull and deck were pretty clean, being protected from dust by the case.  I still wiped them down with some distilled water, no soap or solvent was needed.  As a mop I used half of a cotton swab in a drafting pencil handle.  It is important to use the kind with a paper shaft rather than the plastic one.  As can be seen in the picture, paper ones can be bent so it sits flat with the handle angled up so it can reach through spaces in the rigging.  In this configuration it also can slide under deck fittings like the bitts and pinrails.
 

 
The metal tool is a plaque scraper that I got from my dentist.  There are lots of dental tools and supplies that transfer easily to ship modeling.  I asked mine to set them aside when he was going to replace them anyway, and he was happy to do so.  I used it as a scraper for the dried glue and it worked quite well.  Here are the spots where the three loose cannon came from, and the same area after scraping.   I went around the ship, as much as was possible, and removed the worst of it where possible. 
 
 
 

 
After cleaning I worked on the ship’s boat.  It was detachable, so I did not have to worry at all about touching the rigging.  Here it is, as received, hanging in the stern davits.  I was a bit concerned that the thwarts were replacements since they do not appear to match the color of the boat’s hull.
 

 
I gently bent the hooks open and slid the boat off.  Now I could see that the thwarts had been glued in with the same stuff that was scraped off the deck.
 

 
From this angle it was even more evident that the thwarts did not match, either in color or in the quality of workmanship.  Their ends are ragged and they do not sit perpendicular to the centerline.
 

 
The dried glue was little obstacle to removal of the thwarts using only gentle leverage.
 

 
The inside of the boat’s hull was scraped clean and the thwarts sanded lightly to remove discolorations.  With a few tweaks of the ends they were straightened out and levelled.  I reattached them using small drops of gel cyano glue.  It is the best that I have found for bone-to-bone, and bone-to-ivory, connection.  It is stronger and more rigid than PVA, drop for drop, so I can use less and not leave a glue mound.  It is also very clear and stays that way, at least over the 35 years that I have evidence for.  But it can be brittle, so where the joint will be under strain I also give it a second thin coat of PVA as a shock absorber.  That was not necessary here.
 

 
I think the boat is much improved.  I just hope the rest of the repairs go as well.
 
 
Dan

Hi Vaddoc - 
 
Unfortunately not.  The amount of additional work involved would have increased the fee to a point where the client would simply junk the model.  
I have a particular fondness for the bone and ivory models and I didn't want that to happen, so we reached a compromise.  I will do what can be done without stripping it to the sticks and starting again, which may well be a solution for the next generation of ship model restorers, if there are any.
 
Dan

Hello to all who followed me here from my prior build log of the James B Colgate, and to all those who are interested in the bone and ivory ship models made, mostly, by the French prisoners taken by the British navy in the Napoleonic wars.
 
I was recently asked to repair an attractive example of the type that had some substantial damage over the past centuries, as well as suffering some repairs, good and bad.  In this log I will detail my progress and, in addition to some techniques that I have used before, I will ask for additional ideas from the collective wisdom of our community here.
 
So here she is in the photographs sent for me to consider doing the restoration.  I asked for digital shots of the entire model and close-ups of the damage.   First, the overall look, including the wooden base, the primary damages, and the large glass case.
 

 
With the case removed you can see the extensive damage.  The bowsprit, mainmast and mizzen are all clearly broken and the associated rigging in disarray.  The balance of the standing rigging seems to be mostly intact except for the mizzen stay which is broken just below the crowsfoot.  Sitting on the base are the flag and staff for the stern.
 

 
In close-up here is the bowsprit, with the jib boom broken at the level of the bowsprit cap and the Y-shaped martingale hanging, literally, by a thread.  I don’t recall seeing that type of martingale on any of the POW models whose photos I have seen.  Even at this stage I thought it was probably a later replacement.
 

 
The mainmast was snapped just below the crosstrees at the base of the t’gallant mast.  From the way the rigging lines retained the kinks and bends I was pretty sure that they had been hardened in some way.  This could indicate that much of it might have to be removed and replaced.  The mizzen was similarly snapped below the t’gallant top.  In addition the mizzen t’gallant mast was snapped as well about halfway up its length, just where the hole was drilled for the t’gallant lift.  Here the rigging was also kinked, but more worrying was the mass of overlapped rigging lines around the doubling.  I have seen this before when prior restorers have simply looped new lines over old ones and glued the mass together.
 

 
Based on these pictures I gave the client a very vague ballpark idea of the cost of repair to see if he was serious about going forward.  I told him that if he was, I would need to see the model in person and evaluate it in detail before giving him a firm price.  After a few months of thinking about it he brought the model to my Brooklyn studio and left it with me for examination.  In this posting I examine the hull and its fittings.
 
The model was uncased and the glass cover removed. It was made of ¼” thick fish tank glass and I was surprised at how heavy it was.  By my bathroom scale it weighs some 19 pounds!  This probably contributed to the damage. Anyone lifting the cover will have a hard time unless he is prepared for the sudden weight.  Trying to lift it clear would be difficult and the lower edge might well have contacted and broken the tops of the masts. 
 
In any event, the model matched the photos, which is not always the case.  With the jib boom in approximate place the model measures 15 ½” x 12” x 4”.  By measuring the spacing between ratlines (3mm) and the height of the bulwarks (11mm) and the height of the rope rail amidships (15mm), I determined that the approximate scale is between 1/80 and 1/100.  I could not be more certain because none of these has a standard height and the modelmakers were not quite exact in rendering them.  Two of the cannon and their carriages were loose, and a third was found detached on deck.
 

 
The hull and deck are planked in bone with ivory (elephant or whale tooth is unclear) making up the balance of the structure and carved details.  She carries 40 guns, 12 in each broadside on the gun deck, 5 on the quarterdeck, 3 on the forecastle.  This is a lot for what appears to be a small ship.  She is certainly not a match to any of the 40-gun ships in my library.
 

 
She sits on a series of wood keel blocks with a larger built up central cradle.  Three metal pins, two seen here and one in the center, go through the blocks and into the baseboard.  When received the model did not sit vertically, but listed a bit to starboard.
 

 
Ahe bow there was a nicely carved figurehead of a female bust with a Greek-style helmet and a pugnacious expression .   It  looked to me to be in the wrong place, slid down below the hair rail.  Behind it was a mass of greyish putty hiding some additional damage.  There was a similar mass on the port side
 

 
Despite its small size the lower gun deck cannon are made to retract.  Here they are retracted, then extended.  The retraction mechanism can be seen through the open main hatch.  The cannon barrels are mounted on a moveable wood strip.  The client also sent a video taken of the interior through a borescope.  It is poor quality but it does show the presence of some springs which would push the cannon out.  Unfortunately the cords to operate the system are missing.
 

 
On deck just ahead of the mizzen mast is a carved seat for the officer of the deck.  This is a particularly French detail, even though the model carries English flags.  The locations for the detached cannon can be seen against the far bulwark where the prior glue has yellowed.  Hidden behind the rigging is a metal post where the capstan should be, and a single stand for the ship’s wheel, although the wheel and second stand are missing.
 

 
A ship’s boat hangs in davits at the stern.  The thwarts for the boat have been repaired before with a glue/varnish that has yellowed with time.  Just ahead of it is a curved boomkin for the main yard brace, but no lines are tied to it.
 

 
The rudder is clearly a replacement.  It is too thin and too white, while the pintles and their straps are not properly set on the rudder.
 

 
That was my detailed examination of the hull.  In the next segment I will document the detailed examination of the masts and rigging.  Lots of problems, as you might expect.
 
Be well, stay safe.
 
Dan

Hi again –
 
Thanks to everyone who hit the like button.  The encouragement is very welcome, as always.
 
The final bit of repair of the mast was to use a sander to make some ivory dust.  This was mixed with PVA to make a filler that was applied to the join in the t'gallant mast.and sanded smooth to hide the break.   With the structure of the mizzen mast fully repaired it was time to start re-rigging it.  I lifted the t’gallant yard and clipped it to the mast to get some idea of where the cut and tangled lines would go, and what I needed to do.
 

 
The first step was to replace the lower deadeyes for the topmast shrouds.  In the usual course they would be stropped with rope which would be led through holes in the top to become the futtock shrouds and would then be tied to the lower shrouds.  But here the futtock shrouds were already in place, although they were quite fragile.  I therefore had to rig the deadeyes to the top only and in such a way that they could withstand the stresses of the shrouds.  My solution was to rig them with metal strops with twisted stems.  I made them by folding a length of soft iron wire around a deadeye then clamping the ends of the wire in the slot of a knife handle.  Spinning the handle while holding the deadeye steady secured the deadeye in the strop and created a neatly twisted stem.  If you do this be careful not to overtighten the strop because you can split the deadeye or block that you are working on. (Been there, done that, got the apron . . .)
 

 
The stem was clipped off leaving a shaft a bit longer than the thickness of the top.  This was secured through the top with a drop of cyano which locked onto the twists of the shaft.
 

 
Once all three on a side were installed the extra lengths of the shafts were trimmed off.  In the photo you can also see one of the several small clips from the electronics store which hold the loose ends of the lines that I detached until they can be retied.
 

 
Preparing to rig the shrouds themselves I found that the mast cap was completely loose.  It could be raised on the t’gallant mast to open up the doubling so the heads of the shrouds could be more easily rigged.   The t’gallant mast was also loose.  This could have been intentional or a result of the old glue drying out.  In any event it made the rigging just a little easier.
 

 
The shrouds themselves began by turning in an upper deadeye into 0.020” dyed line.  To do this I used my medium-tech stropping jig.  It consists simply of a Helping Hands type tool with the addition of a light duty spring (red arrow) and an attached flat-nosed clip.  In use the fitting to be stropped is held in the right hand vertical alligator clip and the stropping line taken around it and trapped in the larger clip.  The line is placed under light tension that straightens the line and stabilizes it so it can be worked on easily.  To match the other shrouds on the model two small round seizings have been tied around the shroud lines about ¼” apart.  They were secured with PVA and when the glue dried the excess seizing lines were clipped off, as was the extra shroud line. This method makes stropping deadeyes, blocks, hearts, etc. very easy, regardless of how small the fittings and the lines are, since the line is held under tension at all times.
 

 
The resulting stropping is neat and tidy and repeatable.  Also, since the deadeye is not glued in it can be rotated in the strop even after the seizings have been tied.  You can put on three seizings if you want.  You can even make the crossover throat seizing if you flip the deadeye over in the alligator clip while holding the shroud lines stationary, then lace the seizing vertically rather than horizontally.  In any event the upper and lower deadeyes were laced together with lanyards of 0.07” linen.
 

 
To lace the lanyards I start by tying a stopper knot that cannot be pulled through the initial hole in the upper deadeye.  I have been asked about this before and, though it is a bit of an aside here and most of you already know the technique, here is my simple method.  To make it clearer, I photographed some cable that I spun up rather than the thin black line that was actually used, but the process is the same.  I first make a double overhand loop by taking the running end of the line around itself twice, leading to the look of the knot on the left.  As the two ends are pulled away from each other the knot deforms into the figure-8 shape in the middle.  Continued pulling results in a tight stopper knot which, like a clove hitch, has the line entering and leaving the knot in a straight line.  It only gets tighter with added strain.  It takes only a few seconds to tie the knot this way and clip off any unwanted extra line.
 

 
With the forward deadeye on the starboard side rigged the line was taken up and around the masthead to the port side where another deadeye was turned into the end of the line and laced to its lower deadeye.  The remaining shrouds on each side had a loop seized in the top and placed over the masthead.  To get the proper heights for the remaining deadeyes the shrouds were held against the lower deadeyes and small dots of white paint indicated where the bottoms of the upper deadeyes had to go.
 

 
The deadeyes were turned in on the stropping jig using the white dots as guides, The white paint was hidden with a drop of black paint, then the lanyards were laced for each one.  The resulting rigged deadeyes look neat and level at the bottom and at the masthead they look clean and trim.
 

 
The ratlines were made of more thin linen line which was glued across the face of the shroud gang.  I tried tying clove hitches, but the remaining lifts and braces from the spars got in the way and made this nearly impossible.  The result was good, and without the paper backing for contrast it is difficult to tell any difference.
 

 
Next, finally, I will complete the rigging repairs.
 
Till then, stay safe.
 
Dan

It is always nice to use wood that you have prepared for yourself, and by air drying it it retains a particular character that kiln dried wood does not. Good luck with the stickering. I have used paraffin wax on the ends, the same stuff used for canning, just heat it up in a saucepan and paint it on with a pastry brush. If you cut it into thinner slabs than 1 inch it is good to put some weight on top or straps around the bundle to help with the drying flat.
 
Michael

Ah Steve what a beautiful boat, that bow shot with the brass fittings really shows the craftsmanship you have brought to this project.
 
Michael

If the terminology follows tradition, you have a species of Maple there.  It is close enough to Hard Maple for the differences to be academic.  It is also a local commercial hardwood for you.
Harvesting, seasoning, and milling your own wood is tricky to do and a lot of work if it is not a part of your usual work.  The rewards generally match the necessary investment in time, equipment, and skills if the species harvested are those which are not to be had by any other means.  This would most often be a fruitwood, box, if lucky, hawthorn, Cornus and the like.
 
That editorial caveat out of the way, It needs air circulation to dry before a fungus gets it.  It needs protection from rain and snow. It needs protection from borrowing insects.  The rate of water loss from various surfaces needs attention.  The wet finger rule is seasoning requires 1 year per inch of thickness.
 
The water will leave much more quickly from areas of open end grain: cut ends and where branches are cut off.  Left uncontrolled, the difference in rate of water loss will produce internal stresses. 
The wood will split and check.  In the worst cases, the result is toothpicks.  The open ends must be sealed. This needs to be done concurrent with harvest or soon after.   There are many materials that do this, but quick and dirty is a THICK coating of leftover latex house paint.  Recoat as any splitting there shows there is not enough of a barrier.
 
Bark slows the rate of water loss from the side grain and there also may be eggs or larvae of wood eating insects in it back from when it was standing.  Leaving the bark on invites insect damage, a slower rate of drying, and not discovering any existing rot, which would result in a wasted effort.
Air circulation around each piece is important.  Pieces of wood are generally used for this.  Over here, these are called stickers.  The process of stacking the drying wood using the stickers is termed "stickering".
 
It speeds drying time, making handling easier, and may save on loss to splitting if the logs are immediately reduced to billets.  One inch thick is OK if you do not need stock for larger scale POF frame stock.  Two inch is better if you do need this.  Getting logs into billets is most efficiently done using a band saw.  It is a royal PITA otherwise and generally involves serious loss to kerf.
 
Length,  from the lumber yard, the boards generally come in 8 foot lengths.  My first outing involved the yard bisecting to 4 foot.  This is still impractical. For a while, I cut them into 16" lengths for my bench.  It is a bit fiddly and short, and now I find 2 foot lengths to be my sweet spot.
 
Does your garage have rafters/ trusses?   Is there room there for drying wood?  Is there an attic in your home?  Otherwise, your outside stack will need a blue tarp and probably a new one every 6-12 months.

If you leave the wood as sections of logs (you mention various 'diameters'), the wood will 'check' (develop serious cracks) as it dries.  Living wood has a high moisture content.  Once cut, the water starts evaporating - and as it does so the structure of the wood (cellulose) has to shrink.  In cylindrical form this will happen by splitting radially (looking at the ring pattern of growth) and will be uncontrolled.  There are other complex distortions that will also occur and most likely the sections will end up good only for firewood.
 
  What needs to be done (and fairly soon) is to have the wood 'slabbed' - that is - cut into boards.  If you have access to a bandsaw with enough clearance (and the diameters are not too big) you can do this yourself.  Big logs really need a sawyers slabbing mill.  Now it is possible to split a log (manually with wedges and sledge, or with a log spitter) 'down the middle' to get two halves, and if the height of the halves fits under a bandsaw, you can proceed.  The bark and some of the sapwood can be trimmed off the domed side to make the piece fit the bandsaw.
 
  Note that there is 'sapwood' and heartwood, and you often can see the difference between the two by looking down at the end of the log.  The central area may have a slightly darker color (in some species a BIG difference, like in black walnut or locust), and this is often the better wood.  Generally speaking, the outer third (from the center of the log) will be sapwood.  In other kinds of wood, there is less of a distinction - like in many fruitwoods.  I once was given a couple of 8" diameter pieces from an apple tree, so I was able to use a table saw to accomplish the initial 'halving' of the logs.  Then I tried to 'quarter saw' from there.
 
  Many prefer quarter sawn wood, so you should google that and you can find the sort of cutting practices to get it.  However you arrive at cut wood approximately an inch thick (or so)  you want to seal the end of the boards with latex paint (some use wax) to prevent splitting from the ends.  Then stack the boards, and you can also google how to do that - generally with thin strips ('stickers') between the board laying one on top of another.  If stacked outdoors, be sure to place an overhanging piece of sheet metal or plywood on top.  The stack can be in a garage or shed - or even in an attic that has adequate ventilation.  It takes at least a year to air dry (2 or three is better), but the moisture content will still be a tad more than desired for indoor use if dried outdoors.  The boards can be moved inside after initial drying and stacked or even leaned vertically in a basement or where convenient to acclimatize.  
 
  All this fuss is avoided in commercial lumber production by 'kiln drying' in special ovens.

Thanks to you both. This just about covers my questions.
 
Regards,
Bruce

Really enjoyed your presentation last night. 
Thanks a lot.

Michael, watched your lecture at the Ship Model Society of New Jersey. Incredible work, it was a pleasure to see your craftsmanship.

I just deleted the reference to the ship model, after I called the contact at the Edmonton public library. They were told that the model is only worth $800.
 
I think it is worth more this one is the same as the one I restored.
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19192/lot/2101/
 
Michael
 
 
 

The plans from Mystic Seaport Museum are on their way, This is exciting.
 
Michael

The plans from Mystic Seaport Museum are on their way, This is exciting.
 
Michael

The plans from Mystic Seaport Museum are on their way, This is exciting.
 
Michael

The plans from Mystic Seaport Museum are on their way, This is exciting.
 
Michael

The plans from Mystic Seaport Museum are on their way, This is exciting.
 
Michael

The plans from Mystic Seaport Museum are on their way, This is exciting.
 
Michael

The plans from Mystic Seaport Museum are on their way, This is exciting.
 
Michael

The article details some interesting methods for the creation of the model by Christopher Morrison, some of the details at 1/32nd scale of  a 21 foot boat on page 222 there is a footnote that mentions that George Daniels book Watchmaking is one of the three most important modelmaking books he has ever read, I concur with that assessment, I was given a copy of this book for my 50th birthday in 1998

George makes the art of metalwork sound as easy as snapping lego bricks together. The book is a treasure trove of techniques and is full of wonderful drawings illustrating these techniques.
 
One of the interesting things that Christopher Morrison points out in the description of Gill Smiths boats is that he used sawn natural crook frames from Oak. Planking of Cedar, deck planking of Pine ,Cedar , or Cypress.  
 
I have three types of trees in my backyard Crab-apple, Amur Maple, and Bur Oak. I keep all the pruning pieces and save some for modelwork and some for the occasional evening sit by the fire pit in the late summer evenings. 
 
here is a lovely piece of apple that I cut 1/2 inch thick and stickered after a major limb was pruned a few years ago.
first the rough bandsawn side
 

 
Hand planing the surface.

 
and a close up of the smooth surface, so for a naturally curved beam.
 

 
The piece is about 13 inches long.
 
There was a replica of Pauline made called Anitra in 1988, I am hoping that there were photographs taken of the build.
 
Michael
 
Michael