mikiek

Eddie - there is a Model Shipways version of Rattlesnake. It is available from Model Expo. If you look it up you will see that you can down load the instructions and materials list for free. I'm not suggesting you build this kit but the documentation may give you a hint of what you will need. Keep in mind the scale may be different than what you had planned. As far as color (type) of wood, decide if you are going to paint or stain your build. If paint, then you don't need exotic or dark colored wood like walnut or mahogany.

Hey Pete - you're right on topic now. No worries. Would sure be cool to see one of those in person. What a beautiful emblem this one has! They must coat those things with something. This has a metallic looking finish as well. The bolsters don't look like a separate piece.

That's interesting Pete. They look pretty solid.

Great information Pete. Thank you! and the pic is helpful as well. It's hard to tell but the buckets look like they're made of metal? The first cartridges were made from canvas and parchment showed up in the mid to late 17th century. Cartridges might have been issued or could be made on board, particularly the canvas ones. Parchment didn't store well long term so there was a transition to cartridge paper which was actually made from linen. Parchment was pretty much gone by the mid 18th century. The problem with paper was the tendency to absorb moisture and difficulty folding into shape. If not done properly pieces of the cartridge would remain in the barrel after ignition which would require constant cleaning. Not a good thing in the middle of a battle. At about the end of the 18th century a paper cartridge with a flannel bottom began to be used in an effort to deal with the ignition problem. All flannel cartridges were also in use but they were costly. Cartridges were issued empty and had to be filled by the gunner. Early on the gunner had to measure out each charge of powder. This was carefully done as any damage to ship or gun caused by an improper load had to be paid for by the gunner. There were different loads for different sized guns and also for different projectiles. Later on, standard measures were issued and the cartridge loading process became easier and less error prone.

Cartridge buckets done but not yet installed I'm wondering about the rope handle. Is that really supposed to be rope? Kit pix showed it black. That would make it tarred? Maybe a cable or wire? I'm asking because if it is rope then they probably would not be sticking up in the air and probably not black. I would think rope would be flopped over to the side. How's that for obsessing?

Joel - I based the stanchions off the ones from the gun section build. Didn't even check the Niagara plans - foolish move on my part. However the plans show squared corners at the bottom sitting flat on the handrail. I got lucky I guess. The link you posted didn't work for me

Looks like the first weekend in some time that I will have to "play". Ahhhhh. Hammocks have been the order of the day - working on a prototype of what might work on the build. The general idea came from my gun station build mixed with the plans from this build. As I've said previously, I like the look of the hammocks in the gun station - all lined up, lashed, held in by some netting. However to do that on an entire boat - ehh. I figure 150-175 hammocks and they are not easy to roll or lash at 1:64. So we came up with the idea of a canvas wrapper that runs inside the stanchions - stuffing something inside the canvas to give it some volume and shape. This is what Niagara plans call for. That's always looked a little funny to me - one reason I had considered not doing hammocks at all. The idea here is to start with the wrapper, but fold back a corner and show a few hammocks so you get the idea what's inside. Your comments are welcome here. What looks right and what doesn't? When we get the look just right I'll post a how-to. Keep in mind this is just proof-of-concept. I already know the rope used for the rail is too big (just some scrap) and I will have to find a better way to cut the fabric so it doesn't fray. My first try at this was to wrap the canvas around the square stick and a dowel. And that's pretty much what it looked like. This time I loosely glued a piece of material over the dowel so there was a little fluff when I wrapped the canvas over it. It is an improvement. A couple of lashings around the hammock for a bit of detail Backside. I presume this would be the side facing outwards. The stanchions were epoxied to a piece of scrap. For the real thing they would be fastened to the handrail. The plans call for a small post fixed to the underside of the stanchions and then stuck into the rail. I don't see a lot of point in that. So there it is. Whadya think?

Eddie - there's never any harm in reviving an old thread. The poster may not hit MSW anymore but I know some of the repliers are still active. They might give you a direction. You could always try PMing the poster. I believe you get an email when you have received a PM. He may reply, or not. You won't know if you don't try.

Working on the Niagara version tonite. That's a dilemma I'm in Joel. I don't like the look of the flap going over the stanchion. I'm working on a version with the flap inside the stanchion. Have to wait until tomorrow now. I'm using the same piece of material for canvas & hammocks and it all blends together. I've dyed the canvas so it will contrast with the hammocks and have to wait for it to dry. Most of the canvas is wrapped around a square stick and dowel used as a filler (pix in my Niagara log). I left the last 3" of the canvas empty and put it all between the stanchions. Then I folded the corner of the canvas back and shoved in 5 little hammocks doubled over. The hammocks look OK but the the filler looks a little "hard" - like the canvas is wrapped around wood. Going to try wrapping some material around the wood before wrapping the canvas around it. That might "soften" the look some.

Thank you Paul, and thanks for all your input. I'm making the cartridge buckets this evening with your idea of cutting the 'top' off. Looks like it will work well.

That would be a good technique to see Don.

A stove - what a cool detail! Will it live on deck or below? What did you use to punch out the coin?

Good to hear from you - I was getting worried. Good work with your rigging. The whole boat has a great look to it.

Truly spectacular! Even in the photos, which we all know shows the slightest imperfection. I'm boxing up my Niagara hull to ship to Zoar

Thank you Darrell and Joel. Darrell - on the Niagara log I showed a complete canvas wrap with a square stick and a small dowel on top of that to make it kinda round on top. I'll have to do something like that although I wasn't crazy over my first attempt. It covered everything including the stanchions which left me wondering what it was supposed to be, and why bother with stanchions? I want a bit more detail to show thru.

Hammocks and rail are about complete. In my mind this is a real improvement over haphazardly laying some pillow puffs in the netting. I'm still surprised that a kit maker would recommend that. I didn't take pix as I was building so for those below I kinda pulled it apart to show the various steps. They start with the stanchions already in place. That's pretty much a no-brainer. My only comment is I had to epoxy the nails into the base plank. The stanchions will receive a lot of pressure, bumps, etc. as your building things up and they kept coming loose. Also, there are holes in the stanchion tops to extend a rope and tie it to eyebolts at each end. For some reason I did those first - bad move. Do them as the final step. The netting was purchased at a fabric store - used for veils and the like. They had several choices with larger and smaller holes. I chose the smallest. You will need to measure the inside dimension of the stanchion - from top, down, across and back up. That's how wide your strip of netting should be. If you are cutting on your workbench be careful, the stuff snags on everything. I first tried to fasten the netting to the stanchions with rope - very problematic. I finally glued the netting to the stanchions and then added the rope bindings. Then based on Joel's pic I added more rope outside the netting. This is just 2 lengths of rope. Start at the top on one end then down, up, down, around, up, down, up and tie off. Then an outer "canvas" was added. Was going to add one to the inside as well but I liked being able to fully see the hammock rolls from there. I found very difficult to cut a perfectly straight edge in the material even with the admiral's sewing shears. Somewhere I read that the hammocks were bound by 7 turns of a rope. Could have been dreaming but it seemed to fit so that's what I did - the tie offs at each end were included in the count. Joel also suggested that a turn be placed right where the hammocks will be doubled over. Easier said than done, but I did my best. There is an earlier post on how I rolled the hammocks. And the result: Doing this at 1:23 was pretty easy. There was a total of 20 hammocks to be made. As I have said, I now need to transition this to 1:64 for Niagara. The biggest concern is that the rails go around a lot of the ship - I've estimated well over 100 baby hammocks. Although it would be an incredible looking piece of detail I'm not sure I want to invest that much time. So the plan is to show some hammocks in a rail(s) and then make the illusion of more that are covered by canvas.

Hey Darrell - I'm redoing the hammocks on the gun deck cross section build. With Joel's help, I have a pretty nice 'look' now. I should have been done with them by now, but many other things interfering this week. My plan is to then see how much of that can be transferred to 1:64 for Niagara. It's been very cool building it big first, with all the bells & whistles. Now I need to miniaturize the whole thing. Actually the Niagara plans just call for a canvas wrap over what would be hammocks underneath. But honestly, I think real hammocks done right would be an excellent piece of detail.

What's left Darrell? You have to be getting close to done.

Joel - did the cap cover the entire upper deadeye - top, bottom, both sides? If placed on after the lanyards it would then cover the lanyards as they went in/out of the deadeye. Just asking - seems like some wet card stock could be molded around a deadeye.

So what is the significance of a turn at midpoint?

I like the full cut idea Paul. I doubt I would get a straight line all the way around just filing. That sounds a lot easier. Had to move a family member today so I didn't get any further.

Well at least I can rig a hammock

Maybe like this?

Hey - Joel re: the lashing, that should be loose right? Somewhere I think I read 7 times around from end to end?

Looks fantastic Darrell! I'll say it again - your perseverance amazes me.