FriedClams

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the positive and supportive comments on my small diorama. You folks are very kind and I’m pleased you found it of interest. And as always, thanks to everyone hitting the like button. Work on the fishing dragger is moving forward, but the pace has slowed due to - you know - yard work. Gary

This post is unrelated to my Stonington dragger build and is just something I wanted to share. I hope this isn’t bending forum rules too far. I’m in the process of building a series of small shadow box dioramas in 1:87 scale. Each diorama is 2.25” x 4.75” with a maximum depth of 2.5”. The exterior dimensions of the shadow box is 8” x 5.25” x 3” deep. It is made from poplar and assembled with biscuits. This is the second diorama I’ve completed and depicts the interior of a small fictitious boat building shop. It is completely scratch built with the exception of the following items: The brick wall material is from New England Brownstone Co. in Massachusetts. It is made in white Hyrocal slabs that you cut and color as needed. The window frames, truss rod queen posts, turnbuckles and the 55 gallon drum are unpainted injection molded styrene from Tichy Train Group in North Carolina. And the two human figures are from Preiser in Germany. I apologize for the quality of these images as they were shot through the glass using a polarizer and only diorama LEDs for lighting. The exterior photographs visible through the windows were scaled and affixed to the inside of a PVC pipe that was split lengthwise creating a concave image plane. This means there is no upper or lower edge of the photo that can be observed. And because the photo sits back away from the window, the image shifts as the observer moves and their visual perspective changes. I installed two pushbuttons into the bottom of the case that control interior and “exterior” LED lighting. Being able to control them separately allows for day/night display scenarios and changes the mood - much more than I expected. Compare the “nighttime” shot below to the “daytime” (with interior lights on) shot above. And then exterior lights only. Interior lights only. Exterior lights only. And a couple of other shots. Thanks for taking a look – now back to the fishing dragger. Gary

Wonderful work Frank - as close to perfect as it gets. Congratulations. I look forward to seeing your dredges and of course the final "studio" shots. Gary

Keith, John, Druxey, Mark and Alexander - That you for your kind words and for looking in on my build. I appreciate it. Dave B - Glad that you find my log of interest, and thanks for the compliments. Happy to have you following along. And thanks to everyone looking in and hitting the like button. Some Deck Details This is a small update showing the addition of a couple of minor deck details: - Trim around the base of the fish and ice hatches - Two fish hold deck plates - Added rail to the port side The added rail shown prominently in the following 2 photos is a mystery to me. I don’t know what it’s called or what its purpose is. It is shown in nearly every photo of every Stonington style dragger I have seen. It is always on the port side directly in front of the sorting pens. - Is it to keep fisherman from flipping backwards over the rail when sorting fish on a slimy deck? It doesn’t seem high enough to prevent that. - Or does some kind of cleaning table set on or hook over it? I have not seen a single image that would even suggest this. If someone knows or has a theory – I’d love to hear it. Here are a few more photos. In this final photo a faint deck wear pattern is beginning to emerge. I don’t want to commit until the winch and gallous frame are built and placed. Next I'll be starting in on the pilothouse. Thanks for stopping by. Gary

So very nice Keith! Gary

Fairing is so time consuming and your results look very nice John. Looking forward to watching your build progress. Gary

Hello Dan. Sorry, these are the units I was referring to. Gary

Very nice work on this cross section Dave! You have some seriously great skills with the scroll saw and the egg trick is one to remember. I look forward to your future posts. Gary

Simply beautiful Kortes. The color tone on all your woodwork is so rich - very appealing. Gary

Beautiful work on the compass housing Keith - so very tiny. Your hull is coming alone wonderfully. Gary

What a unique and complicated build you have going here Dan. So interesting, and it’s coming along beautifully. It’s easy to forget how small some of these details are – the dime placed next to the sheds is a good reminder. Your interpretation of the large white roof units as air intake might be correct, but I have a few reservations. First I want to state that I am not an HVAC tech or a system designer by a long shot. Most of my working life was in industrial automation and electrical controls, but I worked on these systems when HVAC people were not readily available and production lines were shutting down due to unhealthy air conditions. In complex environmental systems, it doesn’t take much to throw things out of balance. And just for the record – if the impeller on a large roof mounted centrifugal blower decides to throw itself apart – it will always do so at 2:00 AM in the middle of a blizzard. But back to your white roof units. My doubts that they are air intake stem from the existence of the shutters. Air makeup units have to continuously supply fresh air in all weather conditions. Also in the photo I notice the exhaust of a rather large blower pointed at the unit. It doesn’t seem like a good idea to blow stale air back into the intake. If I were to guess (and I am) I’d say it was a heat exchanger. In bitter cold, the shutters could be closed fully or partially. My second guess is that it’s a hotdog stand. Thanks for all the effort you put into your build log – it is instructive, educational and fun. Keep up the good work. Gary

Chris, Druxey, Michael and Dan - Thank you for looking in on my build log and for your kind words and encouragement. I sincerely appreciate it. And thanks to all who stopped by and hitting the like button Here’s an overview of hatch positioning on the aft section of the deck. The placement of the bitts and the curvature of the transom differ here from my model because it’s a different boat. I’m choosing this deck layout simply because I found it in drawings and photos more often than any other layout. The area highlighted in green is the top of the storage and sits 15” above the deck surface. There are two removable covers, one on each side. The orange lines represent the wooden planks that make up the fish sorting pens. Period drawings often label this area “checkers.” These pens can be assembled in different configurations and pulled apart to be set out of the way. Even though the drawing indicates that these pens can be set up on both starboard and port side, I have not seen a single photo showing this in practice on these small draggers. They are always on the port side only. In use, the trawl net is emptied into this area and the catch is sorted by size and species. Non-target fish that still have a market value are sorted out into separate pens and boxes. The image below shows a mixed catch of lobster and fish in the sorting pens. The photo is from an excellent book by Peter K. Prybot titled White-Tipped Orange Masts. To get started on the storage area, I install a couple of support beams for the decking. They have been bent to match the crown of the deck and installed so the top sheds water forward. A card template is made for the forward facing side. Wood is glued to it, cut out and then stained. Card is cut and glued to the top of the storage area. Leaving the ends wild, pre-stained boards are glued on. The boards scale to 1” x 4”. Once this was complete, I tore them all off for a re-do, because they were crooked and looked terrible. In this photo you can see the boards tending toward port. After all boards were on, it was much more obvious. After the redo, I filed the board ends even. And though the boards now appear to be pointed slightly starboard, I have convinced myself that it’s just a camera angle illusion thing. Before I am done with this storage deck, it will receive a wash to tone down the contrast a bit. Next, I layout the cover positions and cut a hole in the deck for the hatch cover frame. Although there are two covers, only one will be removable on the model. The frame and the two covers are made. Cover handles are bent from .0125 phosphor bronze wire and placed. I’m using the bronze wire over brass simply because that’s what I have. But as a side note, most of the fine wire I use in modeling is phosphor bronze. Like brass it’s a copper alloy, but it is harder and has more spring to it. It doesn’t have a tendency to slump like brass wire does, which makes it ideal for railings, tie rods, guy wires, etc. The handle escutcheons are 1:160 styrene eyes. Next, the pen boards are made up. The sequence is simple and produces predictable results. In these next photos, I setup the lighting for strong contrast to show grain in the wood - so the texture appears exaggerated. The piece of basswood is 3/16” x 1 ½”. First, it is wire brushed to bring up the grain (soft wire brush). Then hand holds are cut with needle files. A hole is drilled to accept a knot. It is placed where the wire brush found softer material and dug deeper. This deeper cut is exaggerated with a file leading into the knot hole. A toothpick is glued into the hole and cut flush on both sides. The wood is stained front and back with chalk/alcohol. The white along the bottom is meant to represent salt wicking. To get the colors to blend on such a small piece, a lot of alcohol was used. There is no such thing as too much alcohol – I’m talking about modeling here remember. Wood 2" x 2" are installed as placement guides on the hatch sides and stanchions. The board ends slide down into these guides. Styrene nut/washers are added to the guides. The arrangement of pens is slightly different on my model than is shown on the layout at the beginning of this post. The drawing depicts a larger boat and has pens forward of the fish hold. Smaller boats like mine have the hoisting winch directly in front of the fish hold and deck space is at a premium. These small boats sometimes have a diagonal pen off the port side of the fish hold. So that is how I configured mine. Notice that of the three large pens, only the forward two have pen boards up against the bulwark stanchions. This is to keep small catch from slipping out through the scuppers. Thanks for taking a look. Gary

Sounds like a very interesting build Brian. I will follow along. Gary

Hi Pat I've been reading your build log from the beginning and I just wanted to stick my head in to compliment you on your work. You've produced some very fine details which is a real challenge at this scale, and the model in general is looking very sharp. Very clean work and pleasing to the eye. Gary

Wonderful work Dan - Very nice. Such a tangle of ductwork to sort out. If you ever tire of ship modeling, it looks like you have a career in HVAC waiting for you. Gary

She’s looking sweet Keith. The hull is gorgeous and drilling all those portholes must have been nerve wracking. Your control pedestal also turned out extremely nice. Well done. Gary

Very interesting build log G.L. Packed with useful techniques and a pleasure to read. Very creative and wonderful results. Thank you for sharing your work. Gary

Thank you Keith and Druxey for stopping by and for your comments. Thanks Druxey. None of these techniques are of my own invention. I've picked them up from other modelers who have skills far superior to mine. But I enjoy the process of seeing what works and what doesn't. Here is a link that drills down into one of the many modeling projects by Chuck Doan. It is typical of the level of his work. Shown is a tugger hoist that he drew up and had 3D printed in 1:16. But the magic happens when he weathers it. Check it out. https://public.fotki.com/ChuckDoan/model_projects/fordson-skagit-tugg/29853155738-4a01be-1.html Gary

Thank you John - I appreciate it. And thanks to those looking in and hitting the like button. Fish and Ice Hold Hatches I intended to include the equipment storage and checkers in this post, but that will be the next one. The fish hold hatch sits slightly forward of center on the aft deck. It measures 8 feet long by 4 feet wide and has three covers. The hatch coamings are 11” high, but I’m building the box out of slightly wider material. This will allow me to profile the bottom edges to conform to the crown and sheer of the deck without loosing the 11 inches in height. The ice hold sits aft of the fish hatch and is 4.5 feet x 2.5 and stands 8” high. I begin by drawing up the hatch coamings and covers for both fish and ice holds. From 1/16” thick stock, I cut the coamings needed for both hatches. I use a 1-2-3 block as an aid in producing a square corner. CA is being used because I’ll be using alcohol to color them. And as you know, PVA and alcohol don’t play well together. I use a flat sanding surface to maintain flat square surfaces all around. I find it easier to push pieces around on a stationary flat surface than to sand a stationary piece with a moving sanding surface. I’ve made several of these surfaces - different grits of paper and emery that are glued down to both sides of a 4” x 7” piece of craft plywood. Having grit on both sides keeps them from sliding around. Before I begin the hatch covers, I confirm the frame size. To make the covers, appropriate sized strips of wood are glued directly to the drawing extending across all three covers. I then cut along the dashed location lines with a straight edge and blade. They are left wide and will be adjusted later. Coloring the frames starts with applying a mixture of India ink and 70% ethyl alcohol. (Any alcohol works.) Then the frames are painted with an off-white acrylic and allowed to dry for about ten minutes. Applying regular cellophane tape to selected areas of the paint and then tearing it off like an old bandage leaves a peeled paint appearance. More paint can be pulled off in areas where you burnish through the tape surface. There is a window of time when this technique works most effectively – letting the paint dry too long or too little produces disappointing results. Experimentation on scrap is essential. Different species of wood and stain/paint combinations work with varying degrees of success. But it always works. (Batteries not included and your mileage may vary.) The hatch covers are stained next. They are placed on a sheet of paper with double-sided tape. Chalk is scrapped off the side of soft pastel sticks (dry, not oil based) into three small piles – black, brown and white. After applying a wash of ink/alcohol, I highlight areas with the chalk. Black and brown for general coloration, and white to simulate sun and water bleaching. The chalk is applied with a brush wet with straight alcohol. Touching the chalk dust with the brush produces a puddle of wash as subtle or bold as you wish depending on the amount of alcohol applied. It penetrates the wood and can be blended and re-worked with straight clean alcohol. White is the most difficult to work because you can’t see it while wet. You have to wait for the alcohol to evaporate off to see the results. Where too much chalk was applied, I remove and/or blend it back with clean alcohol. This photo shows the three-stage progression. For lifting rings I found some guy wire eyes in my styrene junk yard that scale to 3” in diameter. They were painted flat black enamel and glued into indents in the hatch covers. Brown chalk was used to simulate traces of rust on and around the pulls. This helped in visually setting the pulls into place. Finally an insert is placed into the frame to hold the covers. The ice hatch was built in the same way. I’m going to hold off placing these hatches on the deck for now, as they would interfere with upcoming work. Next - equipment storage and checkers. Thanks for taking a look. Gary

Such excellent work Kortes - in every aspect. Gary

Wonderful looking hull Keith, very nice - and a beautiful shop too. Gary

Hello Dan and John, Yes, the blowers can exhaust or supply air. In your photo above it is being used for exhaust because the output of the blower is going to atmosphere. If fresh air is supplied to the intake, the output of the blower at the spiral end can be ducted to wherever the fresh air is needed. But the air can only move in one direction - from intake at the center of the impeller then out the spiral. Reversing motor rotation will not move air in the opposite direction. So I should have called it a “centrifugal blower” being used in an exhaust application. Sorry that I caused some confusion there. Gary

Keith and John - Thank you for your comments and interest in my build. And thanks to all who have stopped by and for hitting the like button. Railcaps Here is a short update showing the rail cap and stern area bitts installed. To begin I needed a pattern for the rails. I took a sheet of letter-sized paper and placed it on the deck/bulwarks of the model. Running my finger over the paper and along the edge of the boat left a nice clearly defined crease in the paper. I did this for both P/S rails. Care was needed to keep from shifting the paper while tracing the edges. I found this much easier than tracing with a pencil. Using a French curve, I refined both creases into smooth arcs. I then cut along these lines and held them to the model to check for accuracy. Satisfied, I then transfer the arcs to cardboard and cut them out. These were then glued to a cardboard base. This would serve as my forms for the railcaps. To make up the caps, I laminated two strips of basswood with PVA and pinned them to forms to dry. Waxed paper was put down to keep them from sticking to the cardboard. Once dry, they were sanded flat and smooth then trimmed and fitted. They were attached to the model using CA. Extra material was added for a wider rail at the aft deck. Inwales were installed and rail cap was added across the top of the transom. All were base painted white. Bitts were made up and installed through the railcap in each corner of the stern. This turned out to be one of those tasks that you think will be simple and fast, but ends up taking a lot longer. The bitts took no time to make – a square piece of wood cut to length with a piece of blackened brass stuck through it. But cutting the square holes through the railcap took much longer. They have to be positioned the same on each side. They have to stand parallel with the deck boards rather than the railcap. And one errant stroke of the file and the hole would be out of square, crooked or worst of all - too big. Some other views. Next, I begin on the equipment storage area, ice and fish hold hatches and the checkers. Thanks for taking a look. Gary

Hello Dan, Your Leviathan built is coming along great and a real pleasure to follow. Beautiful work. You probably already know this, but perhaps not all of your readers do. The snail shaped fans are called “centrifugal exhaust blowers”. Mounted directly onto the motor shaft inside the spiral housing is a squirrel cage impeller. The intake to the blower is always into the center of the impeller on the side opposite of the motor. The exhaust is out the end of the spiral. So what appears to be an end cap is probably an elevated cover or hood protecting the blower from rain while still allowing the blower to exhaust. And just like the name implies, they are installed to exhaust a given space or area. Here in the US, the capacity rating is in CFM (cubic feet per minute) and its application is sized according to the volume of space to be evacuated and how many air changes per hour are required. Here is a photo of a few blowers sitting on the manufacturer’s production floor. So, that’s all the irrelevant air handling minutia that I know. Looking forward to the continuation of your build. Gary

Keith, your planking is looking terrific - so tight edge to edge. And a good call on the keel plank. The beautiful form of the hull belies the complexities in planking it. Gary