FriedClams

Thank you Jean-Paul, Keith B, Ekis, Wefalck, Keith A, John and Michael for your wonderful comments and generous appraisal of my work. I truly appreciate it. And thanks to all for hitting the like button and to those following along quietly. Ratlines and Other Stuff The stays and shrouds on the real fishing boats were made-up of wire rope – 1/2” and 3/4” stainless cable mostly. So I wanted to reproduce this in scale using 7 strand stainless fishing leader, but the wire thwarted my every attempt. To be honest, it chewed me up and spit me out like a piece of gristle. I had satisfactory results putting the shrouds together, but I just couldn't tension the cables properly on the boat. I've used beading wire in the past on larger scale models (1:24) for boiler stack guy wires and the like, but never on a mast at 1:48. Many years ago I heard about a modeler who used a below deck spring mechanism that somehow connected to selected cables and kept the rigging taut even with changes in humidity. Clever solution, urban legend or straight-up nonsense? I don't know, but I'm always amazed how creative people can be. In the end, I used miniature rope soaked in gray paint and a little PVA to keep it from frizzing. These boats typically had a single ratline on the port side, so I began by drawing up a construction template. Basswood rungs that scale to 1” x 2” are stuck to the template with double-sided tape. A razor saw is used in cutting notches to receive the “cable”. A second set of wood rungs are cut in the same way. These are glued to the first set making a two-piece rung with the cables sandwiched between them. Holes for carriage bolts are drilled and the injection-molded bolts are glued in with the rounded heads face outward. The nut/washers go on the backside. The turnbuckles are made from .035” stainless tubing sleeved over brass wire. The scale length of the buckles are about 1'9”. The chainplates with connected chain are made from two different sizes of chain and narrow strips of aluminum can sidewall. The larger chain shown in the image below is 21 LPI and used only for the rings that connect chain to plate. Once the individual links are separated, they are squeezed into a “D” shape and the straight section of the ring is split open. A length of 27 LPI chain is worked onto the ring and the aluminum strip is slipped through, folded in half and epoxied together. The split in the ring is hidden under the aluminum fold. It's more difficult to explain than to actually do. Injection-molded bolt/washers are added along with some paint and pigment. Chain and plates are attached to the lower end of the ratline assembly. A lower rung has been added and it clamps across the turnbuckles. I have seen instances where this lowest rung is nothing more that a piece of rebar worked through links in the chain or eyes on the turnbuckles. The stays and shrouds are made up. The center bolt/washer on the chainplate shown below is missing. The bolts have an 1/8” long shank and I've decided to pin the center of each chainplate to the hull. This will add a little extra shear strength beyond the glue alone. The port ratline and center stay chainplates are attached to the hull and pinned. And then the starboard side. All the “cables” were then tied off to eye bolts on the mast. This took considerable time and involved some shameful mumbling. The center stay cables run through eye bolts on the ends of the spreader. Thanks so much for swinging through. Stay safe. Gary

Exceptionally beautiful work Jean-Paul ! Your care and precision in building this model shows in every photo and every angle of the boat. Very fine workmanship. Gary

It's good to see you back at the modeling bench Michael. This is a great project and I hope you don't mind another head looking over your shoulder. I've always enjoyed watching your problem solving and approach to part creation. Looking forward to more updates. You're off to a great start - sweet joinery on the wagon by the way. Gary

Nice work Kevin ! An interesting and beautiful open boat. Gary

Great progress Ekis! I really like the communal oven with the smoke stained bricks. Nice detailing everywhere. Such a fun build to follow. Gary

Wonderful work Keith! I love the below deck interior work and the care and precision you put into it. And the image of your grandchild is really sweet. I agree with Roger - who knows what technological advancements the future will bring. Maybe a drone the size of a pea will fly down for a look around in a decade or two. Gary

Beautiful work Vaddoc, she looks amazing! Congratulations! I look forward to the final photo shoot. Gary

Hello and thanks to all for the kind comments. And thank you for the likes. Hello HH and thanks for your interest in my build. You could well be correct about that rail as I think that is a reasonable theory. I sure as heck don't know. Life Rings I’ve been dragging my feet on this build lately and the urge is building to get moving and start knocking this model out. I'm not going to rush because it's the process of modeling that I enjoy. But it isn't getting done by just thinking about it. Life rings are pretty straightforward to make. But sometimes the simplest objects can be the most difficult to believably model. Going through all the images and drawings I have of New England fishing boats, it seems the most common size ring in this era is 30”. I don't know when bright orange/red became the dominant color for life rings, but they weren't that common 100 years ago, at least anecdotally. So I'm going with off-white rings for this boat. I begin by gluing two layers of basswood together that produce the thickness needed for the rings. The grain is oriented like plywood at 90 degrees to each other for greater stability. A compass defines the discs and they are roughly cut out leaving plenty of extra material around the perimeter. The centers are drilled to fit a Dremel saw arbor and placed into the chuck of a portable drill and shaped with diamond grit files. Obviously, I don't have a lath and if you don't either and want to try this, know that your portable drill must be kept immovable and the file held firmly in order to shape the part into something close to a circle. If you allow the file to wobble, you are making a lobe for a camshaft and not a ring. Once removed from the arbor, I hand twist a tapered machinists' file into the center to open it up. Then some 600 grit paper followed by white acrylic. Miniature rope that scales to 1.25” is glued on at the 4 quadrants. Strips of paper representing the grab line retention beckets are colored with ink and alcohol and glued to the rear of the rings. The beckets are cut, wrapped around the ring and glued. As they were wrapped, a touch of CA was placed on the rope and the paper was pinched tightly around it. Dry transfer lettering is applied. The small letters are 1/32” and the larger is 3/64”. Ink and alcohol is applied to the rope to gray it down a bit and then a touch of pigment powder is scrubbed on overall to pull everything together. Brackets are made up from blackened brass and styrene. Epoxy holds them together. A throw/retrieve line will be added to one of the life rings. This throw line is a smaller diameter than the grab line on the ring and is intentionally being modeled to look dissimilar and therefore separate from the ring itself. I place a length of string that scales to 3/4” diameter into a mixture of wet-water, acrylic paint and PVA glue. I've used this process before on this model and additional information can be found at post #137 on page #5. A mock-up of the available space on the model is made and the string is wrapped around a toothpick which serves as a place holder for a bracket. There's a lot of PVA in this mix so waxed paper is needed to keep the string from adhering to the cardboard. Once I'm happy with the look of the thing, more solution is liberally applied. This will dry hard as a rock. A sliver of tin is fashioned into a throw rope holder. Injection molded nut/washers are glued on and color applied. And everything is glued to the wheelhouse. Thanks for stopping by. Stay well. Gary

Very interesting boat Kevin. The bottom photo in your last post shows how large it really is - surprisingly so. I like the anchor, it is unique and ingenious. This is a nice open boat model celebrating your local fishing heritage. Your doing a great job and I look forward to seeing the model in her final paint. Gary

Wonderful progress Kevin - really sweet work. Nice technique for building the lifeboats and your videos are great. Gary

Good grief - everything so tiny, fragile and detailed. Splendid work Wefalck. It's always a pleasure (and education) catching up on your build. Gary

You made a beautiful job of her Kevin - congratulations. Great detail and atmosphere. She drips of the sea. Very nicely done. Gary

Just catching up on your log Kees. Beautiful work as always - every element and detail. I followed your previous F/V builds and have always admired your modeling skills. I am especially impressed by your work in styrene as it is among some of the best I have seen. The mechanism atop the capstan is another example of that high level of work. Very nicely done and completely convincing. Are you using something like Milliput for the inner and outer curvature of the "cast iron" components? Are you cutting/fabricating your own gears? Superb work Kees - keep it coming. Gary

I so enjoy watching your process and problem solving in producing individual parts. Thanks for sharing that process with us. Wonderful work Keith, she is looking great. Gary

Congratulations Eric on the completion of Arabia - she is beautiful. Your build log has been very educational and filled with interesting historical content. Thank you for sharing this rich and wonderful journey with us. I will be watching for your Viking longship build. Gary

Interesting model Chris and you're doing a beautiful job. Nice clean work and I really like the interior framing at the stern and bow. Looking good! Gary

Wonderful work Johann - beautiful. Gary

Just catching up Ekis and I see you have been busy. Your village is coming along great. This is such a fun build to follow. Thanks for sharing your progress with us. Gary

Deben is looking beautiful Vaddoc. Seems that you're not far from the finish line. I like all the rigging work that you've done - so neat and precise, just like the rest of the model. Great stuff. Gary

That's a sharp looking sharpie Jim - very nice tight work. It would be hard to tell it apart from a full sized version were it not for the clamps, ducks and other such items in the photos as a size reference. Splining the joinery for center board and rudder is a real craftsman's touch. Beautiful work. Gary

Wonderful work on the Arabia Eric. She's is looking very nice and I think your decision on the support base was a good one as the simple design keeps the viewer focused on the model itself. I love all the cargo details and they provide an authentic atmosphere. As John has stated above, I too appreciate your last post detailing the workings of the grasshopper poles. I knew how they worked in theory, but couldn't envision how it was actually done. Your log has been such an interesting read into the history of these riverboats. I had no idea how many variations on the basic design were used for different river conditions - stern vs sidewheel and so on. It's the history and story behind any given craft that brings a model of it to life. Looking forward to the final photo shoot. Gary

Nice work on the deck and cockpit/cabin Jim. Beautiful tones in the wood and I really like the contrast of the lighter king plank to the rest of the deck. Looking real good. Gary

Excellent work Ken - your hull and planking look great. Nice progress. Gary

Just catching up on your build Keith. And what do I find? The same old predictably perfect and wonderful craftsmanship of a true artist. Very - very nice. Gary

Excellent work on the 60 LB gun. Nice clean shape and edges - not easy to do in wood. Nicely detailed as well. The Harper’s Weekly page has to be a rare piece. It’s amazing to think that such a fragile piece of ephemera, something intended to last maybe a few months, has survived for 140 years and will now find a good home alongside your model. It’s in good condition too and will make a great complimentary display. Nice find. Your Tennessee is looking beautiful Keith. Gary