Seahawk1313

And the New York, BB 34

Remember the shroud length increases as they go aft ( mast head to deadeye ).  I think it is harder to get the deadeyes even, rigging off the model. - Hal 

I love your work.  Your ongoing  story line with the workers is great fun.  I enjoy watching your ship come together.  Excellent work! - Hal

Very interesting, thank you very much- Hal

Thank You! A very interesting work. - Hal

Hello Gary,  My son is into  wargaming metal figures.  He primes them with "The Army Painter" primer before he paints them.  He has very good luck with it.  I use the black primer for my tops and yards.  I think it works well.  The metal needs to be primed.  - Hal 

Hi Patrick-  I soak the piece good, and wet the block just before I put it in the microwave , to keep the form from getting too hot .  Microwave time may need to be played with.-Hal

Your ship is coming along very nice.  As for bending wood,  I do almost the same but I soak the wood before I bend it on a form. then I mircowave it for about 45 seconds.  I use this on Cherry up to 3/32 's.  I use this method for the head rails and anything I need to bend.  I use rubber bands to hold the piece to the form, nothing metal in the microwave,It would Not like that!  LOL! - Hal

Just an observation,  many years ago,  The boats I ran were still coppered, unless they were sitting  for a while, the copper was bright as a new penny.  The salt  water acted  like sand paper keeping it clean.  The company switched to a type of plastic sheeting which was cheaper and lasted longer then the copper.  Out of the water the copper browned  and turned green quickly. - Hal    

Very nice.   Just a note:  Some topsail schooners used a horse (?) in front of the fore mast that the fore course yard rode up and down on so it didn't  get in the way of the fore gaff.  It was a rope set up in the top and a deadeye on the deck, this allowed the gaff to be lowered easily.  found this in Chappelle's book on Baltimore Schooners.   Almost ready to rig U.S. Schooners Enterprise and Experiment.  I'm still not sure how I'm rigging the Main Stay, a double stay rigged to the deck with block and tackle.   Interesting subject - Hal 

I would put cleats on all topmast shrouds, if you put sails or the rigging for sails, you will need belaying points.   Learned the hard way that I under estimate the number of belaying points that are needed- Hal

Very nice looking hooks, thank you for posting- Hal

I believe it was common to have a rope ladder or a knotted rope aft the mast to get higher, at least on U S Frigates.-Hal

Welcome  Aboard,  A great book that would help you is:   HMS Beagle, The Story of Darwin's Ship by Keith S. Thomson.  A lot of detail on the ship and the voyages.- Hal

Thomas- thank you for posting the pictures, very interesting- hal

Hi Richard,  For making I bolts, I mount a small length of brass wire ( .020) or slightly larger in a piece of dowel.  then bent the end into a slight  hook.  I  cut brass wire into 1 or 1 1/2 Lengths..  then loop the wire  over the the hook and turn the wire to make the eye with pliers or something similar .  I use 26 or 28 Gauge wire.  All my builds are 1/96.  I hope this is understandable- Hal

Hello- 5  feet above the water isn't much in a rough sea,  been there, done that- Hal

Hello,  Looks like the Spritsail,  I believe the "hole" was to help drain water out of the sail.- Hal

Just a note,  When the Fox deck plan is scaled  to the Chesapeake plans, they match well ( gun ports, deck width to length). There is a minor difference with the position of the Main Mast and the Mizzen , about 5 or 6 inches.  This is why I think Fox's deck is for the Chesapeake.  If I remember correctly, It didn't work for the Philadelphia when I tried it on her plans- Hal   

Hello All,  I got the Book from the Library Interchange.  I also read the Hampton Roads article.  My opinion is that the Bone Model of the USF Chesapeake was made for the British market to Honor the British victory, and not for the Widow of Lawrence.  If the model was built by the American crew there are a number of problems with its build.  The rigging follows British practice and Not American.  The deck plan differs from the Chesapeake.  It is missing hatches and the galley.  As for the stern, I agree with the Hampton Roads Article.  I went with a different design on my model of the Chesapeake,  More William Rush's first ideas on American Ship Stern .  I am half way done with rigging the sails...  I was going to do a build log,  but my computer hard drive died and I Lost everything,  Research and pictures.  Slowly getting stuff back,  only had some old stuff backed up.  I need the photograph the Chesapeake and the Fleet again and back up things better.  Live and learn!?  I hope All are well- Hal 

Threebs,  I too would love to watch and follow your builds.  I think your Ships of the Lines are great.  I have a great interest in these U.S. ships.  I, too, am about to start the Frigate United States, but as it was first launched, still working out what the stern looked like as built.  Please post build logs here if you can.  If not, what other Forums are you posting on? thank You- Hal 

Ship came out great, I had fun watching your build, thank you for sharing - Hal 

Beautiful work, you will have no trouble with this scale, your work is very precise.  My ships are all 1/96 scale, a bigger scale and I would need a much bigger house.  I will follow your excellent build with pleasure-Hal

Cherry also works well- Hal

Very nicely done, equipment details add to the build.  For a first build your work is impressive, especially with your hand problem.  May it be the first of many more boats and ships - Hal