Blackie

The website no longer sends me notifications so probably won't be back so this is likely my final post as the model is near as complete except for a few rope coils and mounting it somehow. I have attached a few quick shots if anyone is still interested. 
This modified version of the Harvey has taken me years because of work and other commitments but I am happy with it in its final Baltimore Schooner form. Probably a few errors in history but I'm not changing it now.
Hooroo
Blackie

Hi Vytis
Thanks for the comments. I started the Harvey model about 2000/2001 but as I have said it took quite a while because of other commitments. I built the hull first up to the deck just as the kit detailed and then it sat under a dust sheet for a long time. Then over more time, I started to do some research into Baltimore Schooners. No doubt you know that there never was a "Harvey" so I decided to use it to make my version of a Baltimore Schooner. But by then I had a hull and I decided to stick with it - it had taken a lot of work to get that far! As I researched I read books, looked at photos and then drew my own plans for the deck layout and the rigging. I probably used most, Howard Irving Chapelle The Baltimore Clipper 1965 and Lennarth Petersson Rigging Period Fore-and-Aft Craft 2007. These and other books have line drawings with dimensions for the BS craft. The books, especially Chapelle state that the BS craft all varied in dimensions but generally they grew out of the Royal Navy schooners which were "shortish" at 75' to 80', then American built in 1812 to 1820 at about 95' to 100' and then later they became longer when they began in the slave trade. No doubt other members will contradict me but the above is taken form a very quick reread of Chapelle. Those dimensions are the deck length so as the Harvey model is about 610mm on the deck it equates to 100' (30.5m) which is OK for my model which I claim is about 1812. Looking back there are some things I would change but it is completed after many years and other projects beckon.
 
Perhaps you need to settle on a period that your model will represent and can you get copies of the above books?
Cheers Blackie
PS feel free to contact me anytime
 
 

The website no longer sends me notifications so probably won't be back so this is likely my final post as the model is near as complete except for a few rope coils and mounting it somehow. I have attached a few quick shots if anyone is still interested. 
This modified version of the Harvey has taken me years because of work and other commitments but I am happy with it in its final Baltimore Schooner form. Probably a few errors in history but I'm not changing it now.
Hooroo
Blackie

A few more images showing the build at present.

It's been some time since I added to my log. As you know, other hobbies, travel, etc get in the way. However, I have managed to rig foot ropes and stirrups to the jibboom, boom and the spread yard. I've also rigged halyards, downhauls and sheets to the fore staysail, inner jib and outer jib together with the appropriate blocks. I have also rigged brace and lift pendants to the yards which are almost ready to rig on the model.
 
All of these are very difficult to photograph so I've included some poor photos of two guns that I have almost rigged. I have decided to rig the starboard side with guns seized up for sailing and those on the starboard side ready for firing or just fired. 

Slow and steady, but I have finally fitted the boat to the stern davits. The photos are a bit rough but show the work as it progressed. The gripes are made from an old handkerchief which the boss surrendered. It was stained in cold tea and rinsed in diluted PVA glue. After drying I cut some 2mm wide strips which were still reasonably flexible and added some brass rings to tie them to eye bolts in the stern rail. There is a gripe rail with padding between the boat and the transom but the photo of that was out of focus. The gripe rail is required to keep the boat off the rudder pendants and to pull the gripes against, same as for boats fitted to davits along the bulwarks.  

Help please.
I was about to start rigging my longboat which is hung from davits over the Harvey's stern when I began to question my proposed rigging. 
I propose to use hooked double blocks with falls up through the davits and hooked onto eyebolts within the boat. This is the usual rigging for boats later in the 19th century, say steel baques, schooners, etc.
Does anyone have an opinion on the size of the blocks and diameter of the falls for an early 19th C timber Baltimore schooner?
 
The boat will require some gripes to stop it swinging and banging into the transom so I was also proposing to fit some type of gripes and gripe rail.  Mondfeld's Historic Ship Models has the info shown on the sketch but it has no rail. In my case I have rudder pendents which might foul the rail and gripes. Any comments on gripe layout?
 

I have rigged the boom, main sheet, topping lifts but can't take a photo of it just yet. I thought that I had settled on a main sheet/block arrangement but found that when I rigged it the blocks clashed with the top of the rudder stock. Then I decided on another arrangement and cut off one of the blocks and moved the second one towards the outer end of the boom. Big lesson here - never remove something until you really, really must! I redid the main sheet and realised that while I would change the direction of the sheet through the blocks, I needed to original configuration even if they had to be shifted aft. So I remade the cut strop and refitted it which meant removing the boom from the mast and all of the unnecessary messing about that went with it. I'll think longer before next time I think that I must change something.
 
Anyway, to do something different I thought that I would make a few oars for the ship's boat. The first two were way too short but good practice. With the longer loom and shank I needed a longer slot to take the blade and it was beyond me to do it by hand past about 6-7mm length used on the shorter versions. My blade in the electric saw cuts a wide slot which in the 2mm shank is too wide and leaves little of the narrow shank to fit either side of the blade. I then decided that as the oars would all be fitted flat onto the boat's thwarts I needed only one side of the shank and have proceeded with that Idea. The part finished oars are shown. I'll probably only fit 6 oars into the finished boat so can choose the best of the lot.

Time to update the log after a small amount of work. I am slowly working on the rigging and starting on the deck fittings as shown in the attached. Rigging is not yet trimmed or fixed for the last time as I might need to rejig it just to get in something else such as braces for the yards yet to be fitted.

I need some advice please. As I worked on this kit bash, I added an extra gun port forward of the foremast but will still add only the original 8 guns. I am finally getting to the original 2 stern gun ports and have decided to infill them with gun port lids rather than leave them open. I had first thought to just fit the lid with no hinges but am now thinking that perhaps I should add some hinges. I do NOT intend to fit lids to the other 8 gun ports.
 
My model will be rigged without sails but I'm thinking of fitting the guns in different positions such as run out, run in and secured against the bulwark.
 

It's been some time since I posted something but I have moved on a little with the main mast and most of its rigging now fitted.

I'm off onto the road for a few weeks so before I go, I thought I would post some shots of the main mast and its spars. I will finish coating the mast, top mast, boom and gaff before I go and then fit them when I return. 
When researching the mast dimensions and shape I found two versions of the shape at the mast head. I went with what is shown but now believe that I should have done it the other way. That was to extend the square section down to the base of the cheeks - I think that would look better and it certainly would have been easier to make.

I seem to have some trouble uploading drawing files using PM so here they are. These sketches are what's shown on my log or will be used for the rigging.
I should say that when I rigged the bowsprit and jib boom, I changed the stays, etc slightly from the layouts shown in my sketches included in the early log. This was to allow the anchor stock to swing clear - 3D reality always trumps 2D planning.
Foremast Dims.pdf
Top Foremast Dims.pdf
Foremast Head.pdf
Foremast Yard.pdf
Lower Topsail Yard.pdf
Lower Topsail Yard Halyard.pdf

I don't know where the time goes though some travelling has slowed me down a bit. Progress shots are attached and I have now almost finished the main mast, main topmast, boom and gaff. I have also made the yards for the foremast but will not fit them until I have finished the ratlines. The rigging is not tightened until I rig the main mast as I have seen changes in rigging already set when I add other lines.The deck houses etc are completed but will be fitted after the masts and rigging.

I need some advice please. I have made a few drawings of the boat davits and running rigging for the spanker boom and gaff and they are attached. Can you see any problems? I think that they will all cleat each other when assembled on the model and should give enough space for the crew to work the lines. Perhaps the steering tackle will foul the main sheet? Yes it will!!!!
Do I need the gaff vangs? I can find lots of images which have none including POB and La Recouvrance. To delete these would free up some space in what has become a quite busy area.
Thanks 
Blackie

Yes Floyd and I have now done a drawing for the square sails. I also had a rethink on the fore and aft sails and the stay #224. It interfered with hoisting the main gaff topsail using sail hoops rather than another gaff set vet high on the main mast. I have added another sketch.

I have decided on the fore and aft sail plan as below and the relevant stays. Three head sails and the stays which I believe to be about the correct year of 1810. The POB rigs are a little different and I can't see their like in my sketches of old schooners. Kit stay # 220 from the centre of the jibboom has been deleted and the martingales adjusted to suit.
 
I have also settle on the fixings at the foremast head which will be eyebolts passing through the mast for strength and simplicity. The latter objective seems to me to be something that the BC builders would have aimed for when you look at when and where they were built - metal straps and brackets were all more material and more working of metal that they would have found difficult.

Hi Floyd and Russ Thanks for comments.
 
Floyd, now to try and answer your queries.
The planking was a long time in the making. I divided the hull into 4 and then used a flexible tape and proportional dividers to determine each plank width at each bulkhead/frame.
 
I agree with you about the pump location. It must be as far aft as possible to get into the lowest depth of the bilge and just behind the main mast seems the correct location for the Harvey model. I have attached shots of the binnacle, cabin, pump and galley stove pipe. The binnacle is from Karl Heinz Marquardt's book The Global Schooner p201. It is 3 compartments, each with vertical sliding panels; the centre section is for a light and so the ring on top is the "chimney", the outer sections had compasses in them. Charles Davis in The Built-Up Ship Model also shows a box-type binnacle.
 
The cabin is my version as I did not like the clumsy kit one. I believe that the companionway covering/hatch would be better integrated with the companion light.
 
I do not have any gratings though I did make them from the kit and have retired them to the "extras" box. I don't believe that a single deck vessel such as the Baltimore clipper with low freeboard would be fitted with gratings over the hatches even if they could be covered and battened - why not just fit solid hatch covers to keep the hold reasonably dry, which can be removed relatively easily at anytime for ventilation compared to canvas covers and battens?
 
Yes, it is a stove pipe and a small hatch ahead of it to get some air in over the stove.
 
Cannon shot will be fitted into racks alongside the main hatch. I have bought some smaller shot (2mm balls) to fit better with my idea that the cannon are 4 pounders. I agree with your comment about moving the aftmost cannon forward. Its a pity that when I built the bulwarks a few years ago, I did not know as much about Baltimore clippers as I think I do now. I am thinking about cutting in cannon port up forward about inline with the foremast or perhaps just forward of the foremast channels.
 
Finally, my date of 1820 was a bit of guesswork based on Howard Chapelle's The Baltimore Clipper Its Origin and Development in which he talks about the design being used by slavers after the 1812 war as it was very fast and could sometimes outrun the Royal Navy cruisers. On reflection my deck layout might be a bit influenced by Chapelle's comments on slavers which went for unencumbered decks with smaller and fewer openings. That said Chapelle's book has a number of drawings of clippers and similar vessels which all show few deck fittings and dates of 1811, 1815, 1816, 1817, or so.
 
Hmmm. these fittings look OK in real-life but a bit rough under the macro lens.

I started this AL kit Harvey some 12 years after 2 other kit builds - Mercury and Panart Saint Lucia, a tartan. The build progressed very slowly and I abandoned it about 8 years ago due to work and other interests. Finally in mid last year I was able to get back to it and I finished the hull planking just before Christmas. However, about then I began a lot of research into Baltimore clippers and I realised that the Harvey kit is "not true to form". My version of the kit materials-wise does seem to be quite good compared to those that I have read about so perhaps the kit has deteriorated over the past decade. Anyway, I now see that the deck layout could not be as shown in the kit and I have decided to scratch build my deck fittings to a new layout and I have almost completed a scratch build of the jolly boat for the stern davits.
 
The deck fittings are made but not attached and I am also building new cannon carriages about half the size of the kit parts - this is the correct size as far as I can determine using the same brass cannon in the kit which seem to be 4 pounders. I must admit that I have been a bit distracted by other things and doing some research on the rigging but hope to get going again now on the build.
 
I welcome any comments.

I don't know where the time goes though some travelling has slowed me down a bit. Progress shots are attached and I have now almost finished the main mast, main topmast, boom and gaff. I have also made the yards for the foremast but will not fit them until I have finished the ratlines. The rigging is not tightened until I rig the main mast as I have seen changes in rigging already set when I add other lines.The deck houses etc are completed but will be fitted after the masts and rigging.

Hi Genco
 
It's been a while since I was in this website so I'll attach the instructions here. If you don't get them please send me an email address. 
Later I'll try and post them onto my build blog again.
 
Also. it's been quite a few years since I built my Harvey but I see that I have scribbled a lot of notes on the instruction pages - I hope you can read them. I only used the kit up to the hull and decking. After that I did my own research and drew my own drawings of the spars and rigging which I built from scratch. Yell out if I can help.
Regards
Blackie
Harvey Instructions.pdf

Another book by Howard Chapelle that I have is The Baltimore Clipper - Its Origin and Development. It was first published in 1930 and I have the 1965 reprint. It has accounts of Baltimore clippers during the 1812 war as well as comment on their origins from pilot boats, luggers and other vessels in the mid 1700s through the vessels of the Revolution. It concludes with their evolution into slavers and eventual finish around the mid 1800s. 
The book has informed my remake of the AL Harvey as it contains a number of deck and sail plans as well as descriptions of rigs  and hull shapes.

Another book by Howard Chapelle that I have is The Baltimore Clipper - Its Origin and Development. It was first published in 1930 and I have the 1965 reprint. It has accounts of Baltimore clippers during the 1812 war as well as comment on their origins from pilot boats, luggers and other vessels in the mid 1700s through the vessels of the Revolution. It concludes with their evolution into slavers and eventual finish around the mid 1800s. 
The book has informed my remake of the AL Harvey as it contains a number of deck and sail plans as well as descriptions of rigs  and hull shapes.

I also use Modellers Shipyard but have found that Cornwall Model Boats in England have a huge range of timber planks and strips in differing species. Their website is http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/ship_fittings.html  
They will cut the timber to 500mm lengths unless you pay about $30 for a courier to deliver it in the original 1m length. That's not so bad if you order a number of planks and strips in one order.

Per
I agree with you about the heads not being on the BC. That said I did find that some immigrant vessels to Australia did have them. The James Craig is a restored/rebuilt 3 masted barque here in Sydney and it has a very small "box" up forward similar to the Harvey kit. I can't find an image of it but you might find one on the web just for interest. On the JC  today it is used for tools/equipment.
Blackie