Doug McKenzie

3 Micro Book Reports - Wooden Ship-Building, Charles Desmond - 1919, published for need of wooden ships circa WW I. Useful scantling tables, great diagrams and photos. A Practical Course in Wooden Boat and Ship Building, Richard M. Van Gaasbeek - 1918, published for need of wooden ships circa WW I. 1/2 boats (for methods) and 1/2 ships (Standard Wooden Steamship, LOD=282' Beam=45', Draft=24'). Lots of photos not much quantitative info. How Wooden Ships Are Built, H. Cole Estep - 1918, published for need of wooden ships circa WW I. Lots of photos not much quantitative info. Progress - Not much change visually but lots of little mistakes are fixed particularly in the areas of the ceiling, bulwark stanchions and main rail. What happened is that I have gone to 2 meetings of the Ship Modeling Society of New Jersey and the quality of work there is a lot higher than what I have been doing. Therefore, I decided to pause on progress and improve on quality. I also fitted the garboard strake and the next two strakes with a stealer in the second that I think may be enough. The garboard strake is made up of two pieces of wood that were edge glued before being cut and fitted. Continuing improvement in quality of fitting is my name! I'm using Underhill's method of setting out the planking hopefully ensuring that smooth, fair curves will be evident everywhere and from every point of view - the reference points can be seen marked on the frames about 3 plank widths above the 3rd plank. I'll bring the bottom planking up to where the ceiling has been planked. Then I'll be in a better position to decide what planks to leave out for visibility of the interior.

Thanks to you also wefalck - Great background story - I never even heard of these things before - thanks also for confirmation that Leon wouldn't have had one.

HMS for sure thanks for the info and for the pic. IT's HUGE!

Building the Brigantine Leon at 1:48. Built 1880, Norway. I've seen some references to windmill bilge pumps being used on Scandinavian ships after about 1850 and into the 20th century but I am not able to follow up on these leads. The practice was supposedly very common. Given that I cannot even find a picture or diagram of one of these I am very interested in whether I should fit Leon with one and if so what does it look like? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Doug

Frank, Thanks and thanks for the recommendation - while ordering Desmond's book comments on it have also led me to Van Gaasbeck's A practical course in wooden boat & ship building and Estep's How wooden ships are built. When I get a chance to read them I'll report back. Doug

With this post, I'm beginning a build log for Leon. 302 tons, built in 1880 in Norway, traded until 1915. Model is 1:48, about 2 1/2 ft on deck. Structure is all Swiss Pear, planking - internal and external is Pau Marfin, rail and wale is Indian Rosewood. Much planking and decking will be left off so that the internals will be visible. I just ordered 6 little oil latterns with LEDs that will eventually light up the interior of the hold. Most helpful resources so far are Underhill's Plank-On-Frame Models, Crother's American-Built Packets and Freighters of the 1850s, Tosti's Young America and various forums on this website. Heading to San Francisco shortly to review Ron Cleveland's research material for his model of Leon in the 1970s. Suggestions from anyone who has ideas about how to research the internal construction are more than just welcome, they will be warmly appreciated! For now the bilge ceiling (meaning the common planks between the keelson and the bilge stringer). Next, I'll be planking the exterior to match the interior. I'm planking inside and out, in sections so that I can best judge what to leave out for maximum visibility. I haven't decided yet if I'll be cutting out some of the frames. Until next time.