JerseyCity Frankie

I've been really busy with work but I managed to get some work done with some of the small detail parts on the superstructures, as well as starting work on the two light towers.  * Nothing has been glued down to the deck.  I'm using Evergreen .219" tubing, metal rings, small balsa wood strip and some of the cut-off pieces from the solid kit's towers to complete. 
 
 

I got my feet wet over the weekend on the starting of the rigging the lower foremast shrouds. All in all, it went pretty well. My plan is to finish the lower formast shrouds by the weekend. I used my (quik stik) to set my mast. It works well and lets me tweak the mast when necessary. My deadeye spacer is working well. I made all my line with the Byrnes Ropewalk. I chose cotton thread. All my line is tied with actual knots. The knots are then set with diluted white glue. The cotton thread lets the glue soak in. Once everything is set and the way I like it I trim off the whiskers. 

And here is her final resting place. It is my belief that all fireplace mantels should have a sailing ship on them. I finally got one. All I have to do now is build a case.

Okay kiddies. Here they are again. All they need now is (are) some knees & breast hooks & they'll be done-arino. I still have to make a (ahem) boatload of oars & other accoutrements. I've been building these things for over a month. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! Have I mentioned how much I dislike building these things?

These boats are just so time consuming, mostly because I don't know what I'm doing. Progress is really slow. Here they are so far. I have to figure out how to plank the yawl now.

Boats, ugh! Another royal PITA. It's been three days & this is as far as I've gotten. They are going to take as long as the whole ship. I hate carving. I suck at it. I don't know how Michelangelo did it.

Started on the boats yesterday. I got the innards ground down & the lifts glued together (except for the bottoms). I will finish sanding the insides before I attach the bottoms. I've already gotten farther in two days on these than I have in 15 years on the previous set. Wahoo!
 
It's too bad you guys can't hear the soundtrack that's playing behind this ship every day. A little bit of classical, a little bit of jazz, a little bit of country, & a little bit of good old rock & roll. I actually feel a little bit sorry for youse guys.

Good Morning,
I've been working away at this and that. There are so many details to be added to this hull, that it's almost paralyzing figuring out what to do next. I've been playing around with some of the deck structures.
 
The "houses" at the stern end and the "head" have to be let into the bulwarks and rail and this is a bit tricky. I knew I had to use templates, but even creating them seemed problematic, so I built the templates up from components with a new piece at each point where the profile changed and taped them together.
 

 
I then made a decent one piece template.
 

 
Then I fine tuned the one-piece template.

 
And finally, the piece itself.

 
I used a piece of 1/32" sheet material for the back and then faced it with 1/32" x 1/16" strips. (The blocks in the picture held in place by the clips are just spacers to help me locate the rail.)
 
Here's the powder room ☺️ fitted to the bulwarks (just placed temporarily at this point.
 

 
Many thanks for looking in, likes etc.
 
David
 

I’m with Allan above, the complex series of spans with blocks on them are what I find familiar (if silly) on older ships with lateen yards.  seized intersections like net? Never seen that before, except on net.
it strikes me as very odd that the kit manufacturer could get this detail wrong but you have not identified the kit, the manufacturer or the scale.  I can imagine a circumstance, if the model is smaller in size,  where the kit manufacturer was unable to source blocks small enough to fulfill the need on this bit of gear on their kit, so instead opts for knots in place of blocks for their representation. Just a guess.

Mark,
 
I am not suggesting that you rebuild your model! I am posting this for builders like you that may be looking for accurate information on Sixteenth Century Spanish ships. For some time I have been collecting information on the subject.
 
First is “The Underwater Archeology of Red Bay” published by Parks Canada.  This five volume set describes the mid-Sixteenth Century Galleon San Juan crushed in the ice in Labrador.  The entire ship, originally built by Basque shipwrights, was disassembled, each part recorded, and a 1:10 scale model built.  This report is a great book buying bargain.  It’s five volumes that take up about a foot on by book shelf cost about $60.00.
 
Another useful resource is “Vanguard of Empire” by Roger C. Smith it is aimed at late Fifteenth/ early Sixteenth Iberian built vessels.
 
A well done book about Galleons of the Armada era is Peter Kirsch’s “Galleon”.  In this book, the author uses primary source material to reconstruct an Armada period Galleon.  The Red Bay Archeologists considered this book to be sufficiently authorative to use it in their work.
 
I recently received “Six Galleons for for the King of Spain”  by Carla Rahn Phillips.  The author, a Professor of European History at the University of Minnesota uses archival material to discuss the 1625  procurement, construction, and life of six Spanish Galleons.  Not a modeling book per-se but lots of interesting background information.
 
By looking up Parks Canada Research Reports on the Internet I found a preliminary report on the Red Bay Galleon.  This led me to a number of reports on other Iberian wrecks that have been investigated by archeologists.
 
I hope that forum participants wanting to build a Spanish Galleon from a kit or from scratch will find this useful.
 
Roger
 
 
 
 

I’m with Allan above, the complex series of spans with blocks on them are what I find familiar (if silly) on older ships with lateen yards.  seized intersections like net? Never seen that before, except on net.
it strikes me as very odd that the kit manufacturer could get this detail wrong but you have not identified the kit, the manufacturer or the scale.  I can imagine a circumstance, if the model is smaller in size,  where the kit manufacturer was unable to source blocks small enough to fulfill the need on this bit of gear on their kit, so instead opts for knots in place of blocks for their representation. Just a guess.

I’m with Allan above, the complex series of spans with blocks on them are what I find familiar (if silly) on older ships with lateen yards.  seized intersections like net? Never seen that before, except on net.
it strikes me as very odd that the kit manufacturer could get this detail wrong but you have not identified the kit, the manufacturer or the scale.  I can imagine a circumstance, if the model is smaller in size,  where the kit manufacturer was unable to source blocks small enough to fulfill the need on this bit of gear on their kit, so instead opts for knots in place of blocks for their representation. Just a guess.

I’m with Allan above, the complex series of spans with blocks on them are what I find familiar (if silly) on older ships with lateen yards.  seized intersections like net? Never seen that before, except on net.
it strikes me as very odd that the kit manufacturer could get this detail wrong but you have not identified the kit, the manufacturer or the scale.  I can imagine a circumstance, if the model is smaller in size,  where the kit manufacturer was unable to source blocks small enough to fulfill the need on this bit of gear on their kit, so instead opts for knots in place of blocks for their representation. Just a guess.

A few more.  I still have the buntlines to finish installing and their blocks and tighten up the reef tackle.
 
Rob

Thank you very much Ron....your sails are impressive.
The only real issue I am working out is the geometry of the clew and the sheet in relations to the lower sheave.   The actual force of the wind full sail would cause the sheet and the angle of the clew to aim directly at the sheet sheave/block.
 
With heavy pre-formed sails this angle is compromised.  I am working on a solution.
 
I would like to get the newsletter. Your technique's are worth knowing.
 
Rob

I have used vellum tracing paper with good outcomes. I stain it with tea (earl grey works best as it is not too red) and then dry it pressed inside blotting paper in a big book.
Here is a recent one (dry mounted). It has the slightly translucent quality of sailcloth, but also holds its shape well. I scratch on the seams with the back of a scalpel. Also, I pit some fine steel wire in the edges, where the paper is folded over to help it hold its shape. 

Also works quite well if you wet it, and furl it.


Apologies for photobombing your build log!

Here are some pics of the partially finished topgallant .
 
Rob

I know right....but the Great Republic didn't carry them during the period I am modeling........her expanse of sail was the largest ever placed on a sailing ship(120ft main sails)...and by the way...she wouldn't have set them on her journey down the coast from Boston to New York anyway.
Not one contemporary painting or model of her depicts her with stunn sails set.
 
I still have to rig the buntline blocks on the yard for the topgallant  and I'll be finished with that yard...and on to the upper topsail.
 
Pics will be forthcoming.
 
Rob(I know...*it never happened* unless you have pics)

One other note to point out for those interested.  Some might ask why not use silkspan?
 
Silkspan is a very nice, nearly to scale material..but I have my issues with it.
 
One; silkspan does not support itself very well, in larger portions, and therefore need some treatment.  Starching or lacquering.  This means the sail will need to be formed and then will need some kind of forming mold to support it while it dries.
Secondly; Silkspan once painted, tends to demonstrate a crinkled or micro wrinkled texture.  In larger scaled vessels this might be acceptable...even if you are modeling drying sails.  Limp drying sails generally look wrinkled.
 
However, I want smooth tightly pressed/billowed sails.... and my years of experience with paper sails shows me that they will last...especially once painted.  They form very nicely and retail their shape...and being paper you can use simple white glue to make them.
 
This images demonstrates what I'm looking for.

Dowmer...The details will get even better when I add the reef bands/points to the topsails and main course.
 
One item I need to compensate for is the length of the sail.  When it is *billowed* it shortens.  I didn't want my model to have just *hanging* sails, but active ones.....so it takes a bit of 3D imaginational geometry.  Kinda like when I make furled sails....I never use the actual size of the sail....but a modified version.so when it is furled it looks neat and tightly and clean...not oversized and bulky.
 
The next couple of days might be a bit slower in the yard due to family issues...but I will attempt to keep moving forward. This is  just the first mast...and I have 2 others along with the for and aft rigged spanker.
 
Smooth sailing to all.
 
Rob

I tinkered on the GR today..not much because a dear friend of ours was admitted to the hospital today...she has early onset Alzheimer's and she had a Grand Mal seizure this morning and she is currently alert but unresponsive.....
So I only set the foreroyal.  I wanted to do more.....but we're off to the hospital now that she can see visitors.
 
I made the paper sail, rigged it prior to install.   Some of the buntlines are loose and so much more needs to be done...but I'm on my way...to setting sail.
 
Here are some images..
 
Rob

For better certainty maybe the specific lines in question should be identified? Knowing the task of the line in question will determine the best way to belay it.

For better certainty maybe the specific lines in question should be identified? Knowing the task of the line in question will determine the best way to belay it.

So I think I got this. Took all night but I'm fairly happy with the results. I guess it's standard practice to place a steeler at the stern where the GB would have met the rabbett/bearding line had I had one. I did try and carve one, but ruined a keel doing so. I will just have to live with the "ridge" along the keel and sternpost on this model. I will attempt it on my next. Please let me know if this looks ok.
 
Thanks again to everyone,
F.

I saw a fantastic plank on frame model at Joint Clubs in Connecticut one year, jet black whales which I thought were mahogany but the builder told me it was black shoe polish. Looked better than paint. Absolutely convincing, a deep measureless black with no brushmarks.