shipmodel

Hi Mark - Very nice start to the planking, as everyone else has said. A long, smooth curve to the strake. You might try scraping the ebony rather than sanding it. I use a single edged razor blade, which generates scrapings rather than dust and which lift off rather than being rubbed into the grain of the nearby wood. Looking forward to your progress. Dan

Hi Michael - Just back from 10 days vacation and was impressed with all the excellent work that you've done, and your similarly excellent explanations and photos. I'm learning so much about engine construction and metalwork. As the hula dancer said when the bovine nipped at her costume: Moo Chews Grassy *** . . . Be well Dan

Hello again - Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone. Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks. Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed. Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete. No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher. The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines. 1 1a Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on. You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line. I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships. I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism. 1b The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines. Here is how I approached it. The spar is simple. A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon. The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic. This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered. Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end. 3 The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes. Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side. These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar. This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail. An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends. The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end. According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other. Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes hang vertically, as if by gravity. 4 In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup. The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 5 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set the sag permanently. The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar. The first was the line for the sling. An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side. A round seizing secured it in place. The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit. It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made. Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar. At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace. Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks. 6 Then I turned to the sail itself. The first choice was what to make it out of. Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product. I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find. I found it at the New York Fashion Center. Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin. As you can see in the photo, you can read through it. Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced. 7 Now, how to shape it to a furled look. Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle. I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail. To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on. The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail. 8 After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted. Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue. When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar. It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar. The teasing process continued throughout the drying process. Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion. 9 With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed. The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points. Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning. 10 At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments. Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure. 11 So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe. I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo. 12 My very best wishes to you all and your families. I will see you in the New Year. Dan

Hi Mark - Really sweet work on the framing. Looks even better enlarged and flipped right side up. Smooth, fair and symmetrical. Not much more you can ask of a set of ribs. Cherry will work well for planking. I have used it many times. However, I have run into some problems occasionally: Some pieces seem to have been over-dried and are brittle. They splinter rather than cutting cleanly. Make sure your blades are sharp. Also, the color can vary substantially under the final finish even when the unfinished pieces look quite similar. If you will be coppering the lower hull consider using a less expensive, more user friendly wood there. Looking forward to seeing your progress. Dan

Log 29 – lower standing rigging Two weeks ago there were no masts or rigging set up. The channels weren’t even on. 1 Today, with the invaluable help of JerseyCityFrankie, the lower standing rigging is done and the upper rigging well on its way. 2 Here is how it was done. First came the channels. They are all situated in the line of the second molding, just under the blue painted bulwarks and above the gunports. In typical fashion they are stylishly curved at each end, with a cap strip that captures the deadeye “chains”. They are located such that the foremost deadeye lines up with the center of the mast. In the photo you can see how I miscalculated this and the main channels had to move aft about half an inch, leaving a gap in the molding that had to be filled later. Unlike English practice which usually had the supports under the channel, French practice at the time was for wooden knees above the platform. 3 For the lower masts, the rule of thumb is that deadeyes are half the diameter of the mast, while for upper masts they are more closely the size of the mast. For this 17mm main mast the deadeyes are 9mm boxwood ones purchased from Model Shipways and stained. Each hole was opened a little and a lanyard groove cut for each hole on an angle to ease the bend in the lanyard line. In my restoration work it is almost invariably true that the rigging line fails at these sharp corners in deadeyes and blocks, so wherever possible I will be preparing the rigging fittings this way. The deadeye “chains” are not the three links that are seen on later ships, but solid iron straps that are bolted through the hull at the bottom. At the top there is a loop that hooks through a raised section of the deadeye strop. This setup has been seen in contemporary drawings and confirmed by artifacts discovered in the excavation of La Belle, LaSalle’s ship when he explored Texas in 1674. La Belle is a little early and about half the size of the QAR, but the rigging fittings should be similar so I have decided to go with this. I will be taking many cues from the La Belle excavation as reported by Glenn Greico in his Master’s dissertation, available here: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Grieco-MA2003.pdf My deadeye straps were made from brass strip, with a narrow section ground and bent to a hook, then chemically blackened. They are pinned to the hull with half inch roundhead steel nails that are glued into holes that angle upward slightly to counteract what will be some pretty high stresses as the shrouds are tensioned. 4 The metal strops were formed from stiff iron wire. (Yes, there are straps, strips, and strops. Sorry about that, but I’ll try to keep them straight). Here is the jig that I used. It is for the deadeyes in the tops which have long legs to go through the top, but the principle is the same. 5 A length of wire is bent around the middle pin, which is there to keep the loop open for the later hook. The legs pass between the pair of larger pins and are then bent out in a straight line. A deadeye is held hard against the center point and the legs are bent by hand into the groove till they cross at the top. Using the legs as handles the strop is spread apart until the deadeye can be popped out. A bit of epoxy is laid into the strop groove and the deadeye is put back into the strop and rotated as needed to line up properly. The legs of the strop are clipped short and the ends bent down into the groove with pliers. When the epoxy dries they are ready for use. Although the gap in the strop used to worry me, I have never had one open up. Besides, if the stresses are that great, I would rather that the strop open up than have the entire channel pulled up. With the deadeyes all strapped and stropped to the channels the rigging could begin. I did this from aft to forward, with one exception. The very first piece of rigging was the gammoning around the bowsprit. This is important because all of the stresses and tensions of the standing rigging are anchored here. You can see the way the lines cross as they wrap from aft to forward on top of the bowsprit, but from forward to aft within the gammon hole in the stem. The gammoning is finished with a few round turns just above the grating in the head. 6 You can also see in the photo that the seat of ease has been lined with lead like the scuppers. I would not otherwise show this feature, but the excavation of the QAR has turned one up, so it has been added. 7 Beginning with the mizzen mast the deadeyes were turned into the shrouds and given three seizings. The shrouds were made from linen line sourced from a pool cue manufacturer who uses the line to make non-slip grips. The line comes in unbleached white, which was dyed with RIT liquid black dye according to the package instructions. 8 As was consistent for almost all ships of this period, whatever their origin, the deadeyes were laced with oiled line. The lacing had to be protected from salt water, but could not be tarred since it must have been adjusted fairly often as the shrouds stretched from the strains of sailing and weather. This has been represented with a dark brown line rather than the darker black of the tarred shrouds. 9 At the mizzen top the shrouds are served as they go over the trestletrees and around the masthead. Under the top are several blocks for the running rigging and for the crojack yard halyard. The mizzen stay is served and an eye worked into the end. A mouse is raised on the stay to form the loop that drops over the masthead and the heads of the shrouds. The mouse is shaped with the bulbous end down, in the French fashion, so the bulb jams against the eye. English practice is to have the tapered “tail” of the mouse slide through the eye until it has no more space to run. I don’t know why there is this difference, or whether one or the other conveys any kind of advantage. 10 At the lower end I ran into a problem. Although never detailed, it is clear that the mizzen stay has to set up to a collar on the main mast. However, if the stay is centered it interferes with the ramshead block and tie for the main spar. I decided to offset the collar to starboard with a bullseye seized into it. A set of double blocks were seized into the lower end of the stay and the upper end of the collar, then joined with a lanyard. The lower end of the collar is belayed to one of the large mast cleats. 11 The shrouds for the main mast are set up much like those of the mizzen. There are five heavy shrouds with large deadeyes, and two more on the aft end of the channel for the topmast shrouds. 12 For the main shrouds the forward one is served its whole length to protect it from chafing by the mainyard sail. The other shrouds are served only where they go around the masthead and then for a short distance below the top where they are seized to each other in pairs. The three futtock shrouds have been hooked into the strops of the upper deadeyes then turned around a futtock stave that is seized across the shrouds. You can also see the pendants that hang below the top, which are served all over with an eye worked into the end. They were used as anchor points for hauling up the ship’s boat, supplies, etc. 12a Here in a later photo they are shown with a double block hooked into the eye, the running line goes down to a corresponding block at the deck which is hooked into an eyebolt near the base of the mast. 13 These hooks were made up in my usual way, by turning an eye into appropriately sized iron wire using orthodontic wire bending pliers. The wire is then turned back over the pliers and clipped off. For the larger hooks used for the pendants the clipped end was further tapered with a grinding drum, then the tip was recurved as in full sized practice. 14 Aft of the mast a set of catharpins are laced to the futtock staves and pull them inward against the strain of the futtock shrouds. According to R.C. Andersen this diagonal pattern was used by the French, probably to leave space immediately behind the mast for the main yard ties and other rigging lines. They were installed on all three masts as they were rigged. 15 The main stay is set up with an eye and mouse, just as the mizzen stay was. Although this is the largest of the rigging lines on the ship I decided not to worm it, nor to have a preventer stay. I reasoned that a small ship that had been a slaver for several years and was now in the hands of pirates would not have the spare manpower to maintain lines that would not be called on except in battle, which the pirates avoided at all costs. The collar is set up in the French fashion, served all over and anchored around the base of the bowsprit. The two legs are seized together at the bow and then on both sides of the foremast. Large triple blocks are seized into the ends of the stay and collar and laced together. 16 In this close-up you can see the blocks, which the French used rather than hearts favored by the English. You can also see the thumb cleats that secure the collar to the mast on either side. 17 The standing rigging to the foremast is identical to that of the main mast, except that the stay goes to a collar on the bowsprit. You can see most of what has been discussed in this one photo. 18 The fore and main masts had crowsfeet laced from the top to the stay to prevent the lower edge of the topsails from curling under the top and fouling all the lines and blocks that live there. These were made by first shaping the euphroes out of pear. They are about ¾” long, with a strop groove cut in all around the edges. Since there are 16 holes in the forward edges of the tops, the euphroe has 8 corresponding holes. A strop was seized into the groove with the tails left on which were used to attach the euphroe to the stay. 19 The crowsfoot was formed by lacing the line up through the hole in the top closest to the center cleat on the starboard side. A stopper knot under the top prevented it from pulling through, much like the deadeye lanyards. The line laced down and through the top hole in the euphroe, up and over the lip of the top on the port side, down through the first port side hole, and up the second port side hole. It continued down and through the second euphroe hole, up over and down the second starboard hole, and up the third starboard hole. The lacing continued loosely back and forth in this manner until the line reached the outermost starboard hole. All the lines were tightened and a knot was worked close under the top and the excess line snipped off. To strengthen it all the lines were painted with dilute PVA glue. 20 The final element for the lower standing rigging is the ratlines. The line itself was selected to scale out to ¾” diameter, suitable for the weight of a man, and spaced 10mm apart, which converts to 15” in real space. As for tying them, many others have gone over the lacing of ratlines, so I will not repeat that here. Suffice to say that they are attached to the outermost shrouds of each gang with an overhand loop, which makes the smallest bulge around the shroud, and secured to the inner shrouds with clove hitches. This is not nearly as daunting as it may seem. Once a rhythm is established it goes rather quickly, like knitting. Frank and I tied all the ratlines for all the lower shrouds in just four hours. No special effort was made to have the ratlines sag between the shrouds, but they naturally take on a mild curve as the tying proceeds. This can be increased or reduced by gently tugging on the appropriate knots until the desired look is achieved. Once I was happy with the overall look the entire shroud gang was painted with dilute glue and, when the glue was dry, the tails were clipped as close to the shrouds as could be managed. 21 I hope to have another report out before Christmas, with the completion of the standing rigging and the beginning of hanging the spars and sails. If not, a very Happy Holiday Season to all and I will be back in the New Year. Dan

Michael - Let me be the first to say how impressed I am - again. Dan

Hi Mark - Good looking progress. Your plan for the next step sounds right and should give you a stern that is accurate, true, and strong. I do wonder about the shape of the doorway to the quarter gallery. In your drawing it looks much too angled, although this might be an artifact of the angles of the plan. As a doorway it should be pretty much a rectangle with sides that are perpendicular to the waterline so they will be vertical when the ship is at rest. Of course, this is a very small nit and probably will not be visible in the completed model. Looking forward to seeing your continued excellent progress. Dan

Seriously terrific work, Michael - I see you found Andre the Giant to help you out. That can't possibly be your fingertip in the photo. If it is, I tip my cap to a true master. Be well Dan

Looks good, Mark. Smooth and symmetrical. Dan

Hi again, and thanks for the likes and compliments. It is going well, I think. I am trying to create the look of a working ship, rather than one fresh off the building ways. Now that the foredeck is installed, I turned to the waist. With the cannon rigged out they can be covered by the gangways. But first I decided to put in the ropes that go through the hull and belay below the gangways. It would have been much harder to do them with the gangways in place. These are the main course tack that goes through the chesstree, and the two sheets that go through the sheaves in the hull. These lines will be some of the larger running rigging ropes and, because of their locations, some of the more visually prominent ones. They have to be good quality and look like miniature rope. I could have laid them up on my ropewalk, but I have a few spools of treasured Cuttyhunk Irish linen line (which is no longer available for any price). The Zane Grey and Natural colors are too white, but a quick run through Minwax wood stain in Ipswitch Pine color makes them look the right shade. 1 Even examined closely this gives them the look of miniature rope. 2 I fed the line through the hull openings. The larger line (C-21) was used for the tacks which belayed to cleats, while the smaller one (C-12) was for the sheets.which belayed to the staghorn kevil. 3 Although each line is tied off properly, they were all further secured with dilute white glue. When dry the ends were nipped off and hidden by separate rope coils. I make these on a simple jig. A block of soft wood - basswood in this case, but it could be balsa - has several holes drilled in the top face and one or two holes in the front face in the same line. Removable brass pegs fit into the holes and everything is given several coats of clear finish to keep glue from sticking to it. Then matching lines are wrapped around the pegs with the ends friction fit into notches in the jig. 4 As I wrap I randomly make larger and smaller loops and even the occasional figure eight. When I have the look that I want, the coils are painted with dilute white glue. Actually, they are first wet down with water, which helps the dilute glue to penetrate the line rather than having it sit on the surface. When the glue is dry the top peg is removed and the coil peeled up from the jig and trimmed. Using dilute glue means that the coils are flexible while still holding their shape. 5 The coils are hung over the belaying points, teased into position where they look like they are hanging with the force of gravity, and secured with white glue. 6 7 In the photos you can see the supporting knees for the gangways. These were made as before by cutting and shaping a stick and then parting off individual ones. After locating and installing the forward and aft ones, the gangways were glued in, then the middle two knees for each gangway were installed. In the photo you can see the ropes that feed through the hull. I left what I hope is more than enough to reach to the sails, but we will see when the rigging is installed. 8 The final fittings in the waist were the four ladders from the gun deck up to the gangways. They were wider at the base than at the top, and were built up as has been detailed before as a stack, then parted off. 9 After individual ladders were parted off they were cleaned up, stained and installed. 10 Now that the waist was complete, I turned to the quarterdeck. The railing that was built up last time was installed, then the whipstaff. For those not familiar, this is an obsolete steering device that predated the wheel. It consisted of a rotating fitting called a rowel set into the deck through which a staff passed before it hooked into the end of the tiller arm. Moving the staff port or starboard turned the rudder. It was not very efficient, but then most steering was done with the sails during this time. 10a A hole was drilled in the deck and a piece of pear cut and sanded to fit. The fore/aft slot for the rowel was carved into the pear piece, as were indentations for the staff clearance athwartships. The rowel was turned from maple, and the hole drilled to allow the staff to have a sliding fit. I set the staff at an offset angle and glued it in place. 11 You can also see the ladders from the quarterdeck to the poop deck on the roof of the captain's cabin. These were made up as before, just a little taller than the gangway ladders. Similarly, the post with sheaves for the lateen halyard was made like the fore and mainyard halyard fittings. Along the bulwarks are staghorns and pinrails as drawn by Budriot. I am not completely sold on the pinrails, which do not appear anywhere else on the ship, but they are certainly needed for belaying points. The four 4-pounder cannon were rigged and installed like the 6-pounders on the gun deck. 12 Now the deck fittings that were made up almost a year ago could be installed. These were the companionway house, the officers' bench in front of it, and the two small binnacles. 13 The ship is now ready for rigging, which will start next month. 14 Until then, happy Thanksgiving to all and to your families. Dan

Really nicely done, Bob. Add my congratulations to all the others. What sort of case are you planning to display your success in? Dan

Hello again and, as always, thanks for the likes and comments. This time I turn to the details of the foredeck. Although the basic structure and planking has been completed for a while, it was never attached to the hull because various components under the deck had to be completed first. These included the guns that were done last time, the anchor bitts, and the post with sheaves for the foreyard halyard and tie system. Here is the system on a contemporary model. This is the one for the main yard, but the pieces are the same: a post attached to the deck with a number of sheaves for the halyard line; an upper ramshead block with matching sheaves and a transverse hole for the tie which comes down from the masthead; and the halyard line running between the two. As you can see, the line goes through the deck and must pass through a series of holes or a scuttle of some sort. There are no clear photos of this detail that I could find. 1 I also had to figure out how to install them fully rigged, since it would be quite difficult to get to the posts once the upper decks were in place. Even RC Anderson recommends fully rigging them, then tensioning the system with the tie and not the halyard. Here is what I came up with. I started with the ramshead blocks. I made these up with false sheaves rather than trying to build them up since they would be rigged and the sheaves hidden under the running line. A series of five holes was drilled in a sized piece of hardwood in two matching horizontal lines using a Dremel drill press. Then a thin grinding bitt was laid against the wood to cut a channel from one hole to the other. You can see where I am starting the process in the right side hole with the others in later stages of carving. 2 These channels were carefully deepened and straightened, then angled at the ends of the cut until they approximately replicated the curve of the sheave that is not there. This was done on both sides of the workpiece. Now the blocks will accept the line which will look as though it is running around a circular sheave. Once all the slots were cut and cleaned up, the block was parted off to length and taken down to the ramshead shape with a sanding drum. Here are the two for this model. I do see that the tops of the blocks need some further shaping to match the one in the earlier photo. 3 In a similar way the posts that will go under the foredeck and quarterdeck were cut, pierced, and shaped. The one on the right is an early example, before my technique was perfected, and which would be replaced if it were not going to be hidden under the foredeck. The cut at its base is so it can fit over the knee of the anchor bitts, which brings it to the starboard side of the centerline. 4 And here are both sets, which were made up at the same time to maximize consistency. You can see how the posts will be secured with brass rods into the deck for strength. 5 Here is the foreyard set fully rigged. Sharp eyes will notice that there are only 4 loops of the halyard line and not 5. When I went to install the set initially it really seemed too large for the ship. I went back to my photos of contemporary models and found that the 5-sheave blocks were used on the largest three-deck warships. This small frigate would not have needed such lifting power, so I took the finished pieces to the table saw and sliced off one side of all the pieces to eliminate one sheave. This had the happy result that the scuttles in the decks did not have to be quite as large. More on this later. 6 The next detail for the foredeck was the railing to keep sailors from falling into the waist and to house the ship’s bell. I wanted to build and install it now so I could secure it from beneath the deck with metal pins before the foredeck was put on the model. Here is a photo of a fairly fancy one from a model of a French ship of a somewhat later period. Although this one is continuous from port to starboard, Budriot shows two gaps which will be used later to house spare spars and topmasts, so there is a long central section with two short sections flanking it. 7 I decided that my railing would have balusters set in channels for the body of the railing, with posts that went up through a caprail and ended in shaped timberheads that could be used to secure rigging lines. The first task was to make a fairly large number of identical balusters without spending days turning them on a miniature lathe, which I don’t have. I opted for the mill-and-part-off method that has worked for me with support knees, shingles, and other repetitive parts. On the left is the baluster shape that I selected from internet images, then the cross section of the workpiece after milling channels with the Preac table saw and rounding off as needed with a carving bitt. On the right is the side view of the workpiece with the parallel channels cut by the saw. Note that the grain runs vertically. 8 Here the individual balusters are being parted off the workpiece on the Preac. It is set up with the tall vertical fence and the thinnest, finest blade that I have. The workpiece is being fed into the blade and is supported by a sacrificial stick held against the miter gauge. This support stick is taller than the blade height so the end remains attached and I can push the workpiece through repeatedly, taking off identical slices. 9 Here are four of the balusters set into upper and lower channels ready for the end posts and caprail. 10 And here are a set of completed railing sections ready for installation. Note that four of them are angled slightly to match the round-up of the deck. 11 However, when I went to install them I realized that I had made a major mistake. I made the railing about 40 inches tall in scale, enough to keep a man from falling over it into the waist. This looked terrible against the size of other fittings. I went and rechecked my dimensions to find that the railing is really only 18-24 inches tall. Proof, once again, that if it doesn’t look right, it is probably wrong. Instead, a new workpiece was shaped and short balusters were parted off. Here you can see the relative heights of the old and new railings. 12 You can also see that the new workpiece did not cut as cleanly as the old one. I gave them a few coats of finish and, when dry, took off the wood fuzz with a thin pointed grinding bitt. Here is the final set of railings, the upper ones for the quarterdeck and the lower ones with the belfry for the foredeck. 13 So here is the foredeck ready for installation on the model. You can see not only the railing and the scuttle for the halyard, but some additional features whose construction is pretty straightforward: the smokestack for the galley stove, a small grating for the galley, a set of riding bitts with sheaves (also quite low to the deck), the mast coat, eyebolts for hooked rigging blocks, and that curious rigging fitting with ten cleats set onto the deck. 14 And here it is, installed. Newly added are the catheads for the anchors, which are secured to the deck with headed bolts and the timberheads around the low bulwarks, secured with metal pins. You can also see how the ramshead block was led up through the scuttle. It was a tight squeeze but it made it, and then the scuttle was mostly closed off with wood battens to help keep the lower deck dry. 16 Next time, the gangways and quarterdeck, including the whipstaff. Be well Dan

Hi - Thanks for the likes and comments. Mark - you are probably right about the intermittent use of the inhaul tackles. I imagine that during an engagement they would be available but unhooked from the carriage. If the recoil was not enough to bring the gun back far enough to be loaded they would be quickly hooked on, hauled in, then unhooked when the gun was run out. I don't think that you would want them hooked when the gun was fired, as they would get in the way of the recoil. Matt - the pump handles are out of the way to the stern of the gun. Look at the location of the inhaul ring on the deck near the pump. Guns in the midship battery would rarely be slewed very far forward. It was easier to turn the entire ship than to muscle the gun carriages around with handspikes. That said, there are some really tight quarters for the pump bodies, the main mast, and the inhaul tackle, if I am correct that it would be hooked to the opposite ring. Dan

I expect that I will never build a miniature engine, much less a working one, in my modeling lifetime, but I am immensely enjoying following your work. That was a truly elegant and practical solution to your slip. Dan

Hi Mark - Just catching up with your build. Looking mighty nice. Let me add my compliments to all the others. V2 is coming along beautifully. I took your last photo, enlarged it and flipped it over to really appreciate it. The Hahn method may build the hull upside down, but I can see it better right side up. Top quality work, my friend. Will you be carving the details with your light saber? Dan

HI all - After finishing up some other projects and some chores on the "honey-do" list, I am back building the QAR. Here is my progress. I realized that I had not planned or installed any scuppers from the gun deck to the outside of the hull. Using a set of outside calipers I located and drilled five on each side of the hull. I lined them with lead from a wine bottle wrapped around a toothpick, glued, and slid into place. Once the glue was dry the excess was trimmed with a sharp blade. They fit well when they were located under the gunports, though this meant that the upper ends in the waterways at the edges of the deck were all hidden by the guns. Here are two on the port side of the hull. 1 Next I turned to the guns. First were the stowed guns on the starboard side. I played around with the test gun station that I made up a while ago to see how it might have been done. I figured that the crew would have used the breaching rope and the train tackles which were already available. I found that the breaching rope could be tightened up through the rings in the bulwark, which would have secured the gun pretty well. Then the train tackles could run from the eyebolts on the carriage to the hooks in the bulwark. Once they were tightened the remaining length of running line could be frapped (overwrapped) between the blocks. I found that two layers perfectly used up the free line. This seems a workable solution, but there certainly can be others. Note that I have installed a lead vent cover secured with light line, which would have been used to keep water from entering and rusting the vent hole. 2 Here is the line of four stowed guns in the waist. The guns are secured with a metal pin through the rear axle and into the deck, which is hidden between the truck and the carriage. There are two others, one forward under the foredeck and one aft under the quarterdeck, which can only be seen at a low angle. Those that cannot be seen were not installed. 3 On the port side the guns are run out, so all of them can be seen to some extent. The three aftmost and the one in the bow were simplified. The trucks were replaced with cleats for added glue surface and security, while the capsquares and rigging were not installed. These were pinned in place as well. 4 The visible guns were glued to the deck and a metal pin was drilled at an angle through the rear axle and into the deck. The breaching rope was rigged through the rings in the bulwark and secured to itself with two round seizings. The rope was softened with water and shaped to 'droop' onto the deck. Once it was approximately positioned it was painted with dilute pH neutral white glue and teased into final position as the glue dried. This also secured it to the deck. The train tackle was rigged from the carriage eyebolts to the bulwark hooks with the running line coiled on deck. I did not flemish the coil since I do not think that a pirate ship would be that 'shipshape' or fastidious. 5 As long as I was rigging the guns, I experimented with loading procedures. I was surprised to see that when the gun was fully run in for loading the back of the carriage covered up the deck ring behind it. I double checked the length of French six-pounder cannon and the breadth of the deck and they were correct, so it is likely that this was what happened. The only way I could make the system work was to hook the run-in tackle to the ring on the opposite side of the deck. 6 With the copper clips standing in for the gun crew this seems to be a workable solution. But again, this is speculation and may not be correct. 7 The rest of the port broadside was installed and rigged. 8 There are no pumps in Budriot's plans, but they do appear in a photograph of Berti's model of Le Mercure. His are round, which I did not like, so I made mine hexagonal. This was done in a straightforward way. A length of half inch maple dowel was cut and the end marked with a six pointed star. The lines were extended down the dowel then the wood was carved away between the lines. The pump bodies were cut to length and the sides adjusted by hand sanding. 9 The well at the top was drilled, milled and darkened. Blackened brass reinforcing rings were installed, as was a blackened brass outlet near the base of the pump. The yoke for the handle was fashioned, installed and secured with three metal pins. The handle was shaped and given a pivoting lifting bar at the business end that dropped into the well. The handle was mounted on a metal axle pin through the yoke and the finished pump was given a coat of clear finish. 10 The completed pumps were installed adjacent to the main mast location. Their bases had to be angled slightly to match the round-up of the deck, then secured with metal pins into the deck. The handles are angled outward where they can be accessed easily by the crew without getting in the way of the rigging to come (at least I hope that there will be no problems). 11 Using Pirate Pete for comparison, I am happy with the size, scale and look of the pumps. 12 More soon. Be well. Dan

David - All my best wishes for continued and complete recovery. What a scary time that must have been! So glad that you came through it and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The Maine had her own troubles too. Glad she came through OK as well. Maybe if you write to the manufacturer or retailer and explain your problem they will provide replacements for the missing sheets. I know that if it were Bluejacket or Expo they would do it without a second's hesitation. Be well Dan

Michael - Just catching up on my reading after the NRG conference. Nice progress while I was away and very nice work. The transition from the inside rabbet of the stern to the outside rabbet of the keel is not child's play by any measure, and you are making it look easy. Looking forward to seeing the engine come together. Dan

David - I have lots of photos if they would help. Feel free to ask and I can get them to you. It may be easier to run off a disk and mail it to you than to try to email them. Just send me your address. Dan

Hi David - Coming along quite nicely, given the limitations of the materials. It is really taking shape. Don't worry about comparing it to my model or anyone else's. I know that there are a whole pack of mistakes in my model that, hopefully, I have corrected or covered up. BTW - the 'v' shaped fittings to either side of the gangway between the center and aft deck houses were supports for a pair of large motorized cutters that were never fitted on the ship. They did find a use for the scaffolding, which was to stow extra spars and even the rolled up set of sails that were originally designed for the ship, in case it ran out of coal in mid-ocean. Here is one of the earliest plans for the ship, with three masts and raked smokestacks. Keep up the good work. I will be eagerly watching for future installments. Dan

Hello to all who are following this build - It has been a while since my last posting. Summertime had a lot to do with it, but I also took some time away to work on a short-term and time critical project. So here is a little diversion from this build. It may merit a separate file, but as you will see later on, it is incomplete. I was asked to restore a presentation model of a modern container ship. The CMA-CGM Vivaldi was built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. in their Makpo Shipyard in South Korea. Launched in December, 2004 she was 334 meters LOA with a breadth of 42.3 m (just under 1100 ft LOA, 140 ft breadth). Its carrying capacity was not listed on the dimensions plaque on the model, but it is huge. Here she is in a photo from the company website of CMA-CMG Shipping, which owns and operates her as part of one of the world’s largest fleets of container ships. 1 The model was likely built in the same shipyard as a gift to thank CMA-CGM for the contract and was presented at the time of launch. It is built to the small scale of 1:200, but the model is still 5 ½ feet long. Given that the price for the ship was in the millions of dollars, it is not surprising that a good deal of care went into the construction of this presentation model. It was probably kept in one of their offices, perhaps in their headquarters in Marseille, for the last decade but then was presented in turn to a financing company in Stamford, Connecticut. It was during the delivery of the model that things went bad. Here is the crate that it came in. You can see that although there is no obvious damage to the box itself, one of the bottom cleats is missing. 2 I was called in when the box was opened and it was found that one of the glass panels of the case was cracked and there was some damage to the model. My first overall impression was that this was not going to be a hard job. Some of the containers had been detached from their mountings and were tipped over, but they were still on deck and in a line. The superstructure was in place and there was no evident damage to the hull. 3 Closer examination revealed that the devil had been playing in the details. A large number of small pieces were lying on the blue felt base and some had even become trapped in the channel that the glass case sat in. Fortunately many of them, including some quite complex assemblies, appeared undamaged like the one in the center of the photo. 4 A repair proposal was discussed, a fee agreed to, and work began with the recovery and conservation of any detached parts. Once the wrapping of clear plastic was removed the impact point could be seen. It was clear that there had been one sharp blow which had chipped and cracked the glass panel, but without separating it from the rest of the case. Unfortunately, this is exactly the kind of impact that cyano glue does not like. With the help of JerseyCityFrankie the glass cover was removed and all of the loose parts were carefully collected. The detached container units were numbered from the bow to the stern on sticky notes and set aside. The grey railing units could not be immediately identified, but they were put into one container for later study. All of the smaller parts such as the lifeboats, ladders, white railings, and various unknown pieces were put in another. 8 9 Now the full extent of the damage could be seen and assessed. Along the edges of the hull most of the railings and stanchions were broken off, leaving unpainted spots showing where they had been attached. At the stern there was additional damage where the railings and ladders had been crushed and even some pieces of the rigid styrene components had been broken. When everything that was loose had been removed the deck was almost nude other than two container units at the bow that had somehow managed to remain in place. This was packed up in bubble wrap and taken back to the studio in Brooklyn, NY. 12 The superstructure which had initially appeared to be generally sound was found to have suffered the most damage. In additional to losing both lifeboats, most of the railing on the aft face was gone, as were numerous small parts for the lifeboat cranes. All of the various radars and antennas on the topmost level were missing. Most significantly, the starboard bridge wing was broken off almost completely. 13 Although the proper locations of many of the pieces could be deduced from what they were, there were a great deal more that could have gone anywhere. Fortunately the company had a second presentation model of the same ship, the Vivaldi. A series of photographs were taken of the other model to guide the restoration. Here is the bow, showing the white lookout mast which had been detached on the damaged model. The ladder and safety cage had been separated and crushed, but now I could see how they had to be repaired. 14 Those gray railing units turned out to be catwalks that fit between the container units. They sat on top of U-shaped pieces that supported the containers. Photoetched ladders gave access to upper catwalks which were bordered by photoetched brass railings. 3-bar railings edged the deck all along the sides of the ship. 15a The superstructure had 8 deck levels with a full array of electronic equipment on top. 16 This area was going to be the most challenging, with radars and antenna that were all made up of very small parts that were quite similar to each other. The photographs that I was sent were not completely helpful in specifying what went where. Fortunately, using my Photoshop program I could take the image provided and enlarge it, remove the color, and play with the brightness and contrast until I could see almost all of the details. 17 18 Now that I had the undamaged model as a guide I could start the actual repairs. The first thing was to reassemble all of the catwalks. Some were in pretty good shape, but others had been mauled, with most of the parts separated, some of the plastic parts broken off, and the photoetched brass rails badly bent. Here is one of the catwalks with all its pieces and a second one after restoration. There were 21 of these in all, which took up about half of the total restoration time. 19 Now for the incomplete part - The next several weeks were spent doing the restoration. I took construction photos as I went, as usual, but had not gotten around to downloading them. [i know you can see the problem coming . . . ] Soon after I took the last photograph, my daughter and her two boys came over. One is the newborn, the other 2 years old. While I was doting on the young one, the other found the camera. He likes to push buttons. Enough said. Let me describe what I did, and I hope you can follow along using photos of the completed repair. All of the least damaged catwalks were put back together. Since there were small variations in how the bases had broken off of the hull I could locate about two thirds in their original positions, fitting them together like a jigsaw puzzle. They were numbered and set aside. One by one the rest were repaired until there were only two left, which were severely bent, with missing parts. Some replacement parts were fabricated from bent wire, and others from brass shim. Missing ladders were replaced with similar ones from the spares box. 21 Starting at the bow and working aft the containers and catwalks were glued to the cleaned up hull. The containers sit on the corners of the catwalk bases and on a square stanchion between the forward and aft bases located on both edges of the deck. This gives six attachment points for the double wide containers and four each for the single wide ones. These also broke off irregularly. Although each container unit was numbered when it was removed, several ones were out of order, and I had not recorded the orientation of the unit. Each one was test fit to the proposed location and the irregularities let me confirm the original locations. 21a The superstructure was the biggest challenge. I first relocated the lifeboats and repaired their cranes. Railings which were bent were carefully bent back and glued. Some that had been detached were too badly bent to repair. I had 3-bar railing of the right size in my spares box, but the rails were a bit thinner than those on the model. I used them to replace the railings that would not be seen easily between the aft face of the superstructure and the container unit behind it. Then I cannibalized the model railings from that area to replace railings in more obvious locations. 22 The photos that I miss most are those of the repair of the starboard bridge wing. Here the impact had broken the brittle styrene that made up the bridge deck and the angled and pierced supports on the fore and aft faces. The detached pieces had kicked around and were now mostly unusable shards. I first carefully cut the damaged section away in a straight line across the deck with a miniature keyhole saw. A piece of similarly thick styrene was cut to fit and glued in and the joint sanded smooth. Artists acrylic paints were mixed to match the green of the deck The shape of the aft diagonal support piece was traced from the existing one on the port side and cut out, fitted and finished. It was spray painted gloss white before being installed. The end cap was similarly fitted. All joints were cleaned up and touch-up painted. 22a Using the photographs of the undamaged model the fittings and fixtures on the upper electronics decks on top of the wheelhouse were located. Antennas, radars, and lightning rods were all glued in with cyano. Nothing special here, just a delicate touch and perseverence. 23 Final small detail parts were installed and all of the spots where paint was chipped or missing were touched up and the model was carefully examined to find bent railings and other defects. I know that I got almost all of them, but I also know that a few got bye, but I'm not telling where. A new glass case was ordered and delivered from a local custom glass shop. So here is the completed model ready for delivery to the customer. It was driven back to Stamford, CT, with a nervous moment for every pothole and road repair that I couldn't avoid. It survived completely intact and was installed in the office to gratifying compliments from the customer. 24 Hope you enjoyed the divertimento. Getting back to the QAR now. A new build log post soon. Be well Dan

David - I don't know what kind of paper your model is made from. Chris would be a better one to answer that question. My one suggestion in dealing with paper decking that I use is to give is several coats of clear satin finish. If I don't do that the paper changes shape and size when I apply water based glue to put it down. Feel free to ask about details of the ship as you continue the build. Happy to help. Dan

Hi David - I haven't appreciated card models very much before this, but this one seems to be quite accurate. You are doing a very neat job too. Looking good. The curved front pieces that you just assembled are not the turret itself. They are a set of six hinged doors. A 5 inch gun is mounted on a rotating base behind them. The barrel extends snugly through the large black dot (hole) at the corner of 4 of the doors. In combat the doors would all be opened to allow the barrel to traverse and elevate. There is a matching pair at the stern as well. I am following your progress with great interest. Dan

Hi David - Nice progress on the card model. I did not know that it existed, or I might have looked at it when I was building my Maine (1:72) for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Museum. The card model looks accurate, which is not easy, because none of the known plans of the Maine are "as built". They are all earlier or later examples in the design process and differ in large or small details from the actual ship. If you want to see what she did look like, go to the site for the US Library of Congress and search the site for the USS Maine (you will get a few hits for the second USS Maine, but these are easily distinguished and can be ignored). During her 2 year career a photographer from a Detroit newspaper or organization got access and took a number of large format photographs. Some are of the entire ship and some were taken on board with groups of officers or crewmen. They show lots and lots of details that do not appear on the plans. The LoC has had them scanned at several resolutions. The largest is 1200 dpi, which means that each square inch of the photo has over 1 megabyte of information. You can download them free if your system can handle it. If you do, you can take a photo of the entire ship and zoom in until you can see the facial expressions on individual sailors, as well as all the fittings, weapons, railings, decorative details, and even the rivets on the hull plates. There is no better resource than this. Some photos of my own model can be seen on the NRG website. I have others if you think they might help. Best of success with the project, she is coming along very nicely. Dan

Hi Michael - On vacation for a few weeks and look at all your progress. She looks great in those colors, and should be even more striking with the white waterline and sheer stripes. Will you be hand painting them or using striping tape? I never can do it by hand so the tape has come in very handy, but I work at much smaller scales, so it may not translate to your work. The deck really pops with its first coat of finish, and all the work and thought that went into the ballast and trolley are inspiring. Be well Dan