shipmodel

Amalio - 
 
Let me join with all your other fans to say what a wonderful woodworker you are.
I am frequently inspired when looking at your precision and perseverence.
Many of my models, even the museum pieces, are done in 12 months or less
While yours is still in the dockyard after more than 12 years.
 
My hat is definitely off to you, sir.
 
Dan

Amalio - 
 
Let me join with all your other fans to say what a wonderful woodworker you are.
I am frequently inspired when looking at your precision and perseverence.
Many of my models, even the museum pieces, are done in 12 months or less
While yours is still in the dockyard after more than 12 years.
 
My hat is definitely off to you, sir.
 
Dan

Good morning.

Thank you all for your well-wishes and for your kind comments.  Although, I have generally felt pretty ok, throughout (congestion, mostly), today was my first day where I tested negative.  It was nice to have a little time to rest, but my compulsive nature has me bouncing off the walls, at this point.
 
So, after much fiddling/fettling, I finally have the forward and mid supports dialed-in where I want them:


But, for the fact that I underestimated the angle of the buttressing knees on the forward support:

Okay, not a big deal; I added some plastic underneath the knee, so that I could fair the top surface flush with the headrail profile:
 


After fairing, and adding the support ledge for the grate slats:



I think the fleurs shaped up nicely, especially considering how small they actually are:

I had to add some plastic to the foot of the split supports, in order to raise them up about a 1/16”, but that is not a big deal either.  This is the beauty of a plastic build; you can make these mistakes and still salvage the part.
 
The next tricky bit of business is to fashion the forward terminus for the head grating, which fairs into the upper head knee.
 
More to follow..

Hello again to all, and thanks for the likes of my last posting.
 
Now that the containers had all been built and detailed, it was time to mount them to the ship.  The photos show that above the curved support trestles there was a set of second trestles that supported the containers themselves.  Here in this first photo you can see this ribbed piece, one for each set of containers.  Above the second trestle is a retaining board (or at least that is how I interpret the photos).  This first photo was taken before the piracy incident and shows that the retaining boards also had ribs along their length.
 

 
Notice in this photo that was taken at the time of the incident that the retaining boards are smooth and have no ribs.  I have no idea when the change was made, but since I was modeling the diorama as of the time of the event, I used smooth boards.
 

 
The first step was to build the second trestle assemblies that support each set of 12 containers.  Lengths of 5/8” tall I-beams that fit the look and the relative dimensions seen in the photos were cut to a length just slightly longer than a container.  These then had to sit on top of the trestle supports with enough clearance to allow access to the crane guide rail.
 

 
Each of the I-beams lengths was marked in pencil for 7 ribs.  These were individually cut from 0.03” square strip and glued over the pencil marks.  I used a very small dot of white glue on one end of the rib and put each in place.  When the glue dried I went back and fed a drop of plastic cement by capillary action under the rib.  A gentle press welded the rib in place.  I found that white glue alone made a mess as I moved the rib into position, while using only plastic cement did not give me enough open time to fiddle the pieces into place.  A horizontal reinforcing bar was added just above the halfway point and the assembly was painted in a khaki tan.  I have no evidence for this color, but it sets off well from the bronze of the support trestles and the steel of the containers.
 

 
To get the spacing for the lower trestles on deck I first had to put together the blocks of 12 containers that would sit on the second trestles.  These blocks are in turn made up of four ‘triples’.  I found that it was easiest to get consistent results if I assembled three containers onto a flat plate.  I could align them against a square jig and use thin spacers between them as the glue dried.  Two of these ‘triples’ were similarly attached to a larger plate with a bit larger space between them.  Then the final two triples were stacked on top.  Once all the blocks were made up I took three and dry fit them on top of the trestles on the aft deck.
 
I was very pleased to see how well they fit, given the tight tolerances of the model.  The outside aft corner of the trestle had to leave enough space to walk between it and the deck railing.  The result is perhaps a tad narrow, but looks acceptable.  Without moving anything the centerline and outer corners of the lower trestle were marked and drawn on deck.
 

 
The blocks of containers were removed and each pair of second trestle pieces were joined together to form a pallet.  This was done with I-beam cross-pieces that fit inside the flanges of the trestle pieces.
 

 
Shim pieces were added to the cross-pieces to make up for the differing sizes of I-beam and the pallets were painted.  Now a full block of containers could be attached to each pallet.
 

 
In a similar manner the lower trestles were connected with I-beam cross-pieces that were sized so the trestles fit on deck exactly as marked and the pallets of containers fit exactly between the crane rails.  Once everything was triple checked the trestle assemblies could now be permanently attached to the decks.
 

 
The pallets were set in place on the trestles and the retaining boards added.  These were painted a slightly lighter tan color than the pallets, but the difference is hard to see.  Here at the bow the forwardmost block of containers was not supported on a pallet, but just on I-beams.  This matches what is seen in the photos, but I have no idea why they are different.  In this later photo some additional details have been added, including the guy wires for the forward mast, the railing along the side of the deck, and the fairleads and bollards for the mooring lines.
 

 
The last major element to construct was the pair of rolling cranes to load and unload the containers.  These will be covered in the next segment of the build.
 
Till then, stay well.
 
Dan

Hello again to all.  My thoughts and best wishes to all who have been affected by hurricane Ian.  Listening to the news reports surely puts our activities in perspective.
 
The next portions of the model to detail were the hull areas and raised decks at the bow and stern.   The exterior of the bow was well visualized in several photographs.  In the one below note the hawse pipe for the anchor, the openings in the bulwarks for the fairleads, and the graphics of the ship’s name and company logo. 
 

 
On the model the hawse pipe was located and a cast hawse lip was attached.  The center of the pipe will be drilled open at a later time for the anchor.  The openings in the bulwarks were drilled open with a smaller bitt, then filed to final size and location with needle files.  The ship name is a homemade decal, blue printed on white film.  After attaching the white edges were painted to blend in with the hull color.  The logo at the bow is also homemade.  The red diamond is printed on white film which was carefully cut to form the white edging.  The triple lines are also decal film individually cut to shape and applied.  All the decals were sealed with clear acrylic gloss.
 

 
Unfortunately there were no comparable photos of the machinery on the bow deck.  Here is the best one, taken from overhead.  As you can see, there is a distinct lack of detail.
 

 
Others taken from various angles show even less information, although in this one I could get the height of the foremast.  Each photo, no matter how blurry, could give me a tiny piece of information to add to the totality.
 

 
The only one that had a clear image was taken from a height level with the deck, and although it gave me some idea of the nature of the deck machinery, the locations and sizes were still mostly guesswork.
 

 
Ultimately I fell back on my experience with other working decks and built up in what I believe is a logical sequence.  I started with the fairleads, which I could see and locate from the photos.  Then I put on bollards to take the lines that came in through the fairleads.  Then a pair of capstans were set between the bollards to haul in the lines.  For the anchor machinery a pair of hawse holes were set on either side of the centerline so the anchor chain can run through a pair of chain brakes and then over the heads of a pair of large winches.  The ship’s bell can actually be seen in some of the photos, so it was turned from a dowel, painted brass and installed on a painted brass rod.
 

 
The fore mast as seen in the photos has a running light at the top on a small platform, a cross arm with floodlights at either end, and a ladder running to the top.  It was constructed from brass tube and rod, with plastic details and a photoetched ladder.
 

 
After painting it was set in place flanked by two round topped ventilators. (Yes, I realized later that it was put in backwards. It was turned around before being permanently installed.  Just put it down to another senior moment.)
 

 
The details of the stern raised deck are equally conjectural.  Here is one of the best images that I could locate of the area.  About all that can be said is that there is a mast, painted white with a black top, that comes out of a slightly curved sun shade over most of the deck.
 

 
The second image is a little clearer and some bollards can be seen as well as a cowl ventilator and an ensign staff.
 

 
Accordingly, I installed a railing around the perimeter of the deck and some 12 stanchions bade of brass rod that will hold up the sun shade.
 

 
And here is the final deck layout.  The fairleads and bollards are cast fittings from Bluejacket, as is the cowl ventilator.  The sun shade is built up of a styrene sheet with a layer of parchment colored paper on top meant to simulate the canvas cover of the original.  It has not been permanently attached to the stanchions as yet until the mast and its guy wires are installed.  Since the deck under the sun shade could not be seen, two simple storage boxes were created and set in place.
 

 
In the next segment the containers will be permanently installed on their various support structures.
 
Until then, be well.
 
Dan

Marc - 
 
Glad you came through covid (again) so well.
 
Nice work.
I think you have solved some of the trickier fitting problems around the headrails.
Looking forward to seeing her in person.
 
Stay well
 
Dan

Marc - 
 
Glad you came through covid (again) so well.
 
Nice work.
I think you have solved some of the trickier fitting problems around the headrails.
Looking forward to seeing her in person.
 
Stay well
 
Dan

All looking very good Dan. The containers are looking particularly uniform.

The final part of my log catch up:-
 
I completed and hoisted the staysail and jibs. Germania is now showing her final profile. She is also quite large. I think I am going to have some tough negotiations about the display location! A number of deck houses are missing, awaiting the tidying of the various lines.

The real thing for comparison:-

The following shot shows the cranse iron. The two single blocks go to the jib and flying jib tacks (flying jib out of shot).

The flying jib and jib halyards:-

A more general view of the rigging at the top of the fore mast.

The additional blocks at the base of the fore mast have been added.

I now need to rig the jib sheets and sort out the tails of the various lines.

Marc - 
 
Glad you came through covid (again) so well.
 
Nice work.
I think you have solved some of the trickier fitting problems around the headrails.
Looking forward to seeing her in person.
 
Stay well
 
Dan

Marc - 
 
Glad you came through covid (again) so well.
 
Nice work.
I think you have solved some of the trickier fitting problems around the headrails.
Looking forward to seeing her in person.
 
Stay well
 
Dan

Marc - 
 
Glad you came through covid (again) so well.
 
Nice work.
I think you have solved some of the trickier fitting problems around the headrails.
Looking forward to seeing her in person.
 
Stay well
 
Dan

Marc - 
 
Glad you came through covid (again) so well.
 
Nice work.
I think you have solved some of the trickier fitting problems around the headrails.
Looking forward to seeing her in person.
 
Stay well
 
Dan

Hello!
 
The difficulty I’ve been having with these headrail supports has to do with my fidelity to the idea that some portion of the support should fit beneath the lowest headrail.
 
I started by first adjusting the adjoining angles on the starboard side.  I found that I had to add plastic shims, here and there:

This all worked out well enough on the starboard side, but I was not having nearly enough of a supporting ledge, when I shifted over to the port side.
 
More-over, when I positioned both headrails at the same time, I realized I was going to have to add significant plastic the the lower coved profile, in order to create a port-side ledge.  Rather than continue to add plastic, I decided to let the matter rest for a few days.  I am glad I did.
 
In the days that followed, my second bout with COVID (pretty mild) has afforded me the time to really think this through.  I remembered that I had already set the position of the headrails so that the forward medallion was below the sprit mast.  That was the whole impetus for re-designing the headrails, in the first place.
 
Further, I had set the cathead supports to meet neatly beneath the cathead timbers.  Despite all that forethought and pre-work, I had only visually placed the starboard cathead, before fitting the supports, on the assumption that my glue blocking would locate them properly.
 
Wellllll, that was not a safe assumption to make.  My forward medallions were actually encroaching above the spritmast, and when I put the cathead timbers in place, I could no longer fit the supports beneath them.
 
Once I could see the proper positioning of all of the affected elements, I knew what I must do:



The way forward would be to lop off these supporting ears (middle support)

Note: The vertical web you see on the split supports, closest to the hawsers, are only temporary for the sake of strength while I make and fit these parts.  Once I did that, the support pieces nestled against both sides easily:


I can simulate that under-connection, a bit later, with an applied scroll-head.
 
From there, I focused on what sort of decorative embellishments I would add to the exposed face of these supports.  I settled on a raised lip moulding:

I am playing with the idea of applied fleur ornaments at the base of each support.  These will extend out beyond the sides of each support, which may or may not be pleasing.  So far, though, they are coming along nicely:


The other tricky bit is that these cambered transverse supports for the head gratings have buttressing knees, running aft.
 
I had applied a glue ledge for the grating slats, and at the ends I have applied these blocks that I will fit to the headrails, and then file to shape.  What I have drawn upon them is only a rough approximation.  Again, these details are always easier to dial-in with the files:


Steadily, now, the bow is rounding into form.  Thank you all for your likes, your comments and for looking-in.

Hello again to all, and thanks for the likes of my last posting.
 
Now that the containers had all been built and detailed, it was time to mount them to the ship.  The photos show that above the curved support trestles there was a set of second trestles that supported the containers themselves.  Here in this first photo you can see this ribbed piece, one for each set of containers.  Above the second trestle is a retaining board (or at least that is how I interpret the photos).  This first photo was taken before the piracy incident and shows that the retaining boards also had ribs along their length.
 

 
Notice in this photo that was taken at the time of the incident that the retaining boards are smooth and have no ribs.  I have no idea when the change was made, but since I was modeling the diorama as of the time of the event, I used smooth boards.
 

 
The first step was to build the second trestle assemblies that support each set of 12 containers.  Lengths of 5/8” tall I-beams that fit the look and the relative dimensions seen in the photos were cut to a length just slightly longer than a container.  These then had to sit on top of the trestle supports with enough clearance to allow access to the crane guide rail.
 

 
Each of the I-beams lengths was marked in pencil for 7 ribs.  These were individually cut from 0.03” square strip and glued over the pencil marks.  I used a very small dot of white glue on one end of the rib and put each in place.  When the glue dried I went back and fed a drop of plastic cement by capillary action under the rib.  A gentle press welded the rib in place.  I found that white glue alone made a mess as I moved the rib into position, while using only plastic cement did not give me enough open time to fiddle the pieces into place.  A horizontal reinforcing bar was added just above the halfway point and the assembly was painted in a khaki tan.  I have no evidence for this color, but it sets off well from the bronze of the support trestles and the steel of the containers.
 

 
To get the spacing for the lower trestles on deck I first had to put together the blocks of 12 containers that would sit on the second trestles.  These blocks are in turn made up of four ‘triples’.  I found that it was easiest to get consistent results if I assembled three containers onto a flat plate.  I could align them against a square jig and use thin spacers between them as the glue dried.  Two of these ‘triples’ were similarly attached to a larger plate with a bit larger space between them.  Then the final two triples were stacked on top.  Once all the blocks were made up I took three and dry fit them on top of the trestles on the aft deck.
 
I was very pleased to see how well they fit, given the tight tolerances of the model.  The outside aft corner of the trestle had to leave enough space to walk between it and the deck railing.  The result is perhaps a tad narrow, but looks acceptable.  Without moving anything the centerline and outer corners of the lower trestle were marked and drawn on deck.
 

 
The blocks of containers were removed and each pair of second trestle pieces were joined together to form a pallet.  This was done with I-beam cross-pieces that fit inside the flanges of the trestle pieces.
 

 
Shim pieces were added to the cross-pieces to make up for the differing sizes of I-beam and the pallets were painted.  Now a full block of containers could be attached to each pallet.
 

 
In a similar manner the lower trestles were connected with I-beam cross-pieces that were sized so the trestles fit on deck exactly as marked and the pallets of containers fit exactly between the crane rails.  Once everything was triple checked the trestle assemblies could now be permanently attached to the decks.
 

 
The pallets were set in place on the trestles and the retaining boards added.  These were painted a slightly lighter tan color than the pallets, but the difference is hard to see.  Here at the bow the forwardmost block of containers was not supported on a pallet, but just on I-beams.  This matches what is seen in the photos, but I have no idea why they are different.  In this later photo some additional details have been added, including the guy wires for the forward mast, the railing along the side of the deck, and the fairleads and bollards for the mooring lines.
 

 
The last major element to construct was the pair of rolling cranes to load and unload the containers.  These will be covered in the next segment of the build.
 
Till then, stay well.
 
Dan

Hello again to all, and thanks for the likes of my last posting.
 
Now that the containers had all been built and detailed, it was time to mount them to the ship.  The photos show that above the curved support trestles there was a set of second trestles that supported the containers themselves.  Here in this first photo you can see this ribbed piece, one for each set of containers.  Above the second trestle is a retaining board (or at least that is how I interpret the photos).  This first photo was taken before the piracy incident and shows that the retaining boards also had ribs along their length.
 

 
Notice in this photo that was taken at the time of the incident that the retaining boards are smooth and have no ribs.  I have no idea when the change was made, but since I was modeling the diorama as of the time of the event, I used smooth boards.
 

 
The first step was to build the second trestle assemblies that support each set of 12 containers.  Lengths of 5/8” tall I-beams that fit the look and the relative dimensions seen in the photos were cut to a length just slightly longer than a container.  These then had to sit on top of the trestle supports with enough clearance to allow access to the crane guide rail.
 

 
Each of the I-beams lengths was marked in pencil for 7 ribs.  These were individually cut from 0.03” square strip and glued over the pencil marks.  I used a very small dot of white glue on one end of the rib and put each in place.  When the glue dried I went back and fed a drop of plastic cement by capillary action under the rib.  A gentle press welded the rib in place.  I found that white glue alone made a mess as I moved the rib into position, while using only plastic cement did not give me enough open time to fiddle the pieces into place.  A horizontal reinforcing bar was added just above the halfway point and the assembly was painted in a khaki tan.  I have no evidence for this color, but it sets off well from the bronze of the support trestles and the steel of the containers.
 

 
To get the spacing for the lower trestles on deck I first had to put together the blocks of 12 containers that would sit on the second trestles.  These blocks are in turn made up of four ‘triples’.  I found that it was easiest to get consistent results if I assembled three containers onto a flat plate.  I could align them against a square jig and use thin spacers between them as the glue dried.  Two of these ‘triples’ were similarly attached to a larger plate with a bit larger space between them.  Then the final two triples were stacked on top.  Once all the blocks were made up I took three and dry fit them on top of the trestles on the aft deck.
 
I was very pleased to see how well they fit, given the tight tolerances of the model.  The outside aft corner of the trestle had to leave enough space to walk between it and the deck railing.  The result is perhaps a tad narrow, but looks acceptable.  Without moving anything the centerline and outer corners of the lower trestle were marked and drawn on deck.
 

 
The blocks of containers were removed and each pair of second trestle pieces were joined together to form a pallet.  This was done with I-beam cross-pieces that fit inside the flanges of the trestle pieces.
 

 
Shim pieces were added to the cross-pieces to make up for the differing sizes of I-beam and the pallets were painted.  Now a full block of containers could be attached to each pallet.
 

 
In a similar manner the lower trestles were connected with I-beam cross-pieces that were sized so the trestles fit on deck exactly as marked and the pallets of containers fit exactly between the crane rails.  Once everything was triple checked the trestle assemblies could now be permanently attached to the decks.
 

 
The pallets were set in place on the trestles and the retaining boards added.  These were painted a slightly lighter tan color than the pallets, but the difference is hard to see.  Here at the bow the forwardmost block of containers was not supported on a pallet, but just on I-beams.  This matches what is seen in the photos, but I have no idea why they are different.  In this later photo some additional details have been added, including the guy wires for the forward mast, the railing along the side of the deck, and the fairleads and bollards for the mooring lines.
 

 
The last major element to construct was the pair of rolling cranes to load and unload the containers.  These will be covered in the next segment of the build.
 
Till then, stay well.
 
Dan

Hello again to all, and thanks for the likes of my last posting.
 
Now that the containers had all been built and detailed, it was time to mount them to the ship.  The photos show that above the curved support trestles there was a set of second trestles that supported the containers themselves.  Here in this first photo you can see this ribbed piece, one for each set of containers.  Above the second trestle is a retaining board (or at least that is how I interpret the photos).  This first photo was taken before the piracy incident and shows that the retaining boards also had ribs along their length.
 

 
Notice in this photo that was taken at the time of the incident that the retaining boards are smooth and have no ribs.  I have no idea when the change was made, but since I was modeling the diorama as of the time of the event, I used smooth boards.
 

 
The first step was to build the second trestle assemblies that support each set of 12 containers.  Lengths of 5/8” tall I-beams that fit the look and the relative dimensions seen in the photos were cut to a length just slightly longer than a container.  These then had to sit on top of the trestle supports with enough clearance to allow access to the crane guide rail.
 

 
Each of the I-beams lengths was marked in pencil for 7 ribs.  These were individually cut from 0.03” square strip and glued over the pencil marks.  I used a very small dot of white glue on one end of the rib and put each in place.  When the glue dried I went back and fed a drop of plastic cement by capillary action under the rib.  A gentle press welded the rib in place.  I found that white glue alone made a mess as I moved the rib into position, while using only plastic cement did not give me enough open time to fiddle the pieces into place.  A horizontal reinforcing bar was added just above the halfway point and the assembly was painted in a khaki tan.  I have no evidence for this color, but it sets off well from the bronze of the support trestles and the steel of the containers.
 

 
To get the spacing for the lower trestles on deck I first had to put together the blocks of 12 containers that would sit on the second trestles.  These blocks are in turn made up of four ‘triples’.  I found that it was easiest to get consistent results if I assembled three containers onto a flat plate.  I could align them against a square jig and use thin spacers between them as the glue dried.  Two of these ‘triples’ were similarly attached to a larger plate with a bit larger space between them.  Then the final two triples were stacked on top.  Once all the blocks were made up I took three and dry fit them on top of the trestles on the aft deck.
 
I was very pleased to see how well they fit, given the tight tolerances of the model.  The outside aft corner of the trestle had to leave enough space to walk between it and the deck railing.  The result is perhaps a tad narrow, but looks acceptable.  Without moving anything the centerline and outer corners of the lower trestle were marked and drawn on deck.
 

 
The blocks of containers were removed and each pair of second trestle pieces were joined together to form a pallet.  This was done with I-beam cross-pieces that fit inside the flanges of the trestle pieces.
 

 
Shim pieces were added to the cross-pieces to make up for the differing sizes of I-beam and the pallets were painted.  Now a full block of containers could be attached to each pallet.
 

 
In a similar manner the lower trestles were connected with I-beam cross-pieces that were sized so the trestles fit on deck exactly as marked and the pallets of containers fit exactly between the crane rails.  Once everything was triple checked the trestle assemblies could now be permanently attached to the decks.
 

 
The pallets were set in place on the trestles and the retaining boards added.  These were painted a slightly lighter tan color than the pallets, but the difference is hard to see.  Here at the bow the forwardmost block of containers was not supported on a pallet, but just on I-beams.  This matches what is seen in the photos, but I have no idea why they are different.  In this later photo some additional details have been added, including the guy wires for the forward mast, the railing along the side of the deck, and the fairleads and bollards for the mooring lines.
 

 
The last major element to construct was the pair of rolling cranes to load and unload the containers.  These will be covered in the next segment of the build.
 
Till then, stay well.
 
Dan

Hello again to all, and thanks for the likes of my last posting.
 
Now that the containers had all been built and detailed, it was time to mount them to the ship.  The photos show that above the curved support trestles there was a set of second trestles that supported the containers themselves.  Here in this first photo you can see this ribbed piece, one for each set of containers.  Above the second trestle is a retaining board (or at least that is how I interpret the photos).  This first photo was taken before the piracy incident and shows that the retaining boards also had ribs along their length.
 

 
Notice in this photo that was taken at the time of the incident that the retaining boards are smooth and have no ribs.  I have no idea when the change was made, but since I was modeling the diorama as of the time of the event, I used smooth boards.
 

 
The first step was to build the second trestle assemblies that support each set of 12 containers.  Lengths of 5/8” tall I-beams that fit the look and the relative dimensions seen in the photos were cut to a length just slightly longer than a container.  These then had to sit on top of the trestle supports with enough clearance to allow access to the crane guide rail.
 

 
Each of the I-beams lengths was marked in pencil for 7 ribs.  These were individually cut from 0.03” square strip and glued over the pencil marks.  I used a very small dot of white glue on one end of the rib and put each in place.  When the glue dried I went back and fed a drop of plastic cement by capillary action under the rib.  A gentle press welded the rib in place.  I found that white glue alone made a mess as I moved the rib into position, while using only plastic cement did not give me enough open time to fiddle the pieces into place.  A horizontal reinforcing bar was added just above the halfway point and the assembly was painted in a khaki tan.  I have no evidence for this color, but it sets off well from the bronze of the support trestles and the steel of the containers.
 

 
To get the spacing for the lower trestles on deck I first had to put together the blocks of 12 containers that would sit on the second trestles.  These blocks are in turn made up of four ‘triples’.  I found that it was easiest to get consistent results if I assembled three containers onto a flat plate.  I could align them against a square jig and use thin spacers between them as the glue dried.  Two of these ‘triples’ were similarly attached to a larger plate with a bit larger space between them.  Then the final two triples were stacked on top.  Once all the blocks were made up I took three and dry fit them on top of the trestles on the aft deck.
 
I was very pleased to see how well they fit, given the tight tolerances of the model.  The outside aft corner of the trestle had to leave enough space to walk between it and the deck railing.  The result is perhaps a tad narrow, but looks acceptable.  Without moving anything the centerline and outer corners of the lower trestle were marked and drawn on deck.
 

 
The blocks of containers were removed and each pair of second trestle pieces were joined together to form a pallet.  This was done with I-beam cross-pieces that fit inside the flanges of the trestle pieces.
 

 
Shim pieces were added to the cross-pieces to make up for the differing sizes of I-beam and the pallets were painted.  Now a full block of containers could be attached to each pallet.
 

 
In a similar manner the lower trestles were connected with I-beam cross-pieces that were sized so the trestles fit on deck exactly as marked and the pallets of containers fit exactly between the crane rails.  Once everything was triple checked the trestle assemblies could now be permanently attached to the decks.
 

 
The pallets were set in place on the trestles and the retaining boards added.  These were painted a slightly lighter tan color than the pallets, but the difference is hard to see.  Here at the bow the forwardmost block of containers was not supported on a pallet, but just on I-beams.  This matches what is seen in the photos, but I have no idea why they are different.  In this later photo some additional details have been added, including the guy wires for the forward mast, the railing along the side of the deck, and the fairleads and bollards for the mooring lines.
 

 
The last major element to construct was the pair of rolling cranes to load and unload the containers.  These will be covered in the next segment of the build.
 
Till then, stay well.
 
Dan

Hello again to all.  My thoughts and best wishes to all who have been affected by hurricane Ian.  Listening to the news reports surely puts our activities in perspective.
 
The next portions of the model to detail were the hull areas and raised decks at the bow and stern.   The exterior of the bow was well visualized in several photographs.  In the one below note the hawse pipe for the anchor, the openings in the bulwarks for the fairleads, and the graphics of the ship’s name and company logo. 
 

 
On the model the hawse pipe was located and a cast hawse lip was attached.  The center of the pipe will be drilled open at a later time for the anchor.  The openings in the bulwarks were drilled open with a smaller bitt, then filed to final size and location with needle files.  The ship name is a homemade decal, blue printed on white film.  After attaching the white edges were painted to blend in with the hull color.  The logo at the bow is also homemade.  The red diamond is printed on white film which was carefully cut to form the white edging.  The triple lines are also decal film individually cut to shape and applied.  All the decals were sealed with clear acrylic gloss.
 

 
Unfortunately there were no comparable photos of the machinery on the bow deck.  Here is the best one, taken from overhead.  As you can see, there is a distinct lack of detail.
 

 
Others taken from various angles show even less information, although in this one I could get the height of the foremast.  Each photo, no matter how blurry, could give me a tiny piece of information to add to the totality.
 

 
The only one that had a clear image was taken from a height level with the deck, and although it gave me some idea of the nature of the deck machinery, the locations and sizes were still mostly guesswork.
 

 
Ultimately I fell back on my experience with other working decks and built up in what I believe is a logical sequence.  I started with the fairleads, which I could see and locate from the photos.  Then I put on bollards to take the lines that came in through the fairleads.  Then a pair of capstans were set between the bollards to haul in the lines.  For the anchor machinery a pair of hawse holes were set on either side of the centerline so the anchor chain can run through a pair of chain brakes and then over the heads of a pair of large winches.  The ship’s bell can actually be seen in some of the photos, so it was turned from a dowel, painted brass and installed on a painted brass rod.
 

 
The fore mast as seen in the photos has a running light at the top on a small platform, a cross arm with floodlights at either end, and a ladder running to the top.  It was constructed from brass tube and rod, with plastic details and a photoetched ladder.
 

 
After painting it was set in place flanked by two round topped ventilators. (Yes, I realized later that it was put in backwards. It was turned around before being permanently installed.  Just put it down to another senior moment.)
 

 
The details of the stern raised deck are equally conjectural.  Here is one of the best images that I could locate of the area.  About all that can be said is that there is a mast, painted white with a black top, that comes out of a slightly curved sun shade over most of the deck.
 

 
The second image is a little clearer and some bollards can be seen as well as a cowl ventilator and an ensign staff.
 

 
Accordingly, I installed a railing around the perimeter of the deck and some 12 stanchions bade of brass rod that will hold up the sun shade.
 

 
And here is the final deck layout.  The fairleads and bollards are cast fittings from Bluejacket, as is the cowl ventilator.  The sun shade is built up of a styrene sheet with a layer of parchment colored paper on top meant to simulate the canvas cover of the original.  It has not been permanently attached to the stanchions as yet until the mast and its guy wires are installed.  Since the deck under the sun shade could not be seen, two simple storage boxes were created and set in place.
 

 
In the next segment the containers will be permanently installed on their various support structures.
 
Until then, be well.
 
Dan

Hello again to all –
 
Thanks for the comments and likes, as always.   
 
It has not been that long since the last segment, but since this is a retrospective of the build I can get another one out quickly, as long as I have time left over after the honey-do list.  This one is a bit wordy, with only a few photos since I concentrated on building and not taking photos of my progress.  I hope that the explanations will be sufficient.
 
In the second segment, posted a while ago, the superstructure was in the middle of construction based on the available photographs.  To remind you, here is a close-up of the best photo of the superstructure and a ‘plan view’ taken by a US Air Force plane from almost directly overhead.
 


 
At that time all of the decks and deck houses had been built and the doors, handrails, ladders, and railings for the lower decks had been installed.  The structures of the top two decks and the bridge had been built up but not detailed.   Next the funnel was built.  It started with a ¾” birch dowel that was carved down to an oval cross section.
 

 
The dowel was wrapped in 0.02” styrene attached with gel cyano.   The seam was not positioned along the aft centerline but was offset to one side.  I find that even after filling, sanding, priming and painting there can be a slight imperfection in the surface.  I think that it is less noticeable if it is not centered, which is where most people look.  A reinforcing collar was made for the bottom of the stack from 0.015” strip, painted black.  At the top the photos seem to show that there is a narrow lip enclosing a large round exhaust fitting and a much smaller pipe, probably for excess steam.  A homemade decal of the SeaLand logo was created in my printer and applied to both sides of the funnel.  Actually, this decal ultimately looked too small so you will see a larger one in future photos.
 
Directly ahead of the funnel is a large, square fitting.  I could never be sure of its shape or function, but in one of the fuzzier photos there is a hint that it might be a raised hatch with open doors on either side.  The interior can’t be seen at all, but could contain filters for an air intake.  I modeled it that way but I ask anyone who has a better idea to let me know.  I believe that the six capped square tubes that stand alongside the funnel are the exhausts for the ventilation system.  Their relative heights were taken by comparison with doors and railings in the photos.  They were made slightly overlong, then trimmed to a height that ‘looked right’. 
 
The lifeboat davits were Frankensteined from two cast pewter fittings from Bluejacket.  The top arm of a 7/8” davit could be ground to a thinner profile that closely matched the photos.  But the slides were not long enough since the deck had been widened and the lifeboat had to travel further to reach the edge.  I cut off the foot of one fitting but cut the second fitting higher up the slide.  Mating these two gave me the length that I needed.  They were secured with a bit of brass wire across the joint then filled and glued together with an epoxy product called ‘JB Weld’ that has metal particles in it.  I find that it gives one of the strongest bonds across small metal mating surfaces. 
 

 
The detailing of the upper deck and bridge continued with the large radar mast.  It was built up from a length of 1/8” brass tubing with a 0.032” brass rod crossarm for the signal flags.  A PE ladder leads up to a round lookout platform with a bit of PE railing curled around a dowel to fit.  A radar dish was fashioned from several PE fittings.  Although it looks good and matches some photos of the ship, further examination of the photos taken during the incident showed that the radar at that time was a solid bar.  This radar was removed and a more correct one was built and will appear in later photos.  Four guy wires made of fly tying thread were installed later.
 
Two small exhaust stacks were fitted to the forward corners of the bridge house.  They were cut and carved with slots opened down their lower ends to fit over the forward bridge solid railings.  Small sections of plastic tubes were heat bent then trimmed and painted black as exhaust pipes. 
Final details include a smaller simple mast seen in the photos but whose function I don’t know.  A radio loop was bent up from brass rod and installed as well.  PE railings were fitted around all the deck and bridge wing edges and nameboards were printed with a type face that matched those seen in the photos.  To get a sense of the sizes involved, the nameboard is just over 1/16" tall.
 

 
The lifeboat davits were made more accurate by sawing grooves in the integral sheaves where the lifting lines will run, then the channels in the slides were filed open and square.  The davits were painted white with the sheaves and slide channels painted black.  A Bluejacket casting of an open lifeboat was filed smooth and painted.  After the lifeboat was installed over a square section support the lifting lines with PE blocks and tackles were run.  A final line runs at the top from davit to davit for support.  A final detail of coiled hanks of rope hung from this line will be installed later.
 

 
And here is the superstructure with all the final details added, such as the running lights, the guy wires, and the signal flag hoists with an American flag flying.
 

 
In the next segment the bow and stern decks will be detailed.
 
Till then, stay safe and well.
 
Dan

Hello again to all, and thanks for the likes of my last posting.
 
Now that the containers had all been built and detailed, it was time to mount them to the ship.  The photos show that above the curved support trestles there was a set of second trestles that supported the containers themselves.  Here in this first photo you can see this ribbed piece, one for each set of containers.  Above the second trestle is a retaining board (or at least that is how I interpret the photos).  This first photo was taken before the piracy incident and shows that the retaining boards also had ribs along their length.
 

 
Notice in this photo that was taken at the time of the incident that the retaining boards are smooth and have no ribs.  I have no idea when the change was made, but since I was modeling the diorama as of the time of the event, I used smooth boards.
 

 
The first step was to build the second trestle assemblies that support each set of 12 containers.  Lengths of 5/8” tall I-beams that fit the look and the relative dimensions seen in the photos were cut to a length just slightly longer than a container.  These then had to sit on top of the trestle supports with enough clearance to allow access to the crane guide rail.
 

 
Each of the I-beams lengths was marked in pencil for 7 ribs.  These were individually cut from 0.03” square strip and glued over the pencil marks.  I used a very small dot of white glue on one end of the rib and put each in place.  When the glue dried I went back and fed a drop of plastic cement by capillary action under the rib.  A gentle press welded the rib in place.  I found that white glue alone made a mess as I moved the rib into position, while using only plastic cement did not give me enough open time to fiddle the pieces into place.  A horizontal reinforcing bar was added just above the halfway point and the assembly was painted in a khaki tan.  I have no evidence for this color, but it sets off well from the bronze of the support trestles and the steel of the containers.
 

 
To get the spacing for the lower trestles on deck I first had to put together the blocks of 12 containers that would sit on the second trestles.  These blocks are in turn made up of four ‘triples’.  I found that it was easiest to get consistent results if I assembled three containers onto a flat plate.  I could align them against a square jig and use thin spacers between them as the glue dried.  Two of these ‘triples’ were similarly attached to a larger plate with a bit larger space between them.  Then the final two triples were stacked on top.  Once all the blocks were made up I took three and dry fit them on top of the trestles on the aft deck.
 
I was very pleased to see how well they fit, given the tight tolerances of the model.  The outside aft corner of the trestle had to leave enough space to walk between it and the deck railing.  The result is perhaps a tad narrow, but looks acceptable.  Without moving anything the centerline and outer corners of the lower trestle were marked and drawn on deck.
 

 
The blocks of containers were removed and each pair of second trestle pieces were joined together to form a pallet.  This was done with I-beam cross-pieces that fit inside the flanges of the trestle pieces.
 

 
Shim pieces were added to the cross-pieces to make up for the differing sizes of I-beam and the pallets were painted.  Now a full block of containers could be attached to each pallet.
 

 
In a similar manner the lower trestles were connected with I-beam cross-pieces that were sized so the trestles fit on deck exactly as marked and the pallets of containers fit exactly between the crane rails.  Once everything was triple checked the trestle assemblies could now be permanently attached to the decks.
 

 
The pallets were set in place on the trestles and the retaining boards added.  These were painted a slightly lighter tan color than the pallets, but the difference is hard to see.  Here at the bow the forwardmost block of containers was not supported on a pallet, but just on I-beams.  This matches what is seen in the photos, but I have no idea why they are different.  In this later photo some additional details have been added, including the guy wires for the forward mast, the railing along the side of the deck, and the fairleads and bollards for the mooring lines.
 

 
The last major element to construct was the pair of rolling cranes to load and unload the containers.  These will be covered in the next segment of the build.
 
Till then, stay well.
 
Dan

Hi Keith - 
 
Thanks for the compliment.
The short answer to your question is - lots and lots of staring at the images and ruling out alternative solutions.
As Sherlock reminds us -  after you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, is the truth.
 
Dan

Hello again to all.  My thoughts and best wishes to all who have been affected by hurricane Ian.  Listening to the news reports surely puts our activities in perspective.
 
The next portions of the model to detail were the hull areas and raised decks at the bow and stern.   The exterior of the bow was well visualized in several photographs.  In the one below note the hawse pipe for the anchor, the openings in the bulwarks for the fairleads, and the graphics of the ship’s name and company logo. 
 

 
On the model the hawse pipe was located and a cast hawse lip was attached.  The center of the pipe will be drilled open at a later time for the anchor.  The openings in the bulwarks were drilled open with a smaller bitt, then filed to final size and location with needle files.  The ship name is a homemade decal, blue printed on white film.  After attaching the white edges were painted to blend in with the hull color.  The logo at the bow is also homemade.  The red diamond is printed on white film which was carefully cut to form the white edging.  The triple lines are also decal film individually cut to shape and applied.  All the decals were sealed with clear acrylic gloss.
 

 
Unfortunately there were no comparable photos of the machinery on the bow deck.  Here is the best one, taken from overhead.  As you can see, there is a distinct lack of detail.
 

 
Others taken from various angles show even less information, although in this one I could get the height of the foremast.  Each photo, no matter how blurry, could give me a tiny piece of information to add to the totality.
 

 
The only one that had a clear image was taken from a height level with the deck, and although it gave me some idea of the nature of the deck machinery, the locations and sizes were still mostly guesswork.
 

 
Ultimately I fell back on my experience with other working decks and built up in what I believe is a logical sequence.  I started with the fairleads, which I could see and locate from the photos.  Then I put on bollards to take the lines that came in through the fairleads.  Then a pair of capstans were set between the bollards to haul in the lines.  For the anchor machinery a pair of hawse holes were set on either side of the centerline so the anchor chain can run through a pair of chain brakes and then over the heads of a pair of large winches.  The ship’s bell can actually be seen in some of the photos, so it was turned from a dowel, painted brass and installed on a painted brass rod.
 

 
The fore mast as seen in the photos has a running light at the top on a small platform, a cross arm with floodlights at either end, and a ladder running to the top.  It was constructed from brass tube and rod, with plastic details and a photoetched ladder.
 

 
After painting it was set in place flanked by two round topped ventilators. (Yes, I realized later that it was put in backwards. It was turned around before being permanently installed.  Just put it down to another senior moment.)
 

 
The details of the stern raised deck are equally conjectural.  Here is one of the best images that I could locate of the area.  About all that can be said is that there is a mast, painted white with a black top, that comes out of a slightly curved sun shade over most of the deck.
 

 
The second image is a little clearer and some bollards can be seen as well as a cowl ventilator and an ensign staff.
 

 
Accordingly, I installed a railing around the perimeter of the deck and some 12 stanchions bade of brass rod that will hold up the sun shade.
 

 
And here is the final deck layout.  The fairleads and bollards are cast fittings from Bluejacket, as is the cowl ventilator.  The sun shade is built up of a styrene sheet with a layer of parchment colored paper on top meant to simulate the canvas cover of the original.  It has not been permanently attached to the stanchions as yet until the mast and its guy wires are installed.  Since the deck under the sun shade could not be seen, two simple storage boxes were created and set in place.
 

 
In the next segment the containers will be permanently installed on their various support structures.
 
Until then, be well.
 
Dan

Hello again to all –
 
Thanks for the comments and likes, as always.   
 
It has not been that long since the last segment, but since this is a retrospective of the build I can get another one out quickly, as long as I have time left over after the honey-do list.  This one is a bit wordy, with only a few photos since I concentrated on building and not taking photos of my progress.  I hope that the explanations will be sufficient.
 
In the second segment, posted a while ago, the superstructure was in the middle of construction based on the available photographs.  To remind you, here is a close-up of the best photo of the superstructure and a ‘plan view’ taken by a US Air Force plane from almost directly overhead.
 


 
At that time all of the decks and deck houses had been built and the doors, handrails, ladders, and railings for the lower decks had been installed.  The structures of the top two decks and the bridge had been built up but not detailed.   Next the funnel was built.  It started with a ¾” birch dowel that was carved down to an oval cross section.
 

 
The dowel was wrapped in 0.02” styrene attached with gel cyano.   The seam was not positioned along the aft centerline but was offset to one side.  I find that even after filling, sanding, priming and painting there can be a slight imperfection in the surface.  I think that it is less noticeable if it is not centered, which is where most people look.  A reinforcing collar was made for the bottom of the stack from 0.015” strip, painted black.  At the top the photos seem to show that there is a narrow lip enclosing a large round exhaust fitting and a much smaller pipe, probably for excess steam.  A homemade decal of the SeaLand logo was created in my printer and applied to both sides of the funnel.  Actually, this decal ultimately looked too small so you will see a larger one in future photos.
 
Directly ahead of the funnel is a large, square fitting.  I could never be sure of its shape or function, but in one of the fuzzier photos there is a hint that it might be a raised hatch with open doors on either side.  The interior can’t be seen at all, but could contain filters for an air intake.  I modeled it that way but I ask anyone who has a better idea to let me know.  I believe that the six capped square tubes that stand alongside the funnel are the exhausts for the ventilation system.  Their relative heights were taken by comparison with doors and railings in the photos.  They were made slightly overlong, then trimmed to a height that ‘looked right’. 
 
The lifeboat davits were Frankensteined from two cast pewter fittings from Bluejacket.  The top arm of a 7/8” davit could be ground to a thinner profile that closely matched the photos.  But the slides were not long enough since the deck had been widened and the lifeboat had to travel further to reach the edge.  I cut off the foot of one fitting but cut the second fitting higher up the slide.  Mating these two gave me the length that I needed.  They were secured with a bit of brass wire across the joint then filled and glued together with an epoxy product called ‘JB Weld’ that has metal particles in it.  I find that it gives one of the strongest bonds across small metal mating surfaces. 
 

 
The detailing of the upper deck and bridge continued with the large radar mast.  It was built up from a length of 1/8” brass tubing with a 0.032” brass rod crossarm for the signal flags.  A PE ladder leads up to a round lookout platform with a bit of PE railing curled around a dowel to fit.  A radar dish was fashioned from several PE fittings.  Although it looks good and matches some photos of the ship, further examination of the photos taken during the incident showed that the radar at that time was a solid bar.  This radar was removed and a more correct one was built and will appear in later photos.  Four guy wires made of fly tying thread were installed later.
 
Two small exhaust stacks were fitted to the forward corners of the bridge house.  They were cut and carved with slots opened down their lower ends to fit over the forward bridge solid railings.  Small sections of plastic tubes were heat bent then trimmed and painted black as exhaust pipes. 
Final details include a smaller simple mast seen in the photos but whose function I don’t know.  A radio loop was bent up from brass rod and installed as well.  PE railings were fitted around all the deck and bridge wing edges and nameboards were printed with a type face that matched those seen in the photos.  To get a sense of the sizes involved, the nameboard is just over 1/16" tall.
 

 
The lifeboat davits were made more accurate by sawing grooves in the integral sheaves where the lifting lines will run, then the channels in the slides were filed open and square.  The davits were painted white with the sheaves and slide channels painted black.  A Bluejacket casting of an open lifeboat was filed smooth and painted.  After the lifeboat was installed over a square section support the lifting lines with PE blocks and tackles were run.  A final line runs at the top from davit to davit for support.  A final detail of coiled hanks of rope hung from this line will be installed later.
 

 
And here is the superstructure with all the final details added, such as the running lights, the guy wires, and the signal flag hoists with an American flag flying.
 

 
In the next segment the bow and stern decks will be detailed.
 
Till then, stay safe and well.
 
Dan