shipmodel

Hi again to all –
 
Thanks as always for the likes and comments.  I hope everyone has had a good summer and we are getting back to the workbench and computer, as I am. 
 
Thanks also to all who asked about my health problems.  They are all getting better, slowly, and in any event were small compared to some of those suffered by other friends in the MSW family.  My best wishes for speedy and complete recoveries to all.
 
When I left off last segment the 96 containers had all been built and detailed and set on deck.  But they have to be supported on leveling trestles and supports that raise them to a height where the cranes can move them around.  As before, there are no plans of these structures, so I had to rely on somewhat fuzzy photos.  The interpretations of these were some of the most difficult of the build, and I spent any number of hours staring at the images, changing lighting and contrast, till I had a pretty good idea of how they worked.  Here are some of the better images with arrows pointing to the several elements:
 

 

 

 
After all this studying, and keeping in mind what I was capable of building, I came up with this rough cross-section sketch of the various components and how they would sit on or attach to each other:
 

 
The first element to build was the support trestle.  To get the right taper and curve to the vertical piece of the I-beam I clipped pieces of card stock to small wood blocks and set them on the fore and aft decks.  With careful measuring and trimming I matched the lower edge to the deck curve.  Then using a small line level I laid out and marked the top edge so it was horizontal and parallel with the waterline.  The final task was to adjust that horizontal line to a level where the final height of the containers would match the look seen in the photos.  Since the container supports had not been built, nor the final structure of the container blocks, this was a bit of an informed guess, but I think it came out OK in the end.
 

 
With the shape of the vertical piece determined I cut out the tapered piece from 0.03” (.75mm for the metrically minded) styrene.  The same plastic gave me a wide bottom piece and a narrower top piece for the trestle I-beam.
 

 
The tapered piece was laid on a wood sheet of a thickness that supported it at half the height of the lower piece.  Using small pieces of wood to hold the plastic pieces against each other they were glued along the joint with thin plastic cement, which essentially softens and welds the pieces to each other.  Note that where possible the pieces are cut oversize to be trimmed after gluing.
 

 
Locations for the trestle web pieces were marked out along the length of the trestle at 3/16” (3 foot in scale) intervals.  This may be a bit wide, but it does match the look from the photos.  The web pieces were also cut long and extended past the top edge of the vertical piece.  Once they were all glued on solidly the tops were cut to match the edge of the piece.  Doing it in this sequence meant that I never had to cut and fit the pieces individually to their different lengths.
 

 
After trimming the web pieces the narrower top piece was glued on using small wood blocks as before.
 

 
Now the outer edges of the web pieces could be cut to the taper to match the wider lower piece and the narrower top piece.  This is the final look of the leveling trestles, which matches the cross-section sketch pretty closely.
 

 
The crane guide rails were attached to the tops of the leveling trestles and they were set on deck to check their appearance.
 

 
Plastic I-beams of various heights were attached to the trestles so the port and starboard ones would be parallel with each other.  The beams had to be cut to a length that would allow for the thicknesses of the future container supports and the sizes of the containers themselves inside the crane guide rails.  A lot of trial and error went into this, and a fair amount of cursing, because the tolerances were so small.  However finally a satisfactory dimension was achieved and the I-beams were all cut to this length.  After gluing, the trestle assembly was painted dark bronze.  I don’t have any references for this choice, but it does set them off from the deck and the containers, and the color is not unknown as a rust resistant coating. 
A final check with the line level confirmed that everything was up to spec, which was followed by a big sigh and a bigger glass of bourbon.
 

 
The forward trestles were built in the same manner.  Note that there is no beam across the forward end of the forward trestles.  The photos show that this area is open, so that is how it was built.  The two sets were temporarily laid on deck to see if anything looked wrong or out of scale.  Fortunately, I was happy with the results so the pieces were removed and set aside for later use.
 

 
While this was going on, the final detailing of the superstructure, as well as the bow and stern decks, was also proceeding.  These will be covered in the next installment.
 
Until then, stay safe and well.
 
Dan

Hi again to all –
 
Thanks as always for the likes and comments.  I hope everyone has had a good summer and we are getting back to the workbench and computer, as I am. 
 
Thanks also to all who asked about my health problems.  They are all getting better, slowly, and in any event were small compared to some of those suffered by other friends in the MSW family.  My best wishes for speedy and complete recoveries to all.
 
When I left off last segment the 96 containers had all been built and detailed and set on deck.  But they have to be supported on leveling trestles and supports that raise them to a height where the cranes can move them around.  As before, there are no plans of these structures, so I had to rely on somewhat fuzzy photos.  The interpretations of these were some of the most difficult of the build, and I spent any number of hours staring at the images, changing lighting and contrast, till I had a pretty good idea of how they worked.  Here are some of the better images with arrows pointing to the several elements:
 

 

 

 
After all this studying, and keeping in mind what I was capable of building, I came up with this rough cross-section sketch of the various components and how they would sit on or attach to each other:
 

 
The first element to build was the support trestle.  To get the right taper and curve to the vertical piece of the I-beam I clipped pieces of card stock to small wood blocks and set them on the fore and aft decks.  With careful measuring and trimming I matched the lower edge to the deck curve.  Then using a small line level I laid out and marked the top edge so it was horizontal and parallel with the waterline.  The final task was to adjust that horizontal line to a level where the final height of the containers would match the look seen in the photos.  Since the container supports had not been built, nor the final structure of the container blocks, this was a bit of an informed guess, but I think it came out OK in the end.
 

 
With the shape of the vertical piece determined I cut out the tapered piece from 0.03” (.75mm for the metrically minded) styrene.  The same plastic gave me a wide bottom piece and a narrower top piece for the trestle I-beam.
 

 
The tapered piece was laid on a wood sheet of a thickness that supported it at half the height of the lower piece.  Using small pieces of wood to hold the plastic pieces against each other they were glued along the joint with thin plastic cement, which essentially softens and welds the pieces to each other.  Note that where possible the pieces are cut oversize to be trimmed after gluing.
 

 
Locations for the trestle web pieces were marked out along the length of the trestle at 3/16” (3 foot in scale) intervals.  This may be a bit wide, but it does match the look from the photos.  The web pieces were also cut long and extended past the top edge of the vertical piece.  Once they were all glued on solidly the tops were cut to match the edge of the piece.  Doing it in this sequence meant that I never had to cut and fit the pieces individually to their different lengths.
 

 
After trimming the web pieces the narrower top piece was glued on using small wood blocks as before.
 

 
Now the outer edges of the web pieces could be cut to the taper to match the wider lower piece and the narrower top piece.  This is the final look of the leveling trestles, which matches the cross-section sketch pretty closely.
 

 
The crane guide rails were attached to the tops of the leveling trestles and they were set on deck to check their appearance.
 

 
Plastic I-beams of various heights were attached to the trestles so the port and starboard ones would be parallel with each other.  The beams had to be cut to a length that would allow for the thicknesses of the future container supports and the sizes of the containers themselves inside the crane guide rails.  A lot of trial and error went into this, and a fair amount of cursing, because the tolerances were so small.  However finally a satisfactory dimension was achieved and the I-beams were all cut to this length.  After gluing, the trestle assembly was painted dark bronze.  I don’t have any references for this choice, but it does set them off from the deck and the containers, and the color is not unknown as a rust resistant coating. 
A final check with the line level confirmed that everything was up to spec, which was followed by a big sigh and a bigger glass of bourbon.
 

 
The forward trestles were built in the same manner.  Note that there is no beam across the forward end of the forward trestles.  The photos show that this area is open, so that is how it was built.  The two sets were temporarily laid on deck to see if anything looked wrong or out of scale.  Fortunately, I was happy with the results so the pieces were removed and set aside for later use.
 

 
While this was going on, the final detailing of the superstructure, as well as the bow and stern decks, was also proceeding.  These will be covered in the next installment.
 
Until then, stay safe and well.
 
Dan

Hi again to all –
 
Thanks as always for the likes and comments.  I hope everyone has had a good summer and we are getting back to the workbench and computer, as I am. 
 
Thanks also to all who asked about my health problems.  They are all getting better, slowly, and in any event were small compared to some of those suffered by other friends in the MSW family.  My best wishes for speedy and complete recoveries to all.
 
When I left off last segment the 96 containers had all been built and detailed and set on deck.  But they have to be supported on leveling trestles and supports that raise them to a height where the cranes can move them around.  As before, there are no plans of these structures, so I had to rely on somewhat fuzzy photos.  The interpretations of these were some of the most difficult of the build, and I spent any number of hours staring at the images, changing lighting and contrast, till I had a pretty good idea of how they worked.  Here are some of the better images with arrows pointing to the several elements:
 

 

 

 
After all this studying, and keeping in mind what I was capable of building, I came up with this rough cross-section sketch of the various components and how they would sit on or attach to each other:
 

 
The first element to build was the support trestle.  To get the right taper and curve to the vertical piece of the I-beam I clipped pieces of card stock to small wood blocks and set them on the fore and aft decks.  With careful measuring and trimming I matched the lower edge to the deck curve.  Then using a small line level I laid out and marked the top edge so it was horizontal and parallel with the waterline.  The final task was to adjust that horizontal line to a level where the final height of the containers would match the look seen in the photos.  Since the container supports had not been built, nor the final structure of the container blocks, this was a bit of an informed guess, but I think it came out OK in the end.
 

 
With the shape of the vertical piece determined I cut out the tapered piece from 0.03” (.75mm for the metrically minded) styrene.  The same plastic gave me a wide bottom piece and a narrower top piece for the trestle I-beam.
 

 
The tapered piece was laid on a wood sheet of a thickness that supported it at half the height of the lower piece.  Using small pieces of wood to hold the plastic pieces against each other they were glued along the joint with thin plastic cement, which essentially softens and welds the pieces to each other.  Note that where possible the pieces are cut oversize to be trimmed after gluing.
 

 
Locations for the trestle web pieces were marked out along the length of the trestle at 3/16” (3 foot in scale) intervals.  This may be a bit wide, but it does match the look from the photos.  The web pieces were also cut long and extended past the top edge of the vertical piece.  Once they were all glued on solidly the tops were cut to match the edge of the piece.  Doing it in this sequence meant that I never had to cut and fit the pieces individually to their different lengths.
 

 
After trimming the web pieces the narrower top piece was glued on using small wood blocks as before.
 

 
Now the outer edges of the web pieces could be cut to the taper to match the wider lower piece and the narrower top piece.  This is the final look of the leveling trestles, which matches the cross-section sketch pretty closely.
 

 
The crane guide rails were attached to the tops of the leveling trestles and they were set on deck to check their appearance.
 

 
Plastic I-beams of various heights were attached to the trestles so the port and starboard ones would be parallel with each other.  The beams had to be cut to a length that would allow for the thicknesses of the future container supports and the sizes of the containers themselves inside the crane guide rails.  A lot of trial and error went into this, and a fair amount of cursing, because the tolerances were so small.  However finally a satisfactory dimension was achieved and the I-beams were all cut to this length.  After gluing, the trestle assembly was painted dark bronze.  I don’t have any references for this choice, but it does set them off from the deck and the containers, and the color is not unknown as a rust resistant coating. 
A final check with the line level confirmed that everything was up to spec, which was followed by a big sigh and a bigger glass of bourbon.
 

 
The forward trestles were built in the same manner.  Note that there is no beam across the forward end of the forward trestles.  The photos show that this area is open, so that is how it was built.  The two sets were temporarily laid on deck to see if anything looked wrong or out of scale.  Fortunately, I was happy with the results so the pieces were removed and set aside for later use.
 

 
While this was going on, the final detailing of the superstructure, as well as the bow and stern decks, was also proceeding.  These will be covered in the next installment.
 
Until then, stay safe and well.
 
Dan

Hi again to all –
 
Thanks as always for the likes and comments.  I hope everyone has had a good summer and we are getting back to the workbench and computer, as I am. 
 
Thanks also to all who asked about my health problems.  They are all getting better, slowly, and in any event were small compared to some of those suffered by other friends in the MSW family.  My best wishes for speedy and complete recoveries to all.
 
When I left off last segment the 96 containers had all been built and detailed and set on deck.  But they have to be supported on leveling trestles and supports that raise them to a height where the cranes can move them around.  As before, there are no plans of these structures, so I had to rely on somewhat fuzzy photos.  The interpretations of these were some of the most difficult of the build, and I spent any number of hours staring at the images, changing lighting and contrast, till I had a pretty good idea of how they worked.  Here are some of the better images with arrows pointing to the several elements:
 

 

 

 
After all this studying, and keeping in mind what I was capable of building, I came up with this rough cross-section sketch of the various components and how they would sit on or attach to each other:
 

 
The first element to build was the support trestle.  To get the right taper and curve to the vertical piece of the I-beam I clipped pieces of card stock to small wood blocks and set them on the fore and aft decks.  With careful measuring and trimming I matched the lower edge to the deck curve.  Then using a small line level I laid out and marked the top edge so it was horizontal and parallel with the waterline.  The final task was to adjust that horizontal line to a level where the final height of the containers would match the look seen in the photos.  Since the container supports had not been built, nor the final structure of the container blocks, this was a bit of an informed guess, but I think it came out OK in the end.
 

 
With the shape of the vertical piece determined I cut out the tapered piece from 0.03” (.75mm for the metrically minded) styrene.  The same plastic gave me a wide bottom piece and a narrower top piece for the trestle I-beam.
 

 
The tapered piece was laid on a wood sheet of a thickness that supported it at half the height of the lower piece.  Using small pieces of wood to hold the plastic pieces against each other they were glued along the joint with thin plastic cement, which essentially softens and welds the pieces to each other.  Note that where possible the pieces are cut oversize to be trimmed after gluing.
 

 
Locations for the trestle web pieces were marked out along the length of the trestle at 3/16” (3 foot in scale) intervals.  This may be a bit wide, but it does match the look from the photos.  The web pieces were also cut long and extended past the top edge of the vertical piece.  Once they were all glued on solidly the tops were cut to match the edge of the piece.  Doing it in this sequence meant that I never had to cut and fit the pieces individually to their different lengths.
 

 
After trimming the web pieces the narrower top piece was glued on using small wood blocks as before.
 

 
Now the outer edges of the web pieces could be cut to the taper to match the wider lower piece and the narrower top piece.  This is the final look of the leveling trestles, which matches the cross-section sketch pretty closely.
 

 
The crane guide rails were attached to the tops of the leveling trestles and they were set on deck to check their appearance.
 

 
Plastic I-beams of various heights were attached to the trestles so the port and starboard ones would be parallel with each other.  The beams had to be cut to a length that would allow for the thicknesses of the future container supports and the sizes of the containers themselves inside the crane guide rails.  A lot of trial and error went into this, and a fair amount of cursing, because the tolerances were so small.  However finally a satisfactory dimension was achieved and the I-beams were all cut to this length.  After gluing, the trestle assembly was painted dark bronze.  I don’t have any references for this choice, but it does set them off from the deck and the containers, and the color is not unknown as a rust resistant coating. 
A final check with the line level confirmed that everything was up to spec, which was followed by a big sigh and a bigger glass of bourbon.
 

 
The forward trestles were built in the same manner.  Note that there is no beam across the forward end of the forward trestles.  The photos show that this area is open, so that is how it was built.  The two sets were temporarily laid on deck to see if anything looked wrong or out of scale.  Fortunately, I was happy with the results so the pieces were removed and set aside for later use.
 

 
While this was going on, the final detailing of the superstructure, as well as the bow and stern decks, was also proceeding.  These will be covered in the next installment.
 
Until then, stay safe and well.
 
Dan

Hi again to all –
 
Thanks as always for the likes and comments.  I hope everyone has had a good summer and we are getting back to the workbench and computer, as I am. 
 
Thanks also to all who asked about my health problems.  They are all getting better, slowly, and in any event were small compared to some of those suffered by other friends in the MSW family.  My best wishes for speedy and complete recoveries to all.
 
When I left off last segment the 96 containers had all been built and detailed and set on deck.  But they have to be supported on leveling trestles and supports that raise them to a height where the cranes can move them around.  As before, there are no plans of these structures, so I had to rely on somewhat fuzzy photos.  The interpretations of these were some of the most difficult of the build, and I spent any number of hours staring at the images, changing lighting and contrast, till I had a pretty good idea of how they worked.  Here are some of the better images with arrows pointing to the several elements:
 

 

 

 
After all this studying, and keeping in mind what I was capable of building, I came up with this rough cross-section sketch of the various components and how they would sit on or attach to each other:
 

 
The first element to build was the support trestle.  To get the right taper and curve to the vertical piece of the I-beam I clipped pieces of card stock to small wood blocks and set them on the fore and aft decks.  With careful measuring and trimming I matched the lower edge to the deck curve.  Then using a small line level I laid out and marked the top edge so it was horizontal and parallel with the waterline.  The final task was to adjust that horizontal line to a level where the final height of the containers would match the look seen in the photos.  Since the container supports had not been built, nor the final structure of the container blocks, this was a bit of an informed guess, but I think it came out OK in the end.
 

 
With the shape of the vertical piece determined I cut out the tapered piece from 0.03” (.75mm for the metrically minded) styrene.  The same plastic gave me a wide bottom piece and a narrower top piece for the trestle I-beam.
 

 
The tapered piece was laid on a wood sheet of a thickness that supported it at half the height of the lower piece.  Using small pieces of wood to hold the plastic pieces against each other they were glued along the joint with thin plastic cement, which essentially softens and welds the pieces to each other.  Note that where possible the pieces are cut oversize to be trimmed after gluing.
 

 
Locations for the trestle web pieces were marked out along the length of the trestle at 3/16” (3 foot in scale) intervals.  This may be a bit wide, but it does match the look from the photos.  The web pieces were also cut long and extended past the top edge of the vertical piece.  Once they were all glued on solidly the tops were cut to match the edge of the piece.  Doing it in this sequence meant that I never had to cut and fit the pieces individually to their different lengths.
 

 
After trimming the web pieces the narrower top piece was glued on using small wood blocks as before.
 

 
Now the outer edges of the web pieces could be cut to the taper to match the wider lower piece and the narrower top piece.  This is the final look of the leveling trestles, which matches the cross-section sketch pretty closely.
 

 
The crane guide rails were attached to the tops of the leveling trestles and they were set on deck to check their appearance.
 

 
Plastic I-beams of various heights were attached to the trestles so the port and starboard ones would be parallel with each other.  The beams had to be cut to a length that would allow for the thicknesses of the future container supports and the sizes of the containers themselves inside the crane guide rails.  A lot of trial and error went into this, and a fair amount of cursing, because the tolerances were so small.  However finally a satisfactory dimension was achieved and the I-beams were all cut to this length.  After gluing, the trestle assembly was painted dark bronze.  I don’t have any references for this choice, but it does set them off from the deck and the containers, and the color is not unknown as a rust resistant coating. 
A final check with the line level confirmed that everything was up to spec, which was followed by a big sigh and a bigger glass of bourbon.
 

 
The forward trestles were built in the same manner.  Note that there is no beam across the forward end of the forward trestles.  The photos show that this area is open, so that is how it was built.  The two sets were temporarily laid on deck to see if anything looked wrong or out of scale.  Fortunately, I was happy with the results so the pieces were removed and set aside for later use.
 

 
While this was going on, the final detailing of the superstructure, as well as the bow and stern decks, was also proceeding.  These will be covered in the next installment.
 
Until then, stay safe and well.
 
Dan

Hi again to all –
 
Thanks as always for the likes and comments.  I hope everyone has had a good summer and we are getting back to the workbench and computer, as I am. 
 
Thanks also to all who asked about my health problems.  They are all getting better, slowly, and in any event were small compared to some of those suffered by other friends in the MSW family.  My best wishes for speedy and complete recoveries to all.
 
When I left off last segment the 96 containers had all been built and detailed and set on deck.  But they have to be supported on leveling trestles and supports that raise them to a height where the cranes can move them around.  As before, there are no plans of these structures, so I had to rely on somewhat fuzzy photos.  The interpretations of these were some of the most difficult of the build, and I spent any number of hours staring at the images, changing lighting and contrast, till I had a pretty good idea of how they worked.  Here are some of the better images with arrows pointing to the several elements:
 

 

 

 
After all this studying, and keeping in mind what I was capable of building, I came up with this rough cross-section sketch of the various components and how they would sit on or attach to each other:
 

 
The first element to build was the support trestle.  To get the right taper and curve to the vertical piece of the I-beam I clipped pieces of card stock to small wood blocks and set them on the fore and aft decks.  With careful measuring and trimming I matched the lower edge to the deck curve.  Then using a small line level I laid out and marked the top edge so it was horizontal and parallel with the waterline.  The final task was to adjust that horizontal line to a level where the final height of the containers would match the look seen in the photos.  Since the container supports had not been built, nor the final structure of the container blocks, this was a bit of an informed guess, but I think it came out OK in the end.
 

 
With the shape of the vertical piece determined I cut out the tapered piece from 0.03” (.75mm for the metrically minded) styrene.  The same plastic gave me a wide bottom piece and a narrower top piece for the trestle I-beam.
 

 
The tapered piece was laid on a wood sheet of a thickness that supported it at half the height of the lower piece.  Using small pieces of wood to hold the plastic pieces against each other they were glued along the joint with thin plastic cement, which essentially softens and welds the pieces to each other.  Note that where possible the pieces are cut oversize to be trimmed after gluing.
 

 
Locations for the trestle web pieces were marked out along the length of the trestle at 3/16” (3 foot in scale) intervals.  This may be a bit wide, but it does match the look from the photos.  The web pieces were also cut long and extended past the top edge of the vertical piece.  Once they were all glued on solidly the tops were cut to match the edge of the piece.  Doing it in this sequence meant that I never had to cut and fit the pieces individually to their different lengths.
 

 
After trimming the web pieces the narrower top piece was glued on using small wood blocks as before.
 

 
Now the outer edges of the web pieces could be cut to the taper to match the wider lower piece and the narrower top piece.  This is the final look of the leveling trestles, which matches the cross-section sketch pretty closely.
 

 
The crane guide rails were attached to the tops of the leveling trestles and they were set on deck to check their appearance.
 

 
Plastic I-beams of various heights were attached to the trestles so the port and starboard ones would be parallel with each other.  The beams had to be cut to a length that would allow for the thicknesses of the future container supports and the sizes of the containers themselves inside the crane guide rails.  A lot of trial and error went into this, and a fair amount of cursing, because the tolerances were so small.  However finally a satisfactory dimension was achieved and the I-beams were all cut to this length.  After gluing, the trestle assembly was painted dark bronze.  I don’t have any references for this choice, but it does set them off from the deck and the containers, and the color is not unknown as a rust resistant coating. 
A final check with the line level confirmed that everything was up to spec, which was followed by a big sigh and a bigger glass of bourbon.
 

 
The forward trestles were built in the same manner.  Note that there is no beam across the forward end of the forward trestles.  The photos show that this area is open, so that is how it was built.  The two sets were temporarily laid on deck to see if anything looked wrong or out of scale.  Fortunately, I was happy with the results so the pieces were removed and set aside for later use.
 

 
While this was going on, the final detailing of the superstructure, as well as the bow and stern decks, was also proceeding.  These will be covered in the next installment.
 
Until then, stay safe and well.
 
Dan

https://www.frankhagan.com/weekender/gaffmain.htm
 


 
 
 
 

Hi Roger - 
 
Two steps forward and one step back has always worked for me.
That poop deck is really coming along nicely.
Looking forward to seeing it all come together.
 
Be well
 
Dan

Impressive research, Marc.  Your thoughts are fascinating and your conclusions fully supported.
I always look forward to your next post.
If you ever collect and collate them into a book I will be one of the first on the purchase list.
 
Thanks for sharing.
 
Dan

Good morning.

Thank you Eberhard and Keith.
 
I have been getting on with the sails. I needed to cut the clew holes and cutting through the rip stop was proving difficult so I made a cutter out of a piece of silver steel that was then hardened. The inner surface of the cutter was formed with a small centre drill and the outer profile was turned on the lathe - leaving a sharp edge.
The holes were punched and small eyelets were pushed through the holes and backed by small brass washers that were glued in place.
I then went on to attach the sliders on to the foot of the sail.


This done the loose ends were tidied up.

With this complete the gaff was laced on to the head of the sail.

here is the step by step for making the cathead supports.  These pieces are among the most difficult to make for any ship model.   This method may seem a bit unorthodox....but bear with me here and I will explain as best I can.  Ask a lot of questions!!!
 
The laser cut parts will get you only so far...about 80% of the way.   You will need to shape these and tweak them to get a really good fit.  But its leaps and bounds better than anything you will find on a kit as long as you take your time and dont rush through it.  Read the instructions several times.
 
Step one...A laser cut template from 1/32" thick wood is provided.  Temporarily glue this in position with just a few drops of glue or rubber cement.  Mark the side where you will have to remove the molding so your support will fit between them.  Cut the molding free with some sharp chisels.  NOTE....cut inside your lines and make the gaps smaller...dont make them too large.  You can always make them larger later as you test fit each piece.
 
The template is longer than you will need on both ends so you can cut it to fit your model so it fits.  Look at it from many angles to see if the curve is graceful and it runs well into the middle rail where it connects.  There should be a pleasing continuity from the template onto the middle rail.
 

Step 2...assemble the cathead support....NOTE, the entire span will be made of two lengths.  This portion of the support is just half and is directly under the cathead.  
 
There are several layers...the bottom is the longest.  It is 1/4" thick cedar.   On top of this glue two more shorter  layers of 1/4" thick cedar.  Then to finish the assembly...glue on the a final piece which is 5/32" thick boxwood.  It is super important to make sure you use the boxwood layer as the top layer.  This layer will show and its the tip or outboard end of the cathead support.  Four layers in total.  I said it was gonna get weird.   But just stick with me here.
 
There are templates in paper for this piece.   See them in the photo.  

Step 3....Glue the template onto the piece so it all fits nicely.  There is plenty of room.  I glued it on the outside only.  Use this as a guide to shape this piece.   Remove the heavy stuff with a sharp blade until you get close to the template and sand the rest.  This will get you 80% of the way to a good fit.

After shaping....below.  Dont over sand.  Just smooth out the sides.  Dont try and remove all the char as it doesnt matter.  You just want to have a smooth surface to add the outside layers in the next step.

Step 4....There are laser cut outside layers that are super thin.   These come in two pieces.  They are glued on both sides.  Do this neatly and get a nice clean joint between the two sections.  You may want to lightly sand the char from where the joint will be between these two pieces so it wont show when its all done.
 

It will look like this.   A few things to note...
 
Before gluing them on each side I rounded the edges of the support or chamfered them.   Then add the thin outer layers.   Sand them flush on all edges although NOT on the front fancy side where the friezes will go.  Similar to the cheeks we made you want to leave the edges standing proud on the front side to form a slight lip. see below.  I left it a little more pronounced until after the friezes are added and its all cleaned up.  
 
Also note the second length which will connect to it and the middle rail.   This is laser cut for you and also gets thin outside layers.  This is important because these two pieces will join together like the cheeks did with the hair brackets.  You will need to get a nce joint between them which wont be seen when these are glued together.

Step 5...this forward length is laser cut but needs shaping.  It has one curve cut into it but you need to shape the other side.  You need to sand the curve that fits against the hull.  Just like the cheeks above and below the hawse holes.   You have done this before.  See below.
 
Also note the angled forward end which needs to be sanded into it.  This end is what attaches to the middle rail.   I rounded off or chamfered the outside edges before adding the two thin layers.  All of these parts are cut extra long so you can shape and tweak to fit you model.   This is where is gets interesting.... 

You should have both halves at this point completed.....like this.   At least roughly done so we can test and tweak them on the model.  There are lots of angles here.

 
Step 6A....This is just a dry fit of both lengths trying to get a tight seem between both lengths.   First I added the cathead support...tI tweaked the top edge so it was at the proper angle to fit against the bottom of the cathead.   You will no doubt have to do this.  You will also have to tweak the shape that fits against the hull.  Dont sand away too much.  Do a little at a time and keep testing until it fits nicely and follows the path of your template.   Then temporarily glue it in position with a drop or two of glue.  
 
Step 6B....Do the same tweaking of the forward half so it sits flush against the hull.  But you also need to create a nice tight joint between the two halves so it looks seamless.   The angled forward end should fit snug against the middle rail.
 
Keep working both lengths until you get a pretty good fit....below.  See how it fits between the molding on the hull?
 
 
 

Step 7...now you can do some last minute tweaks and glue it all on the model.   I added the friezes after the both lengths were glued on the model.   I put the friezes on in two lengths.  It was just easier this way.   Then I sanded the edges of those outside layers a bit with 600 grit paper so the the beaded edge wasnt standing too proud of the friezes.  Overall I just did some touch up work.   I think I still need some more but this is about it as far as the method is concerned.  

There is NO easy way to create these.  This is not a plastic kit model.  But this technique can be adopted for scratch building.  This is indeed how I make these parts when I do a scratch built model.  I just translated it to laser cut parts.   Having said this,   because everyones models will be slightly different you will need to go slow and shape them for a best final fit.
 
And as always....ask a lot of questions.
 



 

this is how I will probably show the barge.  I agree that skid beams were in use but it was hit or miss.  It also doesnt look as pretty.  In addition only one boat like this one is the best approach for me.  More than this and the boats just take up all the interest and become the focal point.  Something I would like to avoid.  The contemporary model pictures is from the era.  A real good match to what we are doing with Winnie.

One last section awaiting its ledges and the upper deck framing is completed.
 

Well, this came out well:

It only took a couple weeks of intermittent effort.  Time to glue it to the starboard headrails:

OH 😐🙁.  Oh, well, I guess I’ll have to re-do that one.  Silly mistake; sure it’s the starboard headrail, but I actually needed the port horse print for the inside carving.  Not a big deal, though.

Hi Toni - 
 
Those are two excellent anchors.  And thanks for showing your casting methods.  My own experiments in that area have been less than completely satisfactory.
Next time I will turn back to your explanations and try again.
As for handling the anchor, since I don't have access to druxey's time machine, I pull out "The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor" by Darcy Lever and see what he says.
There is usually a good explanation of the process.
 
Congratulations on the completion, or near completion, of a really sweet ship model.
 
Dan

Ditto from me on all the compliments on your stellar work.
 
Dan

Ditto from me on all the compliments on your stellar work.
 
Dan

Ditto from me on all the compliments on your stellar work.
 
Dan

After looking at other models for ships this size, I decided to secure the lower shank with the shank painter.  As druxey suggested, one end is attached to a ringbolt inside the bulwark and the free end terminates in a hook which is secured in a second ringbolt. The upper part of the shaft and the ring were tied off to timberheads.  I have added a block of wood on the rail under the anchor to protect the rail from damage.

Just a small update, I have been fiddling around trying to determine the best way to make some of the swing boom fittings, and I think I have settles on the way to go.  I have found some thin wall brass tube which has the correct ID for the spider band.  Using my mill with an indexing head and sensitive drill attachment, I can drill small holes 90 degrees apart using a carbon bit (good bight on the brass).  I have made some small eyes with a 0.5mm twisted shank which fit these holes nicely so that I can solder them in place.  I then nip and file away any of the eye shaft in the ID of the tube leaving a nice smooth finish that slides onto the boom for a firm fit.  The finished band look very acceptable when cleaned up and blackened.
 
For the inner end fitting I have used some PE I had made that when put into a former and domed using a burnisher, provides the base of the fitting.  I was having some issues getting the small thin strip to sit properly for me to solder so had to find another solution.  I found a bit of thick walled brass tube that had near the right ID to slide over the arms of the fitting but had to ream that out a tad.  I then pushed this onto a bit of scrap dowel and put a brass nail in to the end to expand the wood so the tube was held tightly.  I then put that into my lathe and cut, filed and polished the OD of the tube to form a very thin wall.  Once parted in the small saw jig (micro 'V' mitre box) the inner form could be removed leaving me with a nice thin band.  I think the photos show this process but also shows that care needs to be taken even with a jig - one cut got away from me as you can see - the parted tube/band has a very rough edge where my sawing technique was not up to par - luckily I had enough to make plenty of the bands.  Now to solder them into place.  For comparison, the thickness of the formed base of the gooseneck fitting is 0.2mm and the ruler ticks are 1mm apart.
 
cheers
 
Pat
 

Ok folks, a small update after a longer than planned shutdown in the dockyard (while I got my act together again) 
 
I've started putting the lower studding/swing boom together, and in doing so, I have discovered a little bit of a dilemma.  First here is the boom (for the eagle eyed; yep the clamp on the end of the boom crane was crooked - since adjusted.
   

 
Now the dilemma, once I have fitted the boat davits, the bows of the cutter-lifeboats will hang over the after end of the boom (including the crane).  The crane is in the right place, as is the length/size of the boom.  The boat davits are placed according to the drawings and all the imagery.  The iron crane is a crutch, fitted to chestrees on the hull, that hold the after ends of the boom and secures it when not in use.  They are scaled for 3" wide iron a 3/8 inch thick.   It sticks out from the ship's side quite a bit to allow the boom to lay parallel with the edge of the fore channel.  As such it will be about in line with the keel of the cutter lifeboats.  The davits did not swing out, nor were they set-up to swivel.  The groove in the cap rail just forward of the chestree in the last photo shows the fore davit arm position.
 
Therefore - how were the lowered past the cranes?  The only solution I have so far is that the boom would have to be swung out or lifted, and the crane taken in, but there is no mention in the contract, nor any evidence in the Specification or imagery that they were designed that way.  One possible alternative is that the crane was not fitted and the booms were simply lashed in place, allowing the boom to be moved when the boats were to be used (but in time of emergency, would you really want to be faffing around with that?)
 
Any ideas?      Ugh, the close-up photography certainly shows all the blemishes I have to fix  
 
cheers
 
Pat

Hi folks, this post is one for those interested in just how much scale rope would be required to fully rig a vessel in the mid-19th century (steam/sail).  HMCSS Victoria was rigged as a three masted Barque with a full outfit of fore-and-aft sails).  After transcribing a copy of her Rigging Warrant into an Excel Spreadsheet, I used some background formulas and pivot tables to calculate the various sizes of thread I would need and was very surprised with the result.  This may not surprise the more experienced modellers, but needing over 71 metres of running rigging scale rope was somewhat enlightening for me   (and that doesn't include some of the extraneous stuff like lacings, some rigging tackles, gun tackles, boat rigging (5 x boats) etc. 

 
Please note that I am using silver grey thread to simulate the wirerope rigging - using wire would simply destroy the rigging fittings at this scale.  I am posting an example of one of the worksheets (that for the Bowsprit and combined Jib Boom) the spreadsheet.
 
The scary bit - how do I make 0.1mm rope  I think I will just have to find some suitable sized thread, or simply round these out a bit and use say only 3 or 4 sizes but stick to the principle of lighter ropes to the upper rigging etc.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Well that was a bit of a lay off. My daughter bought a new house (at least new to her) and I have been doing various jobs. She has job in the city but the covid revolution means she can now do it from home so she has relocated to the countryside. I still have some jobs to do - particularly the garden which will take a while.
 
I have managed to do a few boat jobs so this is a bit of a catch up.
 
I have done all the block attachments to the masts. It took a while but here are the results.
 
This is the main mast with the gaff saddle hoist block attached.

Next the two topping lift blocks are attached to the main mast. 

Next the main mast gaff bridal blocks were attached.

Then the fore mast bridal blocks.

Then the fore mast saddle hoist block , the topping lift blocks and the spinnaker boom block.

I also made a start on the sails, firstly by drawing patterns for the sails / seams and then transferring the seams on to the sailcloth using pencil lines. I'm not among those of you who diligently practice you sewing skills.

I started with the mainsail (which is huge). I then applied the reinforcing using ripstop adhesive tape.

Mark and Andy, thank you for the photography tips and Lyle, Kevin, Keith C, Brian, KeithAug, and Gary, thank you for your kind comments.
 
I finally got a decent photo of the bulls eyes albeit only one pair. This taken with flash, using flash seems to be the only way I can get a good sharp close up.   
 
 When I enter the room I use as the shipyard, before turning on the lights and starting work, the Tennessee greets me silhouetted in one of the south facing windows. There really are nine yards, the mizzen topsail is eclipsed. 

 
 God bless and thank you to all for the likes and for following along on my journey.