shipmodel

I managed to get the red sprayed before leaving for the Cape.  We had a wonderful week in Hampton Bays with lot’s of family fun, good dinners, and plenty of medicinal scotch.  I also managed to have a productive week laying down all of the primary colors:
 

 
Unfortunately, in my haste, I forgot to mask off the monogramed escutcheons between the main deck guns.  The centers, which will be painted ultra-marine really require a white undercoat for the color to come out right.  This now necessitated hand-priming of these little ovals.
 

 
I deliberated, from the start of this whole project, whether the red should extend up into the amortisement.  Ultimately, I decided that it made more sense to follow a continuous, banded approach to each of the three primary colors, with the yellow ocher serving as a unifier.
 
The impression of the amortisement is a bit skewed, at the moment, because I have yet to pick out the supporting dolphins in gold and silver.  I took great care to hand-paint subtle edge borders, in yellow ocher, around the triangular panels of the upper section.
 
From here, it is the long, steady march of careful cutting-in, followed by rounds of re-touching:
 

 
Perhaps, above, it is more apparent how my idea to use ultra-marine along the lower band of fleurs, accentuates the scalloped design of the frieze.  This is probably more ultra-marine than would have actually been applied, owing to the expense, nonetheless it is an artistic choice that highlights the effort of making the whole thing.
 

 
Slowly and surely, we are getting there!  As ever, thank you for looking in.

Hi all –
 
Here is the finish of this restoration build log.  I begin with the cannon.  Two of the guns were detached when received, with one having a carriage made out of a completely different material than the others.  A third cannon was on a similar carriage of unknown material.  I removed it so I could work on it.
 

 
I cleaned up the old glue from all of the guns, then fashioned two new carriages from ivory.  The barrels were set on the new carriages and secured with cyano.
 

 
The new carriages were aged with coffee grounds.  Actually, they took up the color a bit too well, so the brown was sanded back a bit after the photo was taken.
 

 
When I was happy with the color they were installed on deck with PVA glue.  The originals were pinned through the rear of the carriages and into the deck, but there was no room for such reinforcement, so they will have to rely on the strength of the glue itself.  Judging from other models that I have worked on, I am confident that it will be at least 50+ years before anyone will have to worry about glue failure.
 

 
Finally, I mounted the two British flags.  The large ensign at the stern was set on an ivory staff, although it was shown detached in the client’s original photos.  He failed to bring it with him when he delivered the model, so he dropped it, and a few other detached pieces, into a plain envelope and mailed it to me.  When it came the delivery process in the Postal Service had broken the staff into four pieces.
 

 
I cut a 1/8” square piece of ivory about 2 ½” long and made it octagonal with sanding drums.  Further sanding rounded it to an approximate cylinder.  Finally one end was chucked into a Dremel with a bit of paper towel to protect the ivory from the jaws of the chuck.  On low speed the shaft was held against a large flat sanding block and turned to a cylinder.  The original halyard block and line were used to mount the flag to the new staff, which was slid into two metal fittings on the inside of the taffrail.  I also took a moment to hang the boat from the davits at the stern.
 

 
At the bow the small flag was remounted in its hole in the jib boom.
 

 
With a quick cleaning and oil rubbing of the base the repair was finished.    
 

 

 
To replace the heavy glass cover a new acrylic cover was ordered and set on the base.  Two small brass nails on the short sides were installed by drilling through the plastic and into the wood of the base.  These will prevent the cover from coming loose if anyone picks it up by the cover rather than from underneath.
 

 
The client mounted the model on a pair of heavy brackets in a prominent place in his home.
 

 
He has told me that he and his family are very happy with the restoration, as am I.  I hope you all have enjoyed the journey as well.  I can only hope that the model will last another 200 years and represent a glimpse into a long-gone world of naval history and art.
 

 
Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts.
 
I will be back again with some more of the models that I am building for the Merchant Marine Academy museum.  Until then . . .
 
Stay safe
 
Dan

Hello and Happy Passover / Easter [delete whichever does not apply] –
 
Thanks as ever for the many likes and compliments.
 
The next task was to repair or recreate the several fittings that were either detached, damaged or incorrect.  The most obvious was the rudder.  Here it is as received – too small, too white, and hung badly.
 

 
It was removed and examined, where I found that the brass pintles were properly pinned through the rudder, but set at incorrect angles and too far forward so the gap between the rudder and stern post was too great.
 

 
Drawing the outline of the existing rudder onto a piece of card stock I fitted the pattern to the stern post and the gudgeons.  I left extra card on the aft side and the bottom so I could draw a proposed new shape and refine it before cutting ivory.
 

 
Here are the three initial stages of shaping the new rudder.
 

 
The new rudder blank was carved out of ivory and test hung on the gudgeons.
 

 
After final shaping the pintles were transferred to the new rudder and pinned through with brass rod.
 

 
Once I was happy with the shape and how it hung on the gudgeons I gave it two dark vertical lines to indicate the joints between the three portions of the rudder blade.  This was done by drawing on the blank with a soft lead pencil, then tattooing the graphite into the ivory with the back of a hobby blade.
 

 
Once that was done I ‘aged’ the rudder with brown coffee grounds and added a bit of grey tone with ebony stain.  It took up the colors in the deep scratches that I purposely left by sanding with fairly coarse paper.  I think the combination of techniques resulted in a convincing look that matched the bone planks of the hull.
 

 
Next, on deck there was a bench for the officer of the deck which can be seen in some of the initial photos.  It turned out to be loose, so it was removed and stowed until now.  I found that it had been hollowed from one side (I don’t know why) with the opening closed with a small square of ivory. 
 

 
This little piece did not fit well, so I shaved off the edges until it did.  A drop of cyano applied from the inside secured it back in place.
 

 
The restored bench was reset on deck and secured with PVA glue.
 

 
The next posting will be the final segment of this build log.  I will write it up soon.
 
Till then, stay safe.
 
Dan

Hello again to all –
 
Thanks for the likes and compliments, and especially from you, Michael, whose own restoration work is so exceptional.
 
Eric – passing along some of the tips and techniques that I have learned over the years is one of my greatest pleasures in this activity.  There are lots more in my earlier build logs if you go through them.
 
As for the model, it was now time to finish off the rigging repairs.  With the mizzen topmast shrouds done I reattached the topmast stay.  It is a smaller diameter than it should be, but the main t’gallant yard braces are tied to it, so I used it in place.  Then the topmast backstays were created from new line and secured to the final deadeyes on the mizzen channels.  You can see the head of the backstays here and the deadeyes in a later photo.  I strung the t’gallant shrouds through the topmast crosstrees and tied them to the shrouds, then ran the t’gallant stay from the tip of the mizzen mast to the topmast doubling of the main mast.
 

 
I ran the t’gallant backstays from the tip of the mast to eyebolts on the mizzen channels.  Although the eyebolts were new, I found holes in the correct locations on the channels which had originally held eyebolts, confirming that my rigging layout was correct. 
 

 
The mizzen t’gallant yard was lifted and clipped to the mast.  This let me easily string and tension the yard lifts, which was done just after the photo was taken.  The lifts for the mizzen lower yard were also later tensioned by taking the slack through the blocks and down to the belaying pins at the deck.
 

 
Now the rigging to the driver gaff and boom were restrung, including the topmast yard braces, the topping lift, the vangs, and the rest of the lines that had been detached so I could work on the mast.
 

 
After final balancing and tensioning of any slack lines the rigging was done.   At the aft end of the mizzen channel you can see the deadeyes for the mizzen topmast backstay and the eyebolt for the t'gallant backstay.
 

 
From dead ahead this photo reveals that while I was able to reset the masts and yards to a great extent, there is still a bit of unwelcome variation in the angles of the yards relative to each other.  The largest issue is the main topmast yard which was unfortunately glued in place by an earlier restorer and which I could not adjust.  Nonetheless, I think the overall look is acceptable.
 

 
So here are two photos of the fully rigged model, taken from the stern quarter and bow quarter.  I believe the client will be pleased.
 

 

 
The final tasks will be to replace the unsatisfactory rudder, the cannon carriages, and the flags.  I will post that soon.
 
PS – I have been having some issues, as you can tell, with getting the lighting right for taking the photographs.  The bright white of the ivory does not show up well unless the color saturation is turned down so far that the blue background turns grey.  I just bought some additional lights and I am playing around with the flash settings on the camera, so I hope that the balance of the photos will come out better.
 
Stay safe
 
Dan

Hi again –
 
Thanks to everyone who hit the like button.  The encouragement is very welcome, as always.
 
The final bit of repair of the mast was to use a sander to make some ivory dust.  This was mixed with PVA to make a filler that was applied to the join in the t'gallant mast.and sanded smooth to hide the break.   With the structure of the mizzen mast fully repaired it was time to start re-rigging it.  I lifted the t’gallant yard and clipped it to the mast to get some idea of where the cut and tangled lines would go, and what I needed to do.
 

 
The first step was to replace the lower deadeyes for the topmast shrouds.  In the usual course they would be stropped with rope which would be led through holes in the top to become the futtock shrouds and would then be tied to the lower shrouds.  But here the futtock shrouds were already in place, although they were quite fragile.  I therefore had to rig the deadeyes to the top only and in such a way that they could withstand the stresses of the shrouds.  My solution was to rig them with metal strops with twisted stems.  I made them by folding a length of soft iron wire around a deadeye then clamping the ends of the wire in the slot of a knife handle.  Spinning the handle while holding the deadeye steady secured the deadeye in the strop and created a neatly twisted stem.  If you do this be careful not to overtighten the strop because you can split the deadeye or block that you are working on. (Been there, done that, got the apron . . .)
 

 
The stem was clipped off leaving a shaft a bit longer than the thickness of the top.  This was secured through the top with a drop of cyano which locked onto the twists of the shaft.
 

 
Once all three on a side were installed the extra lengths of the shafts were trimmed off.  In the photo you can also see one of the several small clips from the electronics store which hold the loose ends of the lines that I detached until they can be retied.
 

 
Preparing to rig the shrouds themselves I found that the mast cap was completely loose.  It could be raised on the t’gallant mast to open up the doubling so the heads of the shrouds could be more easily rigged.   The t’gallant mast was also loose.  This could have been intentional or a result of the old glue drying out.  In any event it made the rigging just a little easier.
 

 
The shrouds themselves began by turning in an upper deadeye into 0.020” dyed line.  To do this I used my medium-tech stropping jig.  It consists simply of a Helping Hands type tool with the addition of a light duty spring (red arrow) and an attached flat-nosed clip.  In use the fitting to be stropped is held in the right hand vertical alligator clip and the stropping line taken around it and trapped in the larger clip.  The line is placed under light tension that straightens the line and stabilizes it so it can be worked on easily.  To match the other shrouds on the model two small round seizings have been tied around the shroud lines about ¼” apart.  They were secured with PVA and when the glue dried the excess seizing lines were clipped off, as was the extra shroud line. This method makes stropping deadeyes, blocks, hearts, etc. very easy, regardless of how small the fittings and the lines are, since the line is held under tension at all times.
 

 
The resulting stropping is neat and tidy and repeatable.  Also, since the deadeye is not glued in it can be rotated in the strop even after the seizings have been tied.  You can put on three seizings if you want.  You can even make the crossover throat seizing if you flip the deadeye over in the alligator clip while holding the shroud lines stationary, then lace the seizing vertically rather than horizontally.  In any event the upper and lower deadeyes were laced together with lanyards of 0.07” linen.
 

 
To lace the lanyards I start by tying a stopper knot that cannot be pulled through the initial hole in the upper deadeye.  I have been asked about this before and, though it is a bit of an aside here and most of you already know the technique, here is my simple method.  To make it clearer, I photographed some cable that I spun up rather than the thin black line that was actually used, but the process is the same.  I first make a double overhand loop by taking the running end of the line around itself twice, leading to the look of the knot on the left.  As the two ends are pulled away from each other the knot deforms into the figure-8 shape in the middle.  Continued pulling results in a tight stopper knot which, like a clove hitch, has the line entering and leaving the knot in a straight line.  It only gets tighter with added strain.  It takes only a few seconds to tie the knot this way and clip off any unwanted extra line.
 

 
With the forward deadeye on the starboard side rigged the line was taken up and around the masthead to the port side where another deadeye was turned into the end of the line and laced to its lower deadeye.  The remaining shrouds on each side had a loop seized in the top and placed over the masthead.  To get the proper heights for the remaining deadeyes the shrouds were held against the lower deadeyes and small dots of white paint indicated where the bottoms of the upper deadeyes had to go.
 

 
The deadeyes were turned in on the stropping jig using the white dots as guides, The white paint was hidden with a drop of black paint, then the lanyards were laced for each one.  The resulting rigged deadeyes look neat and level at the bottom and at the masthead they look clean and trim.
 

 
The ratlines were made of more thin linen line which was glued across the face of the shroud gang.  I tried tying clove hitches, but the remaining lifts and braces from the spars got in the way and made this nearly impossible.  The result was good, and without the paper backing for contrast it is difficult to tell any difference.
 

 
Next, finally, I will complete the rigging repairs.
 
Till then, stay safe.
 
Dan

Hello and, as always, many thanks for looking in.
 
Druxey, Keith – nice names.  I like “Boneapart.”  It sounds appropriate for a French ship that has suffered at the hands of the perfidious Albions, or at least their American cousins.
 
Time to put the bones back together.  Here is how she was received.  A break at the mizzen masthead and another break in the middle of the mizzen t’gallant mast.
 

 
The stresses of whatever caused the breaks pulled out two of the topmast deadeyes on the starboard side, as seen in the prior photo, and all three on the port side.
 

 
In theory I could have pulled down the deadeyes and secured them back in their holes in the top, then redid the ratlines as I did on the lower shrouds.  However, the rats’ nest of overlapping and glued lines at the masthead was such a mess that I did not think such a simple solution would work.
 

 
Seen from the rear the various different thicknesses, colors, and even the seizing techniques of the many lines is evident.  Also clearly seen is the same mortice and tenon joint between the round body of the mizzen mast and the square masthead.  
 

 
The break in the t’gallant mast was clean, but angled.  It happened at the hole through the mast that was originally meant to represent the mast sheave for the t’gallant yard.  But in closeup it is clear that the prior restorer had run the halyard from the yard up and around the mast, then a second line was tied to this first one and taken down to the deck.  It would have looked OK in a ‘fool the eye’ sort of way, if you don’t look too close.
 

 
I tried a simple repositioning of the topmast, as I had for the main mast.  No matter how much I moved it around, and as hard as I tried to straighten it up, it would never go back to vertical.  I would have to strip off some of the rigging to release the stresses, then reposition the masthead.  One by one, starting from the top and working down, I removed each line and tried to straighten up the masthead.  The first to go were all the lines leading to the broken tip of the t’gallant mast, as well as the piece of mast itself.  Cutting the halyard, sling, and lifts released the t'gallant yard which was laid forward on the main t'gallant braces that were tied to the mizzen topmast stay.
 

 
Working down, the topmast backstays were removed.  Then the topmast shrouds, then the topping lift lines for the mizzen driver gaff were released, etc, etc.  Ultimately I had a small bowl of detached lines and ivory fittings, with other lines detached from around the mast and laid back on themselves.
 

 
This continued until the only lines left on the masthead were the strops for the topmast jeer blocks.  The jeer lines themselves were released from the belaying points at the deck so the masthead could be lifted.  Doing so revealed that there was a metal pin between the mast and the masthead running through the joint.
 

 
Loosening the jeer lines even more I could lift the masthead up high enough to completely release it from the mast. 
 

 
Now I understood why I could never get the masthead back in place.  The pin was made of hardened steel which took a bend when the mast was broken.  The amount of force needed to straighten it out in situ would surely have cracked the mast.
 

 
Instead, I replaced it with a similarly sized length of annealed iron wire.  Now, if there is ever another break, I expect the pin to bend before the ivory cracks and the future restorer can bend it back into position.
 

 
The masthead was replaced in position and secured with a drop of cyano in the mortice joint.
 

 
Next I drilled about ¼” into each side of the t’gallant mast break and pinned across the break with another length of iron wire.
 

 
The pieces were fit together and secured with cyano. 
 

 
Next I will start re-rigging the mast.
 
Till then,  stay safe.
 
Dan

Hi again to all, and thanks for the likes and compliments –
 
Druxey - Good idea.  I have broaches somewhere, but the glue was pretty hard.  I'll bring them out next time if I need them.
 
74_boni - I hope that these build logs will help preserve my experiences and techniques.  I have converted a few into articles in the NRJ and will do so again when I collect the time and mental energy.  
 
As for the model - My client just got back to the States and located a photo of what the model looked like after the 1953 restoration and before the current accident.  It is the middle one below.  So now we have three recorded moments in the life of this hard-luck model.
 

 

 

 
I will post the fourth when my own repairs are completed.
 
Dan

Hi again to all –
 
Thanks, as always, for the likes and comments.
 
Now that the mizzen stay was rigged I turned to rigging the crowsfoot.  The euphroe was included in a small envelope of loose parts that the client sent me.  Here it is, and you can see how small and delicate the original POWs made it.
 

 
Next I had to clean out the holes in the edge of the mizzen top.  This was the hardest part of this repair.  Using a piece of thin brass rod bent into an “L” I cleaned out four of the eight holes.  The last four were clogged with dried glue or finish of some kind.  For these I had to drill them out.  I first tried a hand held pin vise, but I could not deliver enough pressure for the bitt to catch and drill.  Reluctantly, and with great care, I turned to my cordless Dremel.  Without turning it on I angled it between the other rigging lines and set it on each hole location.  Then I turned it on and gently drilled through.  I turned it off before pulling it out.  The worst thing I could imagine would have been to catch a rigging line in the spinning chuck.  The damage that would have done would have been catastrophic. 
 
With the holes cleared I took a length of 0,015” linen line and dyed it tan.  I tied a stopper knot on one end and stiffened the other end with cyano, forming an integral needle.  Then it was a simple matter to lace the crowsfoot back and forth between the top and the euphroe, ending with a final knot under the top.
 

 
Once the crowsfoot was rigged I retied the double block for the main topmast braces to the stay.  Finally I tied a long length of 0.010” dyed linen line to the stay, ran it up to the blocks on the ends of the spars, back to the double block, and then to empty belaying points on either side of the deck.
 

 
Next I will have to address the double breaks of the upper mizzen mast.  Till then,
 
Stay safe.
 
Dan

Druxey - I love the smell of burning bone in the morning.  It smells like . . . like the dentist’s chair!  Or like the Marathon Man “Is it safe?” scene, one of the truly nightmare moments in movie history. 
 
Meanwhile, back in the shipyard –
 
With the mainmast fully upright and lines tensioned I continued aft to the broken mizzen stay.  It was intact from where it was seized to the main mast up to just below where the mouse and eye would have been.  It appeared to be original, so one priority was to preserve it if possible.
 

 
At the upper end the loop around the masthead had broken on the starboard side just under the top.  The red arrow identifies the broken end.  There is a section missing, so it could not be salvaged.  When I went to remove it, the line all but crumbled away.  The crowsfoot was gone completely, though some shreds of line were still stuck in the holes in the edge of the top.   The euphroe was also missing but later found in an envelope of separated parts.
 

 
Examining the other side of the break under magnification confirmed that the stay was original.  The brown tuft looks, to me, to be made of vegetable fibers, meaning linen rather than cotton.  The lines and block that tie to it are part of the main topsail braces.   They are tied to the stay, run to single blocks on the ends of the spar, back through this double block tied to the stay, and then to belaying pins at either side of the deck.   From the changes in color around and through the block I’m sure that these are replacements.  But since they are tied to the original stay, I decided not to change them, although I will paint them to hide the while sections.
 

 
The puzzle here was figure a way to splice a replacement line to the remaining original stay.  It had to be done end to end without creating too large a bulge.  After looking at the end to be spliced I decided to try unlaying some line, leaving one long strand but cutting the other two short.  This would give me a reasonable gluing surface area while minimizing bulk.
 

 
First the lover section of the stay was given a coat of MC followed by a similar coat of thinned PVA.  I knew that I would be putting some stresses on it and I wanted it as strong and flexible as I could.  Then the mating surfaces were painted with PVA and lined up with each other.  I held them in place by hand until the glue set up.  Then I gently looped and tied two thin lines around the overlap.  Tightening them clamped the splice and reduced the bulge.  After glue dried the clamping lines were removed.  Despite my best efforts I wasn’t completely happy with the size of the splice, but I could not see another solution that was any better.
 

 
 The next day I looped the new line around the masthead, clipped it back on itself and seized it together.
 

 
I released the clip and cut off the excess line.  It looked OK but was a little skewed so I moved to center it, at which point this happened!
 

 
After some choice words I realized that this was a blessing, although in heavy disguise.  I had lost a day’s work, but now I was forced to get rid of the unsightly bulge.  I cut the topsail braces off and freed the double block for later use.  Then it was a relatively simple matter to seize some appropriate line around the main mast, then take it up and around the mizzen masthead, seizing it together as before.
 

 
 The crowsfoot next.
 
Dan

Alan - in my experience, Druxey intends every one of the many puns he uses.  He is a master of understated humor.  Or was that humour.
 
Bob - Pretty much the only bone on this model, and most other POW models that I have worked on, is the planking.  Both the hull and decks are planked in thin bone veneers over a wooden core.  I think that this may be because bone will soften by immersing it in vinegar and can be bent to the shapes needed for hull planking.  I don't know if ivory will soften in the same way.  Ivory is used for all the masts and spars.  I think the grain in the bone (actually the holes from its blood supply) would weaken any long unsupported cylinders and make them prone to snapping.  Ivory is also much easier to work with for making the blocks, guns, deck fittings and, of course, any and all decorative carvings.  At the time, whaling was in full swing, so tooth ivory was plentiful, and I know that there was a lively trade in elephant ivory too, as the many Asian art objects show.  I can imagine making an entirely bone model, but only if I figured out how to solidify it for the masts, etc.  Perhaps an infusion of a stiffening liquid like the thinned epoxy that was suggested earlier might work.
 
Best of success with your work on behalf of breed preservation.
 
Dan    

Hello again –
 
Thanks for the likes and compliments.
 
Barkeater -  That’s exactly what it looks like to me too.  It might not be that difficult to open the seizing around the bowsprit, run it above the pinrail, and reseize it again.  My hesitation is because of the limited space in which to operate and whether any change in angle might damage the snaking lines.  Hmmm
 
This segment is short but important.  I decided that it was time to tackle the broken mainmast.  Here is how I received it, broken just under the trestletrees and the doubling of the head of the topmast and bent forward almost 90 degrees.  The stays that led forward were kinked but not broken.  The topmast shrouds and backstays were also intact, but bent sideways.  
 

 
Taking a closer look I realized that those shrouds were not original.  They are the wrong color and lie over a mass of cutoff ropes that must have been the heads of the original shrouds.  The good news was that this made them more flexible.  More importantly, the mast was not broken.  The head of the topmast was a separate piece from the body of the topmast.  Possibly that was because that was where it changed from a round cross section to a square one.  In any event, the mast was not splintered.  The lower mast seemed to fit into a socket between the trestletrees, and there was the same red glue residue of an earlier repair.
 

 
With that in mind I started to move the pieces around, as I had with the bowsprit.  I found that I could put the pieces of the mast in place against each other and pull up on the broken top till it was quite close to vertical before resistance made me stop for fear of pulling something loose. 
 

 
I checked all the lines to see which was the tightest, thinking that I could cut one or two and that would release the top and let me put it in place.  I actually found that none were particularly tight.  It was only the stiffness of the lines that was stopping me.  So I gently pulled the top up and released it back down several times.  The lines seemed to loosen up and I was able to get the top into a position where it stayed, although it was tipped forward just a bit.
 

 
The pieces were allowed to rest overnight and loosen up as much as they were going to.   In the morning I could pull the top up into final position.  Again I let it rest for a while.  Then I tipped it forward and fed several drops of cyano into the joint.  Here the mass of old lines below the trestletrees was a silver lining.  It gave me a much greater mating surface for the glue, which made the joint that much stronger.   I held the top in place till it solidified.
 

 
As the glue set up I checked the orientation of the top from every direction.  There are still some lines that have to be tensioned, but overall this was the easiest fix of a major problem that ever happened to me.  I wish they all could go as smoothly.
 

 
Stay safe.
 
Dan

Hi to all –
 
Bob – I’ve passed a lot of water under the bridge since that picture was taken.  I really should update it, if I can find a photo that will not scare the kids.
 
Just had time for a quick repair today.
 
The first piece of rigging to repair on the main mast was the mainstay collar.  As received the mainstay is one of the better preserved elements of the original rigging.  The stay and preventer are both secured to the masthead with eye and mouse fittings.  The crowsfoot is properly rigged through a small ivory euphroe.  The stay and preventer are appropriately sized as is the snaking line between them. 
 

 
The preventer is properly rigged with a pair of hearts, but it is clear that its collar is a replacement.  It is the wrong color and it runs badly.  Its seizing around the bowsprit is particularly sloppy.  On the mainstay the two hearts are still attached to each other by the lashing, but the rest of the collar that should run from the lower heart to the bowsprit is gone.
 

 
I carefully cut through the lashing between the hearts and cleaned up the upper heart.  In this photo you can see how kinked the preventer collar had to be to run under the pinrail.  I’m not sure why any restorer would do this.
 

 
I seized the heart into a line that matched the diameter of the other collar, but was the proper color.  I passed the running end around the bowsprit and seized it so it could extend up toward the matching heart with a reasonable gap between.  I thought about doing the collar in a more accurate manner, but decided to match the style of the earlier repair.  I lashed the two hearts together and this little repair was done.
 

 
More soon.
 
Dan

Hi again to everyone –
 
Thanks as always for the compliments and interest.
 
Tony – I may try CPES the next time I have to make sails.  I have never been completely satisfied with the stiffeners I have used in the past.  It should work on thin fabric too, yes?
 
Bob – Yes, victory it is!  But I work in a space that is barely 6 feet by 7 feet with only one small French door (it used to be a walk-in closet).  I am also 70 with a bit of asthma.   I use solvent based materials only when there is no water based alternative.  If I do, I clear out for a while until a small fan can clear the vapors.  As you said, it’s all about common sense.
 
Back on the model, with the lower rigging strengthened and repaired, I turned to the first break, the bowsprit.  As it came to me the jib boom was broken right behind the bowsprit cap with the martingale detached and hanging only by its rigging. 
 

 
 
To test some ideas, I moved the broken forward piece around a bit and found that I could lay it in place on top of the aft piece, but the stays and other lines had shortened so they had to overlap about 2mm.
 

 
I could also set the heel of the broken piece in place, but then trying to pull down the forward end would overtighten the lines and pull the fore topmast much too far forward.
 

 
To mend the break I first cut off the martingale and all the raffle of lines that led to it.  To get the pieces to fit I gently ground off about 1mm from each face and flattened them so they met snugly.  Then I drilled into the ivory on both ends.  I knew that with such limited mobility I could only use a very short length of brass rod across the joint.  It was more used to locate and keep the two pieces centered than to provide any real strength against a future impact. 
 

 
Once in place with the brass rod inserted I gently clamped them against a straight piece of wood.  When I was satisfied that they formed a straight line I bonded them with cyano.   This is one of only two places where it is used.  The other is to stiffen the ends of rigging line that has to feed through small holes, and is then discarded.  Once the cyano had cured there was only a little groove where the pieces met.  I took a sanding wheel and ground some ivory into a powder.  Mixed with MC it made a nice filler.  Here is how it came out.
 

 
As mentioned, I was not at all happy with the “Y” shape of the martingale and the fact that it was not made of bone or ivory.  I consulted my sources and, although large models of ships of the line had “V” shaped martingales, the most common was a simple spike rigged to the boom, the bowsprit, and the hull.   You can see these features in the models in the Lloyd book much like these.
 


 
Although many martingales are mounted under the bowsprit cap, the stub of the bowsprit tenon that extended through the cap suggested that the martingale here had originally been mounted to the front face of the cap and had been vertical.  I decided that this solution had plausible deniability and went with it.  I took some ivory and cut a piece the width of the cap and a length that looked right for the size of the model.  I carved it down to a round spike with a mortise in the head that fit the bowsprit tenon.  Three holes were drilled for rigging lines at approximately equal spacing.
 

 
It was mounted to the cap with glue and metal pins, then martingale guys were made up of dyed linen line.  One ran from the tip of the jib boom to a notch at the base, and then two went to eyebolts already in place on either side of the hull.  Smaller lines were run from the boom through the holes in the martingale and tied off to the bowsprit.  Between the guys and the inner rigging they form a triangular truss arrangement that would have strongly resisted the pull of the headsails.
 

 
The various foremast stays that led to the bowsprit and jib were tightened by sliding their collars out on the boom or up on the mast till the stays were barely straight.  This left just a bit of slack for further tightening when the mainmast is fixed and its stays that run to the foremast are rigged and tensioned.
 

 
One break fixed, three to go.
 
Stay safe
 
Dan

Bob - 
 
Thinned CPES sounds like an excellent solution, but not for this problem, I think.
Unfortunately there is no such thing as a "well ventilated area" in a Brooklyn apartment.
I will stick with the water based products.
 
Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Dan

Hi again –
 
Druxey – Now you tell me . . .  J
 
Tony – Thanks for the suggestion, but I only use epoxy for metal-to-metal joins, or making ocean spray (a process that I have not perfected).  It cures very hard and brittle, in my experience, though I have never thinned it.  I have no idea what solvents like acetone might do to 200 year old linen, and I don’t think I will try it on someone else’s model.
 
Mark – That’s the s*******, c*********, r*****est compliment I have ever gotten.  
 
Back in the drydock, just one small repair today  -  the forestay preventer that I had broken before realizing how fragile the lines were.  Notice how nice the cable is that makes up the stay and how neatly the heart was turned in.  This must have been quite the nice model when it was new.
 

 
The lines were painted with MC and allowed to dry.  I did not try to paint the snaking lines, but again let capillary action take some of the MC onto them.  I cut a length of 0.010” line to use as a splint, long enough to span the two breaks with a bit on either end.  It was painted with full strength PVA and gently lifted up from underneath.  I attached it at both ends, the tackiness of the PVA holding it in place.  Then I could gently maneuver the middle piece until it lay on the splint in the gap. 
 

 
After the PVA cured it became completely clear and I gave the repair a top coat of MC.  I also painted the snake lines which were now strong enough to hold up.
 

 
Thanks, as always, for the likes.
Back soon.
 
Dan

Hi to all –
 
Thanks again for all the likes and comments.
 
Barkeater – yes, I use fly tying thread when I want a very smooth seizing on a small scale stropping or splice.  It mikes down to 0.003”, and even less if you separate the several strands that make it up.  But here the seizings on the model, whether original or repairs, use larger line for those purposes and I will be matching them rather than trying to make improvements.
 
Today I worked my way around the lower shrouds, stiffening them and repairing ratlines as before.  I came to the main lower shroud on the starboard side.  I had noticed before, when I received it, that the lanyard of the center deadeyes was completely broken, although the lanyards on either side were still whole.  A number of the ratlines, especially at the bottom, were broken.
 

 
After stabilizing everything with MC I slid a Post-it behind the gang to help me see what I was doing.
 

 
I knew that I would not be able to access the back of the upper deadeye to lace the lanyard.  There was almost no room between the deadeyes and the hull so I would need to twist the shroud around, which would certainly break more of the ratlines, if not the shroud itself.   All I could do was to fake the lanyards enough to fool the eye.   First I removed the broken lanyard pieces.
 

 
I took a length of the very thin linen line that had been dyed black, then soaked it in PVA and hung it with a weight on the end.  It dried stiff and straight.  I measured and cut three short lengths and glued them to the face of the deadeyes.
 

 
I had hoped that these three would be enough to visually look like a lanyard, but it looked empty compared to the lanyards to either side.   So I took three more lengths of the stiff line and attached them to the backs of the deadeyes.  This last took lots of patience, some bad words, and a bent paper clip to nudge them into place without turning or twisting the deadeyes.  It did not come out as perfectly as if I properly laced the lanyard, but considering the variations in the other lanyards it fit right in. It is solving these small individual puzzles that I like best about restorations. 
 

 
After this I could treat the rest of the shrouds with MC and lay on the Mettlar threads over the broken ratlines.  Getting the lowest two or three sets of ratlines across the shrouds strengthened the entire web and hopefully will prolong the life of all of this rigging.
 

 
And hopefully the rest of the repairs will go as well.
 
Stay safe
 
Dan

Hi all –
 
After reviewing all the experiment results and considering Druxy’s suggestion, I decided to go with a combination method.  I will use the methyl cellulose (MC) on lines that will not have to be manipulated, like the lower shrouds and stays.  I will need the increased flexibility and strength that the PVA will give me on the lines that I will have to move around when I repair them.  If needed I will tone down any shiny finish with an overcoat of the MC.  This should give me some additional strength as well.
 
So I took my softest sable brush and started to paint the MC onto the foremast lower shrouds.  Disaster!  Despite how gently I tried to apply the liquid to the forward shroud and ratlines, the ratlines crumbled all down the length of the shroud.  Of course I stopped immediately.
 

 
It appears that the ratlines are so thin and so cooked that they must be held together by will power alone.  I tried blowing on one and it crumbled with just a moderate puff.    To deal with this I thinned the MC some more, then painted it onto only the shrouds, hoping that capillary action would infuse the ratlines from the shrouds both left and right.  I tried it on the rest of the lower foremast shroud gang and happily got good results.  No more of the ratlines broke and, after the MC cured, I found that the ratlines were now strong enough to give them a second coat of MC without further damage.
 
Now I had to repair the damage that I caused, and to fix other ratlines that had broken over the years.  I wanted to use linen line, but ran into a problem.  Linen makes for a pretty stiff thread.  Even in the smallest diameter that I have, 0.007”, it acts like steel cable at these small scales.  You can see how it does not curve compared to my softest thread, Mettlar’s silk finish embroidery thread.  It is a mercerized cotton product, not linen, but I don’t think I will have to worry about shrinkage in this use.  It has a bit of an irregular finish, but the 50/3 size generally mikes out to between 0.007” to 0.009”.
 

 
I cut short pieces of the thread and soaked them in thinned PVA.  Carefully laying them across the gaps they were smoothed down using a wet brush and the tip of a dry toothpick.
 

 
After drying I gave them a coat of MC to tone down any shine.  Once this was dry the extra ends were trimmed with a sharpened cuticle clipper.  I use this tool from the cosmetics counter in almost all rigging situations.  It cuts cleanly, with the cutting edge laid very close to the knot/junction, and without the danger of a wayward blade slicing through a line that I want to keep.
 

 
Here is how it came out.  There are a few tiny stubs where the new lines overlap the old ones, but they are only visible under magnification and then only when there is a contrasting background like this pale Post-it note paper.
 

 
Other ratline repairs were needed from causes other than my clumsy hands.  Here is how I found the main lower shroud gang on the port side.  On the left of the photo you can see that the first and second shrouds have somehow been reversed.  The forward shroud is twisted and at the masthead actually runs behind and aft of the second shroud.  This must have put increased stress on the ratlines between them.  At the upper right the brace for the lower mizzen yard is rigged, properly, to the aft main shroud.  But the line is a replacement (it is a slightly different color) which shrank and pulled on the shroud, breaking the ratlines around it.
 

 
And here it is after repairs.  The yellow color is because I shut down the camera flash and used only and incandescent bulb.  The picture is less confusing when there are no shadows of the ratlines on the paper backing.
 

 
I did this for all the lower shrouds and ratlines.  Here is the port lower mizzen gang during repairs and after.
 

 
There will be many more repairs needed on the topmast shrouds, especially those on the broken main and mizzen masts.  But those are for later.  Now I need a stiff drink.
 
More soon.
 
Dan
 

Hi again to all –
 
Thanks for all the likes and comments.  I love it when there are wider topics discussed in a build log than just the building.  
 
The past several days were spent trying out 7 different glues and varnishes to see if they could help the original rigging.   I was looking for a liquid which can be painted on gently and which will strengthen the lines and make them flexible so they do not break when they have to be manipulated to fix the current problems.
Here they are.   I tried to set up as wide a range of solutions as I reasonably could.  If there wasn’t a suitable one in this group then there might not be one.
 

 
Next I needed something to test them on.  The original rigging lines were probably made of linen.  Every time that similar old lines have been chemically examined, as far as I know, they turned out to be linen.  It was readily available in England at the time since it was made from flax plants which grew there.  Cotton was scarcer since Egypt was in French hands most of this time.  Linen is also quite dimensionally stable, so rigging lines do not sag or overtighten.  Fortunately, I had snapped up a collection of linen line spools about 20 years ago which includes diameters from 0.007” to 0.048”.  I use them for all of my museum work that requires rigging.  Although most of it is very white, it dyes black or tan quite easily and permanently.
 

 
To simulate the cooking that the original lines had endured over the years, I took lengths of 0.02” and 0.04” lines and baked them in the over overnight at 350 degrees.  Nothing!  They came out hot, but as flexible as before.  The same thing happened at 450 degrees. 
 
Finally, I simply wrapped the lines in foil and set the packet on top of the naked flame of the gas stove.  In a few minutes wisps of smoke started coming out of the seams.  I turned it over for another 30 seconds then removed it from the heat.  When it was unwrapped the lines had been blackened and charred, just as I hoped.
 

 
After cooling I tried one of the thicker lines and gently pulled it along its length.  It took little effort to break the line, with the ends, under magnification, looking a lot like the ends of the broken rigging on the model. These would be acceptable stand-ins for testing purposes.
 

 
Now that I had my test materials I took seven short pieces of both the large and small diameter lines and mounted them on a piece of file folder.  Some of the thinner ones were extremely delicate and one broke as I was mounting it.  Then each was painted with the liquid corresponding to the numbers on the composite photo. 
 

 
After they dried overnight I examined them under magnification and then tried to bend each around a ¼” diameter dowel.  Here is the photo of the results.
 

 
What I found was as follows, recognizing the limitations of my not very precise or controlled materials and methods:
1.    Krylon spray – I decanted some and painted it on with a soft brush.  I worried that the power of the propellant might damage the smaller lines, and also that I would not have a lot of control over the application on the actual model.  It dried stiff with a matte finish.  It did not seem to improve the pull-apart strength of the line, but made it too stiff to bend easily.
2.   Lineco pH neutral PVA – It was diluted to skim milk consistency with distilled water and painted on.  It significantly improved both the pull-apart strength of the line and was quite flexible when dry.  The one drawback was that it dried quite shiny.
3.   Liquitex gloss varnish – Painted on direct from the bottle.  The result was not very strong, not very flexible, and shiny.
4.   Liquitex matte varnish - Somewhat improved strength and flexibility, matte finish.
5.   Paraloid b72 – significantly improved strength but not very flexible.  Shiny finish.  The biggest drawback is that it requires a strong solvent like acetone for dilution or clean up.
6.   Powdered methyl cellulose - Dissolved per the instructions in distilled water.  It markedly improved strength, had decent flexibility, and dried with a matte finish.
7.   Gel cyano – It was laid on as thin as I could with a wooden toothpick so it would not heat up as it cured and damage the fibers even more.  It was the strongest in the pull-apart test, but was the most brittle when dry, especially for the thinner line.  Shiny finish.
 
The decision came down to two choices, the PVA and the methyl cellulose.  I am leaning toward the PVA just because I am very familiar with its properties.  On the other hand, the MC could be used to strengthen lines that will not be handled, with the PVA used where the line might have to bend and twist.
 
I am open to any and all further thoughts that you all might have. 
 
Stay safe
 
Dan

Hi to all - 
 
I am back in the shop today and the glues and finishes that I ordered have arrived.  I will experiment with them in the next few days and report on my findings.
In the meanwhile my client has located some documents from when his uncle had the model repaired in 1956.  Here is a photo that the uncle sent to the Mariner's Museum in Virginia asking for information.
 

 
Notice that the damages are very similar to those that I am repairing - broken bowsprit, main and mizzen masts.  The entire figurehead area is missing.  I do not know if the bust that is on the model was original or if it was added.  The museum was not too helpful, but eventually he located a restorer named C.M. Smeltzer, Jr. at a company called Authentiscale in Metuchen, NJ.  I could not find any existing information on either the man or the company.  In any event, they reached an agreement that the repairs would cost $210.00 with an additional $40 for a case.  I don't know what that converts to in 2021 dollars.
 
I do not have a photo of the model after repairs and before the current damages, but my client is still looking.
 
More soon.
 
Stay well
 
Dan. 
 
 
 

Cathead - I think Johnny has it right.  It was a mostly question of respect for a long time adversary rather than anger at traitorous colonists.  This was especially true for sailors, who all understood that their true enemy was not the other fleet but the sea herself.  The other issue was one of numbers.  The land armies of Napoleon and those of the various opponents, Russia, Austria, Spain, England, etc., generally captured about equivalent numbers of soldiers, so exchanges could be arranged on more or less equal terms.  However, the British Navy captured more French sailors by several orders of magnitude than the French captured English sailors.  Equivalent exchanges could not be arranged, so the sailors had to be held for much longer periods of time.  The British did not want to hold them, and feed them, as evidenced by the wholesale emptying of the POW camps and repatriation of prisoners whenever there was a 'peace treaty' between the countries.  Captains Hornblower and Aubrey are always concerned that they will end up on the beach without a command whenever that happened.
 
Barkeater - I have some bone, but it is in large chunks and is much more difficult to work with since it has dried out completely and tends to snap.  For these small areas I chose the ivory as being easier to work without much difference in the look of the final repair.    
 
I am waiting on the delivery of several kinds of glue/finish products and will report on their suitability when they come in.
 
Till then, stay safe.
 
Dan

Hi again to all –
 
As you can tell, I really like POW models.  I first ran into one at an antiques show that my mother dragged me to when I was about 10.  I found that it was pretty interesting looking at old artworks and furniture.  But a large, intricate, bright white model of a sailing warship captivated me.  When I was told that it was made of bones and rigged with human hair, I begged my mother to buy it.  I have no idea why she decided not to  spend $7,000 (about the cost of a good car back then) on such a simple request.  In the 60 years since then I have learned many things about them, such as that they were not actually rigged with hair, and that I still can’t afford one.
 
I do get a bit of satisfaction in restoring them for others.  I have been fortunate enough to be given this pleasant task several times.  Each is its own unique fine art object, and each has its unique set of restoration puzzles to be solved. 
 
For this one I spent that past two days trying to solve the hull puzzles.    The easiest one to access was the small triangle at the gripe where the wide stem plank had lost its point.  It had been repaired by replacing it with a piece that was much too white for the surrounding bone planking.
 

 
I removed the offending triangle with a dental pick.  It turned out not to be ivory, as I expected, but was actually a hard plastic.   Not very original.  The old glue in the corners was removed with the pick and the tip of a hobby knife.  
 

 
To fill the hole I used the ivory top of a piano key.  I have a small stash of ivory, most of it whale tooth ivory, from when I was playing around with scrimshaw.   It was also too white, but unlike the plastic I could change it.  Many years ago I came across an article that recommended using used coffee grounds as an ‘aging’ agent for ivory.   Fresh grounds have too much acid and volatile chemicals to use for this.  I have used the method before with good results.  Here is the key with its left end having been buried in damp grounds overnight.  
 

 
After drying out, a piece of the stained side was cut and fitted.  It was installed with PVA since it is mounted on the wood of the stem.
 

 
I next turned to the figurehead.  It had obviously suffered some serious damage in the past.  Although the figurehead itself was in pretty good shape, the area behind it was missing all of the hull planking.  It had been crudely filled in with a putty of some kind that was tinted grey or had aged that color.  As I said in an earlier post, I also did not like where the head was fitted.  My understanding is that the back of the bust’s head should be at the level of the topmost rail, which is why it is called the ‘hair rail’.  This bust was mounted at least ¼” too low.
 

 
Using rotary tool I carefully ground away the putty.  I used a flat bottomed bit to help insure that I would not unintentionally dig too deep into the original substance of the model.  With the putty mostly removed I found that the entire tip of the stem was a replacement, being a separate piece of wood carved to fit.  Removal of the putty also revealed a hole in the shoulder of the bust, probably indicating where a separate arm once fit.   It was while taking this photo that I realized that there was a gap between the bust and the scroll which the bobstay runs against.
 

 
On the port side the putty was similarly removed.  It revealed a clearly broken end to the upper planking.  It must have been quite an impact to do that much damage.  But the bobstay appears to be original and shows no break or repair.  How that could be possible I don’t know.  The loose lines that are in the photo are some replacements that ran to the incorrect and broken martingale.  They were soon removed to keep them from getting in the way.
 

 
I thought about moving the bust up to its proper place and then carving a middle piece, perhaps a dress, out of ivory.  But the bust would not come loose with gentle leverage, so I left it in place.  All I could do was to fill in the open spaces with new planking.  To take the shapes needed I laid on some translucent tape and drew the outlines.
 

 
The tape was laid on the aged ivory and pieces cut out.  I drilled holes for metal pins that would help secure the pieces to the hull.  These are for the port side
 

 
Here they are test fit, ready for final shaping.
 

 
And here they have been glued and pinned in place.  I also carved a rounded wedge of ivory to fit in the gap below the bust.  This is the finished port side
 

 
And the starboard side.
 

 
I’m considering scratching some ‘grain’ into the ivory to make it look a bit more like bone, but that may be a bit on the obsessive side.  It’s still an option.
 
Stay safe
 
Dan

Hi all - 
 
Druxey - yes, and thank you .  I have ordered some of the glue and will test it with the others that I have.
 
Roger -  the conditions of French POWs was not usually that dismal.  Yes, the prison hulks were not pleasant, but you do not abuse the enemy's POWs or he may retaliate against yours.  In fact, towards the middle of the period most of the naval POWs were housed in large camps like Norman Cross.  Think "The Great Escape" or "Hogan's Heroes" rather than "The Bridge on the River Kwai".  Officers could give their parole and live outside camp in nearby villages.  All sorts of activities and athletics were permitted.  There is even evidence that there were fencing lessons.
 
The British also believed in having the prisoners keep busy, so they allowed them to make all sorts of handicrafts, not just ship models.  There were bone spinning jennys, bone guillotines, and straw work of all kinds, like this jewelry box.
 

 

 

 
 
The POWs were allowed on market day once a week to sell their wares to local customers at tables outside the camp stockade. 
 

 
They also sold to merchants and brokers in larger volume.  Since they did not have labor costs, and did have lots of time, they excelled at making time consuming products like lace and straw hats.  This trade grew so great, since they could easily undercut the competition, that the English lacemakers and straw hatters petitioned Parliament for help and the POWs were prohibited from making them.
 
If you can find it, this is the bible on the POW arts and crafts.
 
 

 
Stay safe.
 
Dan

Hi again to all.
 
I spent yesterday working on things other than the rigging.  First I did some cleaning.  The hull and deck were pretty clean, being protected from dust by the case.  I still wiped them down with some distilled water, no soap or solvent was needed.  As a mop I used half of a cotton swab in a drafting pencil handle.  It is important to use the kind with a paper shaft rather than the plastic one.  As can be seen in the picture, paper ones can be bent so it sits flat with the handle angled up so it can reach through spaces in the rigging.  In this configuration it also can slide under deck fittings like the bitts and pinrails.
 

 
The metal tool is a plaque scraper that I got from my dentist.  There are lots of dental tools and supplies that transfer easily to ship modeling.  I asked mine to set them aside when he was going to replace them anyway, and he was happy to do so.  I used it as a scraper for the dried glue and it worked quite well.  Here are the spots where the three loose cannon came from, and the same area after scraping.   I went around the ship, as much as was possible, and removed the worst of it where possible. 
 
 
 

 
After cleaning I worked on the ship’s boat.  It was detachable, so I did not have to worry at all about touching the rigging.  Here it is, as received, hanging in the stern davits.  I was a bit concerned that the thwarts were replacements since they do not appear to match the color of the boat’s hull.
 

 
I gently bent the hooks open and slid the boat off.  Now I could see that the thwarts had been glued in with the same stuff that was scraped off the deck.
 

 
From this angle it was even more evident that the thwarts did not match, either in color or in the quality of workmanship.  Their ends are ragged and they do not sit perpendicular to the centerline.
 

 
The dried glue was little obstacle to removal of the thwarts using only gentle leverage.
 

 
The inside of the boat’s hull was scraped clean and the thwarts sanded lightly to remove discolorations.  With a few tweaks of the ends they were straightened out and levelled.  I reattached them using small drops of gel cyano glue.  It is the best that I have found for bone-to-bone, and bone-to-ivory, connection.  It is stronger and more rigid than PVA, drop for drop, so I can use less and not leave a glue mound.  It is also very clear and stays that way, at least over the 35 years that I have evidence for.  But it can be brittle, so where the joint will be under strain I also give it a second thin coat of PVA as a shock absorber.  That was not necessary here.
 

 
I think the boat is much improved.  I just hope the rest of the repairs go as well.
 
 
Dan

Hi again to all, and thanks for the comments and interest in this restoration.
 
After reviewing the hull I turned to the masts, spars and rigging.  The news was both good and not so good.    First, to get an idea of what the model was like when she was built, I examined the best of the remaining masts and rigging, the foremast.  Here are some photos of the details and some of my conclusions.  Of course there are lots more of both, but that would take too much time to relate here.
 
The foremast is well-proportioned to the ship and has several bands of woolding as would be proper.  The fore spar is hung on jeers although there is no parrell, just a simple sling.  It carries stun’s’l booms on each end.  The shrouds are well-proportioned to the mast and the ratlines are appropriately thin.  They are spaced at 3mm intervals, which also seems right.  The deadeyes are carved from bone, 3mm in diameter, and generally well rigged.  The forestay and preventer are correctly sized, with bone hearts and collars.  They are even snaked together.  A crowsfoot is laced with brown line to a bone euphroe on the stay.
 

 
The fore topmast looks correctly sized, as does the doubling. However the mast cap has a through tenon, which is English practice, which contrasts with the French deck bench noted in the last segment.  The fore course yard and topsail yard are rigged with lifts and braces, but no sheets or sheet blocks.  There are nicely done futtock shrouds and upper shrouds with ratlines.  Although extremely small, the ratlines appear to be rigged with clove hitches.
 

 
The t’gallant mast and spar are well done, as are the two bone crosstrees.  Here can be seen some of the prior repairs.  The lower topmast stays (the lowest ones in the photo) appear to be original.  They show a lay to the line and are served and seized as they go around the doubling.  The four other stays all have fairly crude ties and seizings, with stubs of the seizing line sticking out.  A gentle feel of the various lines confirmed that the upper ones are smooth and new, rather than the older, original ones.
 

 
The main stay is original, as is the preventer stay below it.  They are rigged with a proper mouse and eye on each with fore topmast braces and blocks tied to them.
 

 
However, the hearts and collars are damaged.  The preventer stay collar has been replaced with a line of the wrong size, the wrong color, and which goes under the bow pinrail, causing it to kink.  It is seized to the bowsprit with a very crude knot. The main stay heart and collar are missing entirely.
 

 
The mizzen stay is also original but broken completely.  The several lumps on it are probably evidence of prior repairs that were less than successful.   The crowsfoot is completely torn and the euphroe detached.  I was provided with it in a separate envelope.  You can also see that the sling/parrell line that should run from the lower mizzen yard jeer to the mast is broken.
 

 
I believe that there were several sets of repairs in the past.  For example, here are the main lower shroud deadeyes.  The forward three are completely original, with bone deadeyes, the upper ones properly turned in and the lanyards appropriately sized and laced.  The aft four have had the upper deadeyes replaced with metal castings.  I thought that the rough look to them was lead bloom, but it turned out to be only the paint used to try to match them to the original bone color (whew!).  I believe that this was the earlier of the repairs, since the lanyards of the two on the shrouds match the original ones and are properly laced.  I believe that the aft two on the backstays represent a second repair since the lanyards are different and are incorrectly laced and tied off below the lower deadeyes.
 

 
I found the same situation at the main mast.  The topmast shrouds and deadeyes appear to be original, but the backstays are a completely different quality of line.  The lifts look original but the upper stays are replacements with crude siezings.
 

 
Viewed from behind I could see that there was a huge mass of mounded lines around the head of the topmast.  This was where the original backstays were simply cut loose, leaving some stubs of line that can still be seen.  The replacements were looped over them and glued in place, making a mess that may have contributed to the break.
 

 
Although the main topmast shrouds seem to have survived, the same was not true for the mizzen topmast shrouds.  The break was offset to port, so those shrouds were not stressed.  The starboard ones were not so lucky.  The forward two parted company from the futtock shrouds at the level of the top.  The aft one held on at the lower end, but broke at the masthead.  As a result all of the ratlines between the second and third shrouds parted.
 

 
In addition to these issues, a fair number of the rigging lines did not run to their proper blocks or tie off to proper locations.  For example, the main yard brace is misplaced, since it should run to the stern where there is an eyebolt and boomkin, but just ties off amidships.  This and other evidence convinced me that at least one of the restorers did not know how a ship was rigged.
 
After long discussion with the client about whether the model was worth the cost of restoration, he decided to go forward.  We decided on a cost based on leaving as much of the current rigging, right or wrong, in place, but replacing what was needed and cleaning up the rest.
 
With this understanding I very gently started to wiggle the broken pieces to see what could be retained and what had to be removed to get the pieces back into proper orientation.  At the bow the jib boom could be gently manipulated to get the heel of the break to meet the head of the lower piece, but it would not straighten out.  Several of the lines had shrunk and prevented it.  I found that the shrunken lines were not original, but were part of some of the prior repairs.  I believe that the glass cover had created a greenhouse effect that ‘cooked’ the lines over time and shortened them enough that they may have actually broken the boom.  Note that the forestay and preventer, both original lines, are not taut.
 

 
Unfortunately, even the original lines have been cooked.  Even a gentle brush of a finger against the fore preventer stay was enough to break it in two places.
 

 
I immediately stopped all touching of the lines until I could figure out how to deal with the cooked rigging.   In the envelope of loose parts was one small deadeye with a piece of the original shroud still around it.  I went to remove and examine the stropping only to find that it did not unwrap, but crumbled.  The line was much more brittle than I anticipated and weaker than any I had run into in prior restorations.  This will be a major problem if it cannot be corrected.
 

 
So here is my first question to the group - - what method do you think will work to strengthen the lines and make them more flexible so that I can work on them?  I am considering taking distilled water and painting it onto the lines to open the fibers, then a second coat of thinned white pH neutral PVA glue.  Has anyone done this before, or successfully used another technique?
 
In the meanwhile I have turned to fixing some of the hull and fittings issues noted in the first build log segment.  I will detail those next.
 
Until then, stay safe and well.
 
Dan
 

Hello to all who followed me here from my prior build log of the James B Colgate, and to all those who are interested in the bone and ivory ship models made, mostly, by the French prisoners taken by the British navy in the Napoleonic wars.
 
I was recently asked to repair an attractive example of the type that had some substantial damage over the past centuries, as well as suffering some repairs, good and bad.  In this log I will detail my progress and, in addition to some techniques that I have used before, I will ask for additional ideas from the collective wisdom of our community here.
 
So here she is in the photographs sent for me to consider doing the restoration.  I asked for digital shots of the entire model and close-ups of the damage.   First, the overall look, including the wooden base, the primary damages, and the large glass case.
 

 
With the case removed you can see the extensive damage.  The bowsprit, mainmast and mizzen are all clearly broken and the associated rigging in disarray.  The balance of the standing rigging seems to be mostly intact except for the mizzen stay which is broken just below the crowsfoot.  Sitting on the base are the flag and staff for the stern.
 

 
In close-up here is the bowsprit, with the jib boom broken at the level of the bowsprit cap and the Y-shaped martingale hanging, literally, by a thread.  I don’t recall seeing that type of martingale on any of the POW models whose photos I have seen.  Even at this stage I thought it was probably a later replacement.
 

 
The mainmast was snapped just below the crosstrees at the base of the t’gallant mast.  From the way the rigging lines retained the kinks and bends I was pretty sure that they had been hardened in some way.  This could indicate that much of it might have to be removed and replaced.  The mizzen was similarly snapped below the t’gallant top.  In addition the mizzen t’gallant mast was snapped as well about halfway up its length, just where the hole was drilled for the t’gallant lift.  Here the rigging was also kinked, but more worrying was the mass of overlapped rigging lines around the doubling.  I have seen this before when prior restorers have simply looped new lines over old ones and glued the mass together.
 

 
Based on these pictures I gave the client a very vague ballpark idea of the cost of repair to see if he was serious about going forward.  I told him that if he was, I would need to see the model in person and evaluate it in detail before giving him a firm price.  After a few months of thinking about it he brought the model to my Brooklyn studio and left it with me for examination.  In this posting I examine the hull and its fittings.
 
The model was uncased and the glass cover removed. It was made of ¼” thick fish tank glass and I was surprised at how heavy it was.  By my bathroom scale it weighs some 19 pounds!  This probably contributed to the damage. Anyone lifting the cover will have a hard time unless he is prepared for the sudden weight.  Trying to lift it clear would be difficult and the lower edge might well have contacted and broken the tops of the masts. 
 
In any event, the model matched the photos, which is not always the case.  With the jib boom in approximate place the model measures 15 ½” x 12” x 4”.  By measuring the spacing between ratlines (3mm) and the height of the bulwarks (11mm) and the height of the rope rail amidships (15mm), I determined that the approximate scale is between 1/80 and 1/100.  I could not be more certain because none of these has a standard height and the modelmakers were not quite exact in rendering them.  Two of the cannon and their carriages were loose, and a third was found detached on deck.
 

 
The hull and deck are planked in bone with ivory (elephant or whale tooth is unclear) making up the balance of the structure and carved details.  She carries 40 guns, 12 in each broadside on the gun deck, 5 on the quarterdeck, 3 on the forecastle.  This is a lot for what appears to be a small ship.  She is certainly not a match to any of the 40-gun ships in my library.
 

 
She sits on a series of wood keel blocks with a larger built up central cradle.  Three metal pins, two seen here and one in the center, go through the blocks and into the baseboard.  When received the model did not sit vertically, but listed a bit to starboard.
 

 
Ahe bow there was a nicely carved figurehead of a female bust with a Greek-style helmet and a pugnacious expression .   It  looked to me to be in the wrong place, slid down below the hair rail.  Behind it was a mass of greyish putty hiding some additional damage.  There was a similar mass on the port side
 

 
Despite its small size the lower gun deck cannon are made to retract.  Here they are retracted, then extended.  The retraction mechanism can be seen through the open main hatch.  The cannon barrels are mounted on a moveable wood strip.  The client also sent a video taken of the interior through a borescope.  It is poor quality but it does show the presence of some springs which would push the cannon out.  Unfortunately the cords to operate the system are missing.
 

 
On deck just ahead of the mizzen mast is a carved seat for the officer of the deck.  This is a particularly French detail, even though the model carries English flags.  The locations for the detached cannon can be seen against the far bulwark where the prior glue has yellowed.  Hidden behind the rigging is a metal post where the capstan should be, and a single stand for the ship’s wheel, although the wheel and second stand are missing.
 

 
A ship’s boat hangs in davits at the stern.  The thwarts for the boat have been repaired before with a glue/varnish that has yellowed with time.  Just ahead of it is a curved boomkin for the main yard brace, but no lines are tied to it.
 

 
The rudder is clearly a replacement.  It is too thin and too white, while the pintles and their straps are not properly set on the rudder.
 

 
That was my detailed examination of the hull.  In the next segment I will document the detailed examination of the masts and rigging.  Lots of problems, as you might expect.
 
Be well, stay safe.
 
Dan