shipmodel

Yesterday witnessed the arrival of our first adult dining table and chairs which, sadly, ushers out the butcher block trestle table that was my work station and the backdrop of this project for the past six years.  It was a bitter-sweet day because I love that old workhorse of a table.  I bought it second-hand for $50 and refinished the top three times.  On the other hand, it is very nice to walk into our place and immediately see a touch of sophistication.  There will be no painting or gluing on that marble-top table, though!
 
Fortunately, IKEA makes a very nice birch gate-leg table with built-in drawer storage, which will soon become my new designated work station.  In the meantime, though, I wanted to get the model to a stage of crispness and clarity before I had no place for paint re-touching.
 
Please forgive me my self-indulgence.  Here is where we are at, presently:


I am very satisfied with the head-grating, and the way that all of the head elements integrated together:

One thing that was niggling on my conscience, though, was the fact that the aft headrail rosettes were glued under tension.  I have a solid welded bond, and I did wick CA into the joins, where I could, but I wanted a little extra insurance.  My solution was to drill two small holes a side, through the third headrail and upper bulwarks, to feed a length of annealed wire.  You can see where I painted over the exposed wire with red:

And inside, you can see how I twisted the wire ends taught, and then fixed the whole thing in-place with liquid CA.  This is all minimally detectable and will quickly fade out of view with everything else that will be going on around it.  I feel better now 🙂





I made a start at roughing out the figure of Africa.  I had quite a lot of the same wood (linden, maybe) that I used for the lower quarter galleries.

Unfortunately, this material really isn’t suitable for carving fine detail.  I will have to get my hands on a little boxwood, or some fruit wood like apple or pear.
 
A little fun with pictures.  Here, the juxtaposition with John Ott’s near-Van de Velde:


As I’ve said before, Heller really does manage to capture the early sheer of these ships very well.  Despite it’s many imperfections, my hypothetical recreation does, I think, capture something of the essence of what may have been.
 
Moving forward, I have been figuring out where I will source line and blocks and pins and cleats.  I really like the blocks from Dockyard Models, and the polyester rope from Ropes of Scale.  I can get most accessories I need from Dockyard, but anything else I will obtain from HisModel.
 
For the time being, and until the new worktable arrives, Soleil Royal Redux will shelter in her dry-dock:

I will occupy myself, until then, taking measurements of the materials I need, and developing an understanding of what needs to be done with the rigging.  Along those literal “lines,” John Ott has been a tremendous help in sharing his sources, and the rig and belay plan that he has developed for his model.  My belay plan will likely look a little different, but only because I do not intend to make the same use of pinrails.
 
If anyone is not yet aware, John has begun a build log for his magnificent Soleil Royal of 1693, which can be found here:
 
 
Many thanks to you John, for your help and generosity, and to all of you for sticking with this project for such an absurdly long time.  It is greatly appreciated!

I will look that up T_C.  Thanks for the reference!
 
Hi Jeff.  What I do with my styrene, when I need to cut a straight edge, is that I make a series of shallow passes with a matte knife against a steel ruler.  It is not necessary to cut all the way through.  You can snap along the score line.  I then true the snapped edge against a homemade sanding stick with 100 grit paper double stuck to it.  Lastly, I always sand both broad surfaces to level the mushrooming that develops from the matte knife and to take away the plasticky appearance of the material;  this is the key to a nice paintable surface.
 
Oh, and another thing - I will “break” any super sharp edges, just as one would if they were making a piece of furniture.  Those sharp corners don’t hold paint well, and they tend to look a little severe.  A few scraping passes along an edge with a no. 11 blade does the trick.
 
When it comes to joining two curved surfaces, such as the large figures to the tafferal, I make sure to backlight the joint so that I can see whether I actually have touched down along the joint.  Mostly, it’s just a patient process that takes as long as it takes - I’ll spend a couple of hours trying to get one joint where I want it to be.
 
Another thing I like to do, after those large figures have cured (the initial liquid plastic cement), is that I will come back with liquid, brushable CA - the Crazy Glue brand - and that will wick into and fill any remaining gaps in a joint, while ensuring a super strong bond.  Much of the model is constructed in this way and it is way stronger than it really needs to be.  This is my compulsiveness at play.
 
Thank you, guys, for the likes and comments!

It has been a minute, and I still haven’t gotten to all of my paint corrections, or the glamour shots, but I have been taking the necessary time to as nearly as I can, perfect the crowning of the stern.
 
Once I had secured the backboard, and installed two pre-painted moulding strips to the outside edges of the backboard, I turned my attention to fitting the side-lantern box mounts.  Time and again on this build, despite careful pre-fitting of sub-assemblies, I have been amazed to discover just how much additional tweaking of a part becomes necessary, when it must finally seat next to an adjoining assembly.
 
For these lantern boxes, I had carefully set the quarter pieces (that support the boxes) so that the boxes met the sheer-line.  Nevertheless, that was before the aft upper bulwark had been secured to the model - after which, it takes on a more bellied shape.  Adding to that complication are the fact that my upper bulwark extensions flare out a bit, also, the aft rake of each upper bulwark piece is slightly different from one side to the other, AND, the transom camber introduces another angle to this compound-geometry soup.
 
I spent quite a lot of time filing-in the required geometry and shimming beneath the starboard lantern box before I was satisfied with the way that these pieces married into the astrological band of carvings on the backboard.  I only had to use a little bit of filler at the top of each box, but this was an acceptable outcome as this joint is mostly covered by the legs of horse and camel:

Above, you can finally see the degree to which my transom winds out of square.  This is really the only vantage point where it jumps out at you.  All things considered, it is acceptable to me.
 
The above picture already shows the thickening I added to the backboard, in order to make a reasonable seat for the Europe and Asia carvings.  Initially, I was going to double-plank with 1/32” styrene strip to make up this thickness, but I ultimately decided it would be much easier to make a close-fitting card template and transfer that to two layers of styrene sheet:

The trick to doing this in layers is recognizing that the top edge of this reverse-curve tafferal must bevel down to follow the sheer.  So, first I fit the inner layer, traced the tafferal line and removed waste close to the line, so that it would be easier to gauge where the outer layer needed to end up.  Ultimately, that’s how I determine the spacing of my scribed planking layout.  I haven’t had to use too much putty on this model, but a little was necessary on the inboard corners of this piece:

With that much established, I could do the final fitting of the Europe and Asia carvings.  Again, these were initially fitted to the backboard when it was flat and significantly thinner.  Despite all of the material I added to the inside face of the backboard, these carvings still extended past the inside surface.  It is quite difficult, without resorting to transfer paper, to gauge a good fit when you can’t clearly see the joint line.
 
Rather than add a third styrene shim, I decided to round down the bottom line of each carving:


This rounding isn’t a bad thing, as it adds a little shape and dimension to the inner surface of the carving, while leaving a little bit of the ledge visible:

The whole objective of all of this was to make the reverse-curve profile of the tafferal apparent on the inboard face of the model, as these carvings would have been scribed to this profile, in actual practice.
 
It is very difficult, however, to make a tafferal cap-rail, at scale, that follows this complicated shape.  My solution was to add an in-board half-round moulding that completes the illusion.  I love using painter’s tape to transfer exact shapes:





Above, I found it much easier to shape the top half of the half-round while the moulding was still part of the sheet.  Obviously, the thing becomes very flimsy, when you cut out the bottom profile.


I decided to leave a slight step, and I am toying with the idea of picking-out this moulding in yellow ocher, just to emphasize the detail.  Opinions are certainly welcome on this small detail.  In the end, though, I may just paint it flat black like the rest of the top-cap:

Next, I secured Europe and Asia.  For a little extra bond insurance, I decided to experiment with an idea.  I used a #11 blade to scrape thin shavings of styrene:

After a liberal application of liquid plastic cement to the bottom of the carving, I bedded a thin layer of shavings over the glue.  Another application of cement turns those shavings into plastic goo.  I got a little bit of squeeze-out, which won’t be difficult to clean, but I am satisfied that I have a strong bond, here:

All of this fiddling and filing makes a mess of the paint-work, and the model is full of plastic dust, at the moment, but here are a few perspective shots:



With those carvings in place, the model just barely still fits inside the folding halves of its build-box - less than a 1/16” to spare!  I’ll make a small relief in the box leaves, as insurance against catching the nose of these carvings.
 
The other thing I managed to establish is the stern perspective of the Africa carving:

Between a pair of vertical parallel lines, I transferred elevations of key reference features from the sheer view.  I used a steel ruler much the same way that you would on a full-size drafting table; I simply aligned the top and bottom hash marks for 1” with the left  vertical margin, to ensure a square transfer of points.
 
Undoubtedly, there is some margin of error, here, so my primary reference will be the stern view, as that is what determines how the figure seats and fits in relation to the quarter piece.  Any discrepancies in the sheer view will be reconciled to the stern view.
 
Later, I’ll get to sheer and stern elevations for the port side figure of the Americas.  This will be trickier, as I have no original Berain sheer drawing to refer to.  In that instance, I suppose I will start by drawing the stern view and transfer points for the sheer view.
 
Well, that has all been quite a mouthful!  Thank you all for looking in and sticking around.  I’m gearing-up for another busy school year of coaching youth sports and ferrying kids all over creation.  I hope to continue making reasonable progress on the ship, as we go.
 
All the best,
 
Marc

Good Sunday afternoon Model Shipworld Fellows
 
I am plugging away at the port side second planking.  Its not going fast, but it is going smoother.  I learned a few things from starboard planking.
 
The first 2 planks below the main wale I made by copying from the starboard side.  I figured out widths using my small drafting compass.  The reason I didn't initially use tick strips to divide up my band like on the starboard side was my small brain.  The first stem plank is a 1 plank expanding into 2 planks (stealer?  I think) and I initially overlooked this meant at the stem there are 5 planks, while at the stern there are 6.  Not a hard concept but it caused me some serious confusion, discarded tick strips, and a lot of erasing on the starboard side.
 
Second thing I did was pencil lines on the hull where my planks will butt.  Previously I tried to wrap a tick strip paper across the hull and pencil onto each individual plank where its butt joint should be, which was awkward.  I was worried there would be too many lines on the hull after the 5->6 tick strip confusion but I think I'm ok so far.
 
So now that the top 2 planks were in I took the time to divide up the remaining space into 4 planks.  No confusion here; 4 at the stem and 4 at the stern.

I also had the genius idea (not that genius I guess) of labeling my tick strips 1,2, 3, etc and writing the same number on the hull.  Thus I could tell which strip went where in case I wanted to double check down the line.
 
For this line of planking the stem plank is very short; only to the first station line.  It still curves so I learned you need to either spile, or bend your plank, unless your hull is to be clinker, which this isnt.  Here I used my travel iron to bend the plank, then with files fine shaped it.

There is springback but even so I had to sand the curve flatter some.
 
The final thing I learned on the starboard side is patience.  Holly bends really nicely with soaking but it has to be DRY before you glue it otherwise it will shrink and suddenly you have gaps.  I haven't figured out a good method using heat to put the sharp bend the plank needs to fit around the stern.  One thought I had was getting a heatgun and using it to heat the plank up and then while its still hot clamping it to the shape I want?  The hairdryer I have doesn't have enough oomph for the job.
 
So I resort to water, which even though it makes the wood swell up some has the advantage of not risking me burning myself or the house down.  Here is the stern plank soaking in cold water for 15 minutes.

This was plenty of time to become pliable.  Then I clamped it to the hull.  No splintering or breaking, worked well.  The plank is also a bit wider than what the final will be so I can sand it to fit after its dry tomorrow.  Bending on a weird sideways curve makes the plank distort a fair amount and I haven't found I can completely clamp it into submission.  But it gets it pretty close.  Sorry my camera focused on the clamp and not the stern but it was a juggling act.

I also dipped the stem plank in water and clamped it in place to dry.  This has been the best way I have found so far to deal with curves in 2 dimensions; heat for 1 bend, water for the second.

The stem plank is fairly thick because I made the stem rabbit wider than optimal and I don't want the dreaded (well I dread it anyway) stem - plank gap.  In this case its snug enough to be tight, even if it means the rest of the plank is thicker than necessary.  Easy to sand down even in the future.  Tomorrow or sometime next week I will do final fitting and glue both planks in place.  Then fit the middle piece in place.
 
Thats all I got today.  Hope the weekend treated you kindly.
 
thanks cisco
 
 

Build Log 32 – crojack and lateen sail
 
Hi again.  Being snowed in here in NYC had the silver lining of giving me some extra time to work on the model, so here is the next installment.
 
The next spar to be tackled was the crojack yard on the mizzen.  Even as far back as 1710 it did not carry a sail, but was there to spread the foot of the mizzen topsail.  It was shaped in the usual manner to the Budriot plans.  Since it does not carry a sail the number of blocks stropped to it is reduced.  There are sister blocks at the yardarms for the lifts and mizzen topsail sheets, pendant blocks for the braces and sheet blocks under the yard near the center.  Since the yard is not lowered with any frequency, the parrell is replaced by a static collar, with the yard having a single large block in the center that will hold a sling that circles the masthead and supports the spar.
 
Here is the spar ready for mounting.  The sling has been turned round the spar on one side and sized to the mast, leaving two long legs to be hitched round the spar and trimmed.
 
1
 
Here is the crojack yard mounted.  In the enlarged portion you can see the collar hitched around the mast and spar and the sling running through the center block.  According to Anderson (who I mistakenly referred to last time as Andersen) the French used the same lifts here as on the forward masts, while the English had already turned them into non-moving standing lifts since the yard did not move up or down.
 
14
 
In the above photo you might notice that there is now a railing around the poop deck/roof of the captain’s cabin.  In testing the fit and location of the lateen sail I realized that there were no belaying points anywhere at the stern of the ship.  Some belaying pins will be added to these rails, and other lighter lines can be hitched to the rails without pins.  The posts will also give me some future locations for swivel gun mountings.  They are 3 feet high in scale and made from steam bent pear, like the caprails.
 
15
 
The lateen spar is the simplest on the ship, even more so than the crojack yard.  It tapers to both ends, but without a center octagonal section.  There is a metal reinforcement and eyebolt at the lower end, but I never did discover the use for that fitting.  A halyard line hitches to a point near the center of the spar, but a little towards the upper end.  I left it loose until the yard was finally mounted.
 
Along the length of the spar are six small blocks.  They are for the brailing lines that furl the sail and take the place of the clew, bunt and leach lines.  They alternate single and double blocks, which will be made clear later.
 
16
 
The parrell is made up of “B” shaped spacers and black beads.  The final piece is a small deadeye with only two holes.
 
17
 
Here is how it goes together.  The deadeye is seized into the parrell line which doubles and laces through the spacers and beads.  The lines are seized together again, although I took a shortcut and knotted them so I could adjust the placement later.  The knot will be invisible in the final mounting.  The lines then loop around the mast and the base of the halyard before threading through the deadeye.  The parrell does not go around the lateen spar, but holds the halyard close to the mast instead.  I read Anderson’s description of this many times before I began to understand it, and I am not really sure that I fully get it even now.
 
18
 
The lateen sail started by being laid out on the prepared sailcloth.  All of the panel lines are parallel to the cloth threads, although the lower corner is not precisely a right angle.
 
19
 
Since the sail will be set with all its lines, I had to develop cringles at the edge of the sail as attachment points for the brailing lines.  For my first attempt I cut small openings in the fold of the tabling, then laid the bolt rope into the fold and glued it as before.  With a pin I reached in and pulled the bolt rope out of the opening.  This did not work too well.  The rope was fixed in place, so pulling it out made a visible kink in the edge of the sail. 
 
20
 
For the next effort I worked the bolt rope into the cringle openings as I ironed down the tabling.  This was a much more successful effort, although it took a significantly longer time.
 
21
 
Once the tabling was all down I turned the sail over and marked the panel seams.  I found that the cloth was thin enough that a piece of white paper placed under the sail allowed me to see the panel seams through the cloth.  Then the second seam was drawn on next to the first, but offset about 1/16”.   When light shines through the cloth this double seam can be seen, but it is a subtle effect and may not be worth the effort.
 
22
 
Reinforcement panels were added to the back side of the sail, as indicated on the plans, then the sail was laced to the spar.  I wanted to show a small aerodynamic curve to the sail, so I mounted it to a scrap cardboard box with tape at the corners of the spar and a line at the clew of the sail that was held with a clip so the curve could be adjusted.
 
23
 
I painted the sail with matte finish to stiffen it and laid in a folded plastic bag of rice to hold the curve as the finish dried.
 
24
 
As it turned out, this was not a successful effort.  There is too much rice in the bag and the excess weight deformed the sail too much.  I might have been able to live with this, but at this point I realized that the entire sail was too small.  I had taken the dimensions of the spar from a digitized scan of the rigging plans that I had not double checked.  It was two inches short.  Even that I might have lived with, but coupled with the ragged cringles and the excess curve, I decided to scrap the sail and start again.
 
I saved the stropped brail blocks and the metal end fittings, but made a new spar and sail, which came out satisfactory.  Here it is being curved and stiffened.  Note how little rice it took to give the sail the curve that I wanted.
 
25
 
Once stiffened the sail was suspended by its upper corner and the reefing points were laced through holes in the reef band.  There are knots on the back side which were glued into the holes, then the points were painted with matte finish and draped down on both sides.
 
26
 
The brailing lines were attached to the cringles then run up, diagonally, to the brail blocks.  The first line, at the top, goes through a single block, then through the inside hole of the second, double block.  The second line goes through the other hole of the double block, then both lines go together to a belaying point.  Here they are coiled and taped together with a small clip to keep them from tangling until needed.  The remaining brail lines are set up in similar pairs.
 
27
 
This photo was taken without a flash as it will normally be seen, with the light shining through the sail, making visible the doubled panel lines, reef points, and sail reinforcements.
 
28
 
A large single block was attached to the clew and a pair of single blocks on a short pendant to the lower end of the spar.  Here it is, mounted.  At the upper end of the spar a set of blocks on bridles leads the mizzen lift to a block at the masthead, then down to a belaying point on the rail.
 
29
 
Here it is from the windward side.  I am not really happy with the look of the lift bridles.  They are attached to the spar where both Anderson and Budriot indicate, but once tension was put on them they took on this pattern, not the more symmetrical one from the drawings. 
 
30
 
Here is how the halyard and parrell came out, as seen from forward and aft.  I am not happy with the bend in the halyard as is goes behind the crojack, but putting it in front results in an even bigger bend. 
 
31
32
 
The final bit of rigging are the lines at the fore lower corner.  Although they work like the braces of the square sails they are known, a bit confusingly, as the bowlines.
 
33
 
Here is the current status.  The main topsail yard is clipped in place to get a sense of the size and shape of the sail.  I can already see that the crowsfoot is going to be a problem.
 
34
 
Next, ad topsails per aspera . . .
 
Be well
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Log 31 – Furled Sails
 
Hello again to all, and thanks as always for the comments and likes. Here is the next installment.
 
Having done the furled spritsail, I used many of the same techniques for the fore and main courses.  Here is the current appearance of the model with those sails furled and hung.
 
1
 
To start, the spars were shaped as usual, octagonal in the center, then rounded and tapered to the ends.  Cleats were added to the center and stop cleats on the ends.  Two pair of single blocks were stropped below the spar near the center for the clew lines and topsail sheets.  Pendants for the braces were made up with an eye on one end to fit the spar and a large single block seized into the other end.
 
2
 
On top of the spar small single blocks were stropped for the leach lines and bunt lines.  Below the spar are the stirrups and footropes, stiffened, weighted and hung in the same way as those on the spritsail yard, as described in the last log. 
 
3
 
At the outer ends there are fiddle-style blocks, without sheaves, for the lifts and topsail sheets.  Here are those blocks before installation.
 
4
 
And here are the Dutch blocks which will be hung on short pendants at the masthead for the lifts, as described by Andersen.
 
5
 
The only other fitting not connected to the sail is the parrell.  The rollers were made from plastic tube, while the spacers were parted off a stick shaped like a triple letter “B”.  The ropes will go around the spar, double back lying in the grooves of the parrell, around the spar again, and then have one leg taken to a belaying point on the deck.
 
6
 
The technique that I worked out for the furled sail is a bit complex, and there were a lot of missteps and discarded efforts before I got a method that seems to work.  The first step was to lay out the shape of the sail onto the sailcloth.  The cloth was stretched slightly and pinned to a corkboard.  The entire sail area was sprayed lightly with matte finish to keep it from bunching as I worked on it.
 
The top line is the length of the sail, which is about 3/8” short of the stop cleats on each end of the spar.  This line was marked, as closely as possible, along the warp of the fabric so the fewest threads would be cut, reducing fraying.   The primary depth is 2/3 the actual height of the sail if it were to be set.  The reduced width of the lower edge was estimated by drawing out the full sail, then drawing a line between the clew and the future location of the clew block.  Where that line crossed the 2/3 line was where the corner of the sail was set.
 
If I wanted a tight furl, as though on a naval ship in harbor, I would stop here.  But for a pirate ship without a permanent base, I went with a loose furl with the clews of the sails pulled out a bit, ready to be lowered.  I therefore added two points on the ends of the lower edge. 
 
7
 
The size and shape of these points was done by eye, but I was a bit off.  I found out during the furling process that the points pull inward too much, making furling more difficult.  When I do it again I will have the clew points angle outward a bit to compensate.
 
Panel seams were penciled in every 20 inches in scale.  At the ends they were angled in so the last one was parallel with the outer edge of the sail.  An outer line for the tabling was drawn all around the sail.  A double coating of slightly thinned white glue was painted on the tabling and an equal distance inside the sail.  This was left to dry.
 
8
 
 
A length of line long enough to go around the perimeter of the sail was coated with white glue and laid along the sail edge inside the tabling to represent the bolt rope. This was pinned in place and left to dry.  
 
10
 
At the clews and upper corners the line was looped around itself to make the attachment points for future lines.
 
11
 
Once dry, the shape of the sail could be cut out without fraying.
 
 
9
 
Now the tabling was closed around the bolt rope.  First a metal straightedge was used to fold the tabling, then the fold was burnished to form a sharp crease.  With an old plank bender I carefully applied heat to the overlap.  This reactivated the glue to form an instant bond.
 
12
 
The tabling was ironed close to the trapped line, giving the impression of a bolt rope without having to sew it to the sail, a process that I have tried but cannot master.  Someone who knows how to use a sewing machine could probably make a realistic edge.
 
13
 
Now the sail could be hung on the spar, then furled.  After much experimentation, I decided that I could not simply fold, crumple and crush the sail so it looked realistically furled.  Instead, I found that a ‘twist’ in the method made all the difference.  If I rolled the sail around itself as I folded it, the resulting furl was much tighter and more even. 
 
But if I laced the sail to the spar it could not be rolled.  Instead, the majority of the lacing was put on first.  Between the outer single blocks, the ones for the leach lines, and across most of the spar, there is a false lacing.  It has been darkened with finish and you can see the contrast with the new lacing on the outer end of the sail.
 
14
 
The sail was now sprayed with water till it was pliable.  The sail was rolled, folded and crushed until I was happy with the look from the end of the spar to the leach block.  There the first grommet was wrapped twice around the sail and spar, then loosely tied.
 
This process was continued across the length of the sail.  Each section from grommet to grommet was treated separately, with more or less rolling, etc. as needed.  The sail was periodically sprayed to keep it supple.  When the final section was basically correct the sail was painted with acrylic matte finish.  While still wet and soft the final tweaks were made and the grommets tightened.
 
After the finish was dry and the sail stiff, clew and sheet blocks were attached to the dangling points of the sail.  A tack line with a stopper knot was laced through the clew and the spar was ready to be hung.
 
I apologize for not having photos of the process, but it took at least three hands to keep everything going, and I did not take photos along the way.  You can see how the process worked out.
 
15
 
Here the fore yard is being hung.  The parrell was laced around the mast to hold the spar to it.  The ties lead from under the central cleats up through the mast cap, down through the top and through the ramshead block, then up again through the mast cap and down to the spar where it is attached with a rolling hitch.
 
The lifts start at the Dutch blocks at the mast cap, then through the inner hole in the sister block at the yardarm, through the Dutch block and down to a sheave in the bitts at the base of the mast.  The braces run from the main stay to the pendant blocks, back to blocks on the stay, and to timberheads near the break of the foredeck.  All this is as I understand it from R.C. Andersen.  Budriot is actually not much help here.
 
The sail handling lines were fitted and run through their blocks.  Here you can see clew, bunt and leach lines.  Also in the photo are the blocks for the brace and sheet lines.  Finally, the bowlines were made up and run according to Andersen.
 
15a
 
At the base of the mast you can see the belaying points, as well as the ramshead block and halyard lines through it.
 
16
 
From the other angle you can see how that strange cleat fixture on deck actually works quite well.
 
17
 
So here is the model with both fore and main spars hung and their furled sails and lines all rigged.
 
18
 
Next, the crojack yard and lateen sail on the mizzen.  This will be the first sail that will be set, so there are a whole new bunch of issues that have to be addressed.  Until then,
 
Be well.
 
Dan
 
 
 

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

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

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

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

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

Hi again, and best wishes for a happy Friday the 13th –
 
Thanks for the compliments, likes, and wishes for my new grandson.  Caleb and his mother are both doing well and send their thanks as well.
 
Several smaller items were completed in this segment.  The first was the forward bulkhead for the captain’s cabin.  There are no plans or drawings of it in either of the plans that I am using, so I designed it to be functional, using some of the same details as on the stern and quarter badges. 
 

 
There is a chair rail molding with wainscoting below.  This was not scribed but laid up from individual planks.  The door is of a typical 17th Century style, with H-L hinges and decorative cross banding.  The windows are flanked by fluted columns which were built up as before.  To each side there will be a ladder to the poop deck, which have not yet been constructed.  The bulkhead is still removable at this stage, and may have to be moved back a little to give me room to install the whipstaff which will go between the cabin and the mizzen mast.
 
I have not decided whether to paint the wainscoting blue and add some decorative details.  What does the group think?
 
The cabin was also dressed up by closing in the aftmost gunport with a decorative shutter.  The central circle was made by stiffening a 1/8” birch dowel with a drop of thin cyano on its cut end.  When dry the center of the dowel was drilled out to a depth of about ¼” and then the circles were parted off on the table saw.
 

 
Next I turned to the first of the rigging fixtures – the staghorns.  Here is a section of my plans for the inner bulwarks, which was made by using PhotoShop to combine the plans from the Advice Prize with details from Le Mercure.  You can see three of the four staghorns that will be mounted on each side.
 

 
Here is an enlargement of the plans for the staghorns.  Note in the side view the extreme angles that have to be used to match the 13 degree tumblehome of the bulwarks.
 

 
I started by carving a length of pear to the shape of the horns of the fitting.  The piece was just under 3 inches long, which gave me extra material for the next model as well.  Here you can see three horns that have been parted off.  They are a little heavy, but were later reduced with a small sanding drum.
 

 
The shelf that supports the horns was built up in two parts.  In the larger, back piece, two notches were nibbled out for the horns before being closed in by the front piece.  In the insert enlargement you can see how the curve of the table saw blade gave me an angle to the back of the notch that is needed to allow the horns to angle to match the tumblehome.
 

 
With the horns inserted in the shelf the bottom piece had two notches hollowed out in its back face for the lower ends of the horns.
 

 
The lower piece was flipped over and the horns glued into the notches.  The lower piece was then sanded to its clamshell shape and the upper ends of the horns were refined to angle up and out.  You can see the differences from the left fitting to the completed one on the right.
 

 
Here you can see a finished staghorn sitting on an angled scrap block to check that the shelf will be horizontal when mounted on the bulwark.
 

 
Here is the complete set of eight staghorns for the first model.
 

 
And here is the first one mounted in the waist ready for the lines that run through the hull sheaves for the main and spritsail sheets.
 

 
Next I turned to the gunport lids for the open gunports on the port side of the ship.  I have detailed their construction before in the section on the test gun station.  This one is for the forwardmost port, which is why the planking runs at an angle to match the hull planking.  The hinge straps are blackened brass strip secured with three iron pins.  The ends of the strips were ground to about half their width so they could fit into mounting holes in the hull.
 

 
The strips were all made to a uniform size in a simple jig.  A brass strip was trapped between two guides and the locations of the holes for the mounting pins was marked off.  Once the holes were drilled the strip was clipped to length at the edge of the jig.  I found that without pre-drilling these holes it was nearly impossible for me to drill them cleanly once the hinge strap was mounted on the gunport lid.
 

 
Each lid was marked for its proper location and the mounting holes were drilled just above the open gunport.  With the lids slid into the holes the brass could be gently bent so every lid was at the same angle.  This will be a significant advantage once they are permanently mounted, as they will be much less prone to snapping off when I bump into them (which I am sure that I will).  Here they are towards the bow - - -
 

 
And the stern.
 

 
To check them, I set the guns in place.  Here is what they look like in the waist as seen from outboard - - -
 

 
And along the length of the ship.
 

 
Finally, the entire broadside. 
 

 
I was happy with the look of the model, so the guns and gunport lids were removed to safe storage until the interior deck fittings are built and mounted.
 
The first of these was the riding bitts for the anchor cable.  As you can see from the plans it incorporates the 5-sheave post for the rigging to the ramshead block that raises and lowers the foreyard.
 

 
Construction was straightforward, with each piece cut and shaped, then notched and pinned in place.  The sheaves in the post are non-working, and made by drilling 5 pairs of holes through the post with a 0.040” drill in a miniature drill press.  The bitt was then put into a Dremel and the sheave slot between the holes was carved out.  Care has to be taken to allow for the right-hand torque of the bitt, but a little practice yields good results.
 

 
The next rigging fitting that I turned to were the multiple cleat ‘logs’ that sit just aft of the fore and main masts.  These were discussed earlier in the build log as well. 
 
Construction here was straightforward as well.  Once the dimensions were decided, two pieces of cherry were cut and the ends finished with slopes.  The underside of each was sanded to match the camber of the deck.  Ten slots were cut in the underside for the lines to run through.  It is quite probably that these slots would have been radiused on each side of the log so the line would run smoothly under the fixture.  The upper corners of the log were eased as well, as recommended by JerseyCityFrankie.  Matching photoetched brass cleats were obtained from Bluejacket, blackened and mounted. 
 

 
Here is the one on the quarterdeck aft of the main mast.  It looks good as is, although I clearly have to clean the deck which is getting very dusty.
 

 
Finally, to check that things are headed in the right direction, and to give my spirits a needed lift, I mounted the decks and the lower masts.  Hull construction and detailing have taken much, much longer than anticipated, but I can see some light at the end of the tunnel.  I just hope that it is not the oncoming train known as “RIGGING”.
 

 
Be well
 
Dan
 
 
 

Log 24 -  Head Structures
 
Hi again.  It has been a bit longer since the last segment than I hoped, in part because our daughter gave birth to her second child and our eighth grandchild.  Everyone is doing fine and it reminds me that there is more to life than ship modeling.  Sacrilege, I know, but it’s hard to deny.
 
Time to concentrate on the head structures, the rails, supports, and small deck that fit around and under the base of the bowsprit.  Here is how they look in the plans.
 

 
I started with the bare stem piece cut off at the approximate height to mount the figurehead.  It had been left somewhat rough to this point before the rails were fitted.   
 

 
The stem was trimmed flat and the inside curve was sanded smooth.  A strip of hardwood was cut and fitted to the inside curve which extended up to the height of the lion figurehead’s mane.  It will support the forward ends of the two upper rails. The edge of the mane was penciled in on the wood for reference so the rails don’t interfere with the figurehead.
 

 
The top rail was roughly shaped to fit from the cathead to the stem in a pleasing curve that matches the plans, but it was not finished at this point.  In the photo you can see a piece of translucent tape which has been laid on the stem so the ‘S’ shape of the lower rail could be drawn on it.  I call this rail the ‘hawse rail’ because the hawse piece mounts just above it and I don’t know its proper name.
 

 
The hawse rail is made up of two pieces.  Here a paper pattern is being developed to establish the mating faces of the lower section against the wale and the stem.
 

 
The lower piece was cut using that paper pattern while the upper section was cut using the tape pattern with the shape drawn on.  They were both left a bit oversize to allow for a good deal of shaping and fitting.  Here they are roughly set in place.
 

 
The lower piece was ground and sanded till the mating face was flush with the wale and the piece sat at the proper upwards angle to meet the descending angle of the upper piece.  The outer face of the lower piece was left large till the upper piece was fitted.
 

 
Here you can see the hawse rail fitted, sanded and given its first coat of finish.  The upper rail has now been shaped to fit.  Simple carved decorations give the upper rail some interest.  A better photo is coming later.
 

 
With these two rails in place the middle rail was fitted, shaped and installed.  The figurehead was repeatedly put on to test the fit of the rails then removed for safety and to provide clearance to work on the rails.
 

 
The bottom rail was built up in two pieces like the hawse rail.  It is just a lot shorter as it extends only to the foot of the lion.  Here are all the rails as fitted and finished.
 

 
Now the hawse piece was cut and fitted to the top of the hawse rail.  Two holes were drilled for the anchor cables to be installed into when the time comes.  Here they are with the figurehead in place.  The carvings on the top rail can be seen clearly in the photo.  They were done with a sharp-cornered bit in the Dremel, then smoothed and refined with a curved file called a riffler.  The varying shine on some of the parts will be toned down and corrected in the final finishing coats.
 

 
As I was roughly cutting out the rail pieces, I made a second set for the port side.  All of the techniques were the same.  Here are the port side rails, except the bottom one.  I was fortunate that prior planning made it relatively easy to get the two sides symmetrical.
 

 
And here is a detail photo of the rails and the carvings on the port side.
 

 
Three support brackets were fashioned and installed between the upper rails.  Only the middle one had to have a bent shape to lie against the rails and sit next to the hawse pieces.  Here they are installed but not finished.
 

 
And here they are finished in two views.  The end points of all the rails and the intersections with the support brackets were all subsequently reinforced with metal pins and glue.
 
 

 

 
Next the deck and grating under the bowsprit were built.  A paper pattern was used to define the total size and shape of the piece so it sat level and firmly on the rail support brackets.  It was built up from two triangular pieces of grating, with solid pieces fit around it and against the curve of the hull.
 

 
You can see in this view how a hole was left along the centerline for the gammoning which will hold down the bowsprit.
 

 
Two seats of ease were fashioned from solid birch pieces with cherry tops.  The bowsprit has been temporarily installed to check the fit.  A wooden ring, like a mast coat, will dress up the entry into the hull when it is permanently installed.  You can see a small mark on top to locate the central gammon cleat later.
 

 
So here is the completed head structure.  There will be a wire railing installed for the safety of the crew while using the heads, but that will wait until the gammoning is installed so it does not interfere with my stubby fingers as I work.
 

 
Next on the schedule – the captain’s cabin, the open gunport lids, and the channels and deadeyes.
 
Hopefully it will not be so long till the next report.
 
Be well
 
Dan
 
 
 

Hello again –
 
I have just completed the construction of the stern, which was complicated enough to merit its own log entry.
 
The design is a bit of an exercise in imagination, without any hard facts to go on.  The Advice Prize draught has no information at all; the stern outline is shown as part of the station lines plan, but without any decorations or indications of the shape of the counter, transom or even the top of the taffrail.  Budriot’s drawing of the stern of Le Mercure is excessively florid, with lots of carvings, an intricate nameplate, and even flaming finnials at the upper corners of the taffrail.
 

 
Not only is this much too ornate for the QAR (and for Le Mercure, which was a merchant ship), but the heights of the windows do not match the deck heights taken from the Admiralty draught.
 
After playing around in Photoshop for a while a simplified layout was designed with many of the same elements that went into the quarter badges.  This was passed before my masters and approved.
 

 
The first section worked on was the lower transom just above the counter.  The wide moldings were set matching the locations of the similar ones on the sides of the hull and the field between them was painted blue.  The decorative boxes were taken from the plans and cut from cherry veneer.  Wood glue was sparingly applied and they were taped down until solidly attached.
 
The light colored ‘flowers’ were carved from 1mm boxwood.  They do not appear to be fleur-de-lis, but I could not make out any further details in Budriot’s drawing.
 

 
Above the top molding were the windows in the captain’s cabin.  There is no false light in the center because the rudder head ends in the gun deck below the cabin.  The field was painted grey and the moldings, fluted columns, and capitals were cut and applied using the same techniques as for those on the quarter badges. 
 
There are six columns framing five windows.  I did the two outermost ones first because they have the biggest angle to vertical.  Then the remaining area was divided into five equal spaces and the central two columns were mounted vertically.  The last two were fit by trial and error to sit halfway between the inner and outer columns.  They were cut and recut several times until I was happy with the look of the windows that were formed.  As before, the windows were glazed with white glue that was painted on.  While it was tacky the mullions were cut from birch and laid in.
 

 
At the top of the taffrail you can see the added piece of basswood that was cut and fitted to give it the double recurved shape from the plans.  The joint was filled and sanded and the field was painted blue
 
 

 
Moldings were pieced together above the windows and along the sides.  At the top, sections of molding were steam bent to the curves and attached.  Ribbons of cherry veneer were shaped to the curves of the moldings and edged with a thin molding strip.  In the center a pair of volutes (similar to fiddleheads) were carved and applied.
 

 
The volutes are a little intricate, but I got a lot of help from the illustrations in “Carving Figureheads & Other Nautical Designs” by Alan & Gill Bridgewater.  If you can picture a snail shell seen from the side, that’s what they look like.
 

 
The stern was now complete, but the upper area cried out for some sort of contrasting decoration.
 

 
I could have made simple circles, like those on the Mercure drawing, but I decided to get a little fancy and carve a pair of laurel wreaths, symbolizing victory.  I got a simplified image of a wreath off the internet, resized it and duplicated it a number of times before printing.
 

 

 
The paper image was cut out and spray glued to a piece of 1mm boxwood, which was itself glued to a piece of dark contrasting scrapwood.  Using a sharp cornered bitt, the outline of the wreath was cut through the box until the dark wood showed all around.
 

 
This left the paper and boxwood standing up from the background ready for detail carving.
 

 
Using a medium sized bitt, notches were cut to indicated the locations of the leaves, and the paper was removed with a drop of mineral spirits.
 

 
A smaller bitt was used to define the leaves and cut the indication for the central stems.
 

 
A pointed diamond burr was used to further refine the leaves and to slope the lower edges so there was some depth to the carving.   
 

 
The burr left some soft and fuzzy edges, so once the piece was separated from the backing piece with a drop of acetone, it was cleaned up with a knife, needle files and a fine sanding stick. 
 
Here are the pair of wreaths attached to the model.  With them, the stern is now complete.
 

 
The headrails will be the next area to be tackled.  Until then . . .
 
Be well
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

The construction came to an end after approx. 4600 hours. All that remains is to post a few last photos and thank all the followers for watching and commenting on the progress of the model construction. Thank you.

To botra288: the adjustable tabel is "homemade", but you can buy something similar here: https://www.renishaw.com/shop/Product.aspx?Product=R-PCA-135075-12-6
Finishing work continues on the larger boat.
 

Hi Marc - 
 
Lovely work on the figures.  They should set off the stern quite impressively.
As for the sails, read through my build of the Queen Anne's Revenge.  I did a lot of experimenting to make the billowed sails, although not to the extreme that you want to take them, given how they look in the drawing.  The scale is quite different, so the materials will have to be substituted, but there should be some techniques there you can profitably use.
 
Looking forward to watching her top hamper rise.
 
Enjoy the vacation
 
Dan

Better photos:

ANCHORS
 
Benjamin Noble was outfitted with two 3200# National pattern stockless anchors.  Anchors were and still are essential navigational tools for vessels sailing on the Great Lakes.   Visitors to Duluth are sometimes surprised to see several ship anchored offshore.  Last week there were several 1000 Footers.  This happens because dispatchers cannot always synchronize unloading in one port with loading in another.  Once a ship enters port she begins to incur all sorts of miscellaneous charges so she anchors offshore until the loading facility is ready to receive her.  With very few exceptions, Duluth is one, Great Lakes port’s are very small. Many are nothing more than the mouths of rivers draining small watersheds.  Before vessels were fitted with bow and stern thrusters, anchors could be used to help maneuver. By dropping an anchor while slowly moving ahead a vessel could turn itself around within a short distance.  And of course, the anchors could be dropped in a sheltered place to “wait out weather.”
 
Making Benjamin Noble’s two anchors is best treated as building two small stand alone models.  There were many different patterns of patented stockless anchors.  Fortunately there is a National Pattern one on display in Duluth’s Canal Park.  There is also an article in an old Nautical Research Journal that includes a drawing and a table of dimensions.  The full sized anchors were steel castings and I originally thought about casting mine using a carved wooden pattern.  I eventually decided to use my favorite material; brass, soldered together.  So, the first step was to break the complex shape of the anchor into simple geometric shapes:
 
Flukes- cut from sheet brass
Bottom plate- sheet brass
Shank- square brass wire
Bottom weight- round brass rod
Reinforcing fins- brass square tube.
 
Patterns for the flukes and bottom plates were made by expanding the NRG drawing with a Xerox, tracing the various parts on Mylar and then Xeroxing them  down to the proper scale.  I have recently been experimenting with an Elmer’s brand PVA glue formulated for gluing porous materials to nonporous ones.  This did an excellent job of gluing the paper patterns to the brass.  I don’t own a jewelers saw, but found the shapes to be easily shaped using needle files.
 
The semi-circular bottom weight was milled using from brass rod and parted off in the lathe but could have been filed to shape.  The anchors were built as two sub assemblies; flukes and bottom plate, and lower, semi-circular weight and fins.  
 
To join the upper and lower assemblies, I used JB Weld Epoxy as I was concerned about solder heat damaging previously soldered joints.  When using this on metal my luck has been hit or miss, sometimes a good bond, sometimes not.  In this case the shank passing through both the upper and lower assemblies locks them into place.  The white paint is primer.  Later they will be painted black.
 
Roger
 
 

It’s been a long time since my last progress report, but life has kept me away from the workshop.  We spent the month of March in Florida, with a scheduled return on April 1.  This is “high season” and accommodations are always full.  We were scheduled to return home on April 1.  That morning we got an email from Delta airlines saying “Your flight is cancelled due to Minneapolis weather and we are unable to book you on a future flight.”  At least they didn’t tell us to have a nice day.  As remaining in Florida indefinitely was not an option, we decided to drive the rental car home.  We did break the road trip at the halfway point to visit our son in Evansville, Indiana.  We finally arrived home on April, 12.
 
Once back we caught up with household paperwork and then began a round of Dr Appointments.  My wife has an iron constituton, but my internist found a problem that I had overlooked while in Florida.  This involved appointments with local specialists and ultimately a trip to the, Mayo Clinic that will happen in the near future.  This all sounds more serious than it actually is.  Although we receive excellent medical care in Duluth, Mayo has more specialized equipment and procures.
 
Meanwhile, I was able to finish the forecastle subassembly.  The thin brass sheet is easily damaged so much “body work” is required.  This involves filling noticeable dents with Bondo, removing blobs of solder, spraying a coat of primer, and then repeating the process.  I have  Proxxon pencil sander and pencil engraver.  These are great tools for getting into tight places.  I have long since used all the pads that came with the sander, new ones are easily cut from adhesive backed sanding discs.
 
Photos below.  The first photo is plexiglass that will fit behind the subassembly to provide window glass and doors.  Much of the primer will be sanded off then the subassembly is fitted to the hull.  The assembly is fitted to a block of wood to temporarily protect it.
 
Roger
 

Hi Charlie - 
 
Just got back in the city on a semi-permanent basis.  Unpacked, refilled the pantry and fridge, and got a chance to look through MSW.  You have certainly made a lot of progress, and all of it quite nicely done.  Bravo.     The planking and trenneling came out particularly well.
 
I like the copper tape too.  I made the impressions from the back side, through the paper, so they made positive bumps on the face of the tape.  Then I burnished the bumps back down so the final look was of a flush circular blemish, which looked a lot like the flatheaded nails that were used.  
I'm wondering what yours will look like if you burnish the face of the tape.  Might be an improvement over mine.
 
Here's a toast to an effective vaccine in the very near future so we can start up club meetings again and I can see your stuff in person.
 
Stay safe and well
 
Dan

At last I have finished second planking on the starboard side!  If my AVS was a real ship her timbers would be fully seasoned and the shipwrights long since starved to death.  Hopefully the port side will go a little faster.
 
Below I have 1 strake left; in this case the planking plan calls for it being divided into 2 planks.  The front one is already done, the stern one is being fitted.  I fit the butt joint first and worked my may sternwards; miniplane to pretty close, sand a little off, fit, when its hard to push in sand a litttttttle more and not too much, keeping in mind the glue will swell the plank a little. 

In the future I will try to have my last plank be more towards the garboard where its flatter.  Here the rudder end of the final stern plank had to fitted into a tight curved space that flared at the end.  Live and learn; it fit snug at the end.
 
And here is the final result.  I stole Cheerful's planking plan so it follows very closely.  I'm leaving it as-is so the inevitable dings after I'm done the other side can be sanded out at the end.  I still wish I hadn't finished the upper rails so well; I'm sure I've inflicted clamp marks presently hidden under the blue tape.  Some water and the travel iron usually steams them out ok though.

Heres the stem shot.  I think it looks pretty good.  I find it funny that even though in this shot the stem planking curves upwards, to fit them they had to be steam bent to curve downwards.   Some sort of optical delusion.

And the stern.  I left the planking long so I could use a straightedge to cut across the bottom of the counter; even if I cover the transition with a thin molding strip I didn't want gaps.
I am going to wait until both sides are planked before trimming the rudder planking flush.  Then I'll add the sternpost last.  Time will tell if this was a good decision.

And now I'm off with the wife to drive the kids to camp.  Have a great weekend everyone!
 
Cisco
 
 
 
 

Hi Marc - 
 
Lovely work on the figures.  They should set off the stern quite impressively.
As for the sails, read through my build of the Queen Anne's Revenge.  I did a lot of experimenting to make the billowed sails, although not to the extreme that you want to take them, given how they look in the drawing.  The scale is quite different, so the materials will have to be substituted, but there should be some techniques there you can profitably use.
 
Looking forward to watching her top hamper rise.
 
Enjoy the vacation
 
Dan

Sorry.  My old eyes missed the open seats of ease.  Just a senior moment.
 
Dan

Hi Marc - 
 
Beautiful work on the gratings.  I bet there was a large dram of something fortifying when you finally breathed a sigh of relief at completion.
Will there be open seats of ease for the crew or just enclosed ones for the officers?
 
Dan