Dr PR

Nice plans George! When you look at a full rigged model you see lots of lines going here and yeah, it looks pretty busy. But when you really study the rigging it is amazing how many lines actually converge on the mast tops!

Artesania Latina makes several "micro shapers" draw plates for wood.

I have been working on a topsail schooner model, and in the process I have learned a lot about schooner rigging. Here is a link to where rigging the model starts. https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=1007247 I have also posted a thread about rigging and sails on topsail schooners: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/25679-topsail-schooner-sail-plans-and-rigging/?do=findComment&comment=750865 There is a lot of information in the schooner rigging thread! A version of this is also included in the NRG Journal Winter 2024 - Vol. 69, No.4.

Paint it. Don't paint it. Paint it. Don't paint it. Paint it. Don't paint it. Paint it. Don't paint it. ... But what about the dollhouse?

Chuck, I would seriously consider removing the carpet before you move a bunch of equipment in there. It will get ruined in a work space, and removing it later with things to move again will be a big hassle.

Tom, This was the first time I have put bilge keels on a model. I have seen drawings like the Booklet of General Plans for many vessels and wondered how to translate the 2D hull profile drawing into 3D positions on a hull. Likewise, the fore/aft drawings often show the bilge keels as more or less straight lines around the curvature of the hull (like great circles), but I couldn't decide how to turn this 2D information into 3D curves. It was a puzzle! So I would like to weave another long-winded tale (this is getting long) about the trials and tribulations of bilge keel design, but that would be BS! This is from the MSI Lines and Offsets blueprint. All I had to do is scale it to 1:48. And the 3D curvature on the hull? Just follow the instructions in the Table of Offsets - go to the frame number and get the height from the baseline and distance outboard from the center line and you have an offset point on the hull for the centerline of the bilge keel. That is what the paper bulkhead cutouts were for. Or, if you want, it was an arduous process full of missteps and endless rambling ...

I have bilge keels. It took a while to figure out how to make these. Part of the delay for a few days was an annoying head cold. I made some paper templates using the drawings for the bulkheads with the keel positions marked on them. I placed each template over the keel at the corresponding bulkhead and marked the bilge keel positions on the hull. I used the Table of Offsets to get the positions of the bilge keels. Oddly, two of the dimensions (bulkheads 11 and 12) were inaccurate. But the remaining positions lined up perfectly. I have seen errors in the Table of Offsets for other ships so I wasn't too surprised. The cross section of the bilge keels is a trapezoid (truncated isosceles triangle) with sides angled 15 degrees from the base and a height of 0.208 inches (5.28 mm). I cut them from a 1/4 x 1/4 inch (6.35 x 6.35 mm) dowel from a local hardware store. The wood has no grain and sanded/filed/carved easily. If I had a milling machine the setup would have been trivial - but I don't have one. I figured out how to hold the dowel with some alligator clips and set the table on my disk sander to 15 degrees. I used this for the rough cut and finished it with sandpaper lying flat on the table. The pieces were temporarily fastened to the hull in approximately the right positions with large rubber bands. Then I used the wetting/heating process to bend the sticks. Even though I was bending across the wide dimension the wood bent to shape fairly quickly. Next I shaped the ends of the keels, using the photo above provided by Austin Cox. The blueprints do not show the overall shape of the bilge keels in any detail. I drilled 0.041 inch (1.04 mm) holes near the ends and at the center Then I held the keels to the hull in the correct position and used the holes as templates for drilling holes into the hull planking. I made six small pins by filing and sanding a bamboo skewer until it just fit into the holes in the keels. These "pins" assured that the keels would be properly aligned while I was gluing them onto the hull. It worked perfectly! The keels matched the curvature of the hull almost perfectly after gluing. At the ends there were slight gaps of 0.010 to 0.015 inch (0.254 to 0.381 mm) between the hull planks and the ends of the keels. I filled the gaps with Squadron White Putty.

One other consideration is that the upper yard might not be permanently mounted on the mast. It was a common practice on topsail schooners to rig the topgallant yard with the sail and rigging on deck and then hoist it to the top when needed. At other times the yard was not raised on the mast. This practice allowed most of the work to be done on deck by a small crew and didn't require a lot of sailors to go aloft. The sail could be hoisted up and hauled down quickly. I also learned that this practice was used on some large square rig ships for the royal yards. Somewhere I found photos of a royal yard and sail being raised on a clipper ship.

If you are having trouble pushing a rope through a hole, either the rope is too big or the hole is too small. Side cutters are essential for cutting rope very close to something. The blades are beveled on one side only and the cutting surface is smooth when the jaws are closed.

I want to second what Vaddoc said about coarse grit sandpaper leaving deep groves that will take a LOT of sanding with fine grit sandpaper to eliminate the scratches! And Vossewulf is right on about scrapers - although they don't have to be a fancy and specialized as his tools. Virtually any knife blade will work if you drag it along perpendicular to the surface. I use older "dull" blades for scraping. Curved blades are very useful for removing high spots in the planking and shaping concave contours in hulls. I use #0000 steel wool for final finishing when I need a glossy surface. But be sure to remove all tiny fragments before sealing and painting the surface. Tiny bits of steel wool embedded in the wood can rust over time and stain the wood. I have never had this happen, but I do clean the surfaces carefully.

Austin, Thanks. I think we are up to date on emails. I sent some propeller information. Your photos are invaluable! They have simplified some of the problems in deciphering the blueprints. For example, I am planning the bilge keels right now, and your photos show the shape of the ends. The blueprints aren't very clear about that, but they do give the cross-section dimensions. Hope you have a good holiday and a healthy puppy!

George, Excellent research! Here are some comments about the questions you ask. 1. I made the partner covers from plywood. As you noted carving them out of wood will be tricky because you know they will break in half just as you are adding the final touches. The plywood has better strength than plain wood. https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=911535 2. Having the pin rail perpendicular to the mast seems reasonable to me. 3. The cross trees look good. I would use the two aft most as as you did. 4. "Hounds" is a multiple meaning term, almost arbitrary. The area below the trestletrees is referred to as the hounds. However, I have seen one reference that said the hounds were additional pieces applied to the sides of the mast, and sometimes extending down 1/3 the length of the mast above the partners. Some authors call the cheeks the hounds. So the meaning of "hounds" and the length of the hounds is entirely arbitrary, and varies from vessel to vessel. It is essentially anything below the mast top. This is all and good until an author starts talking about the "hounded length" of a mast - the length from the foot/heel of the mast to the hounds. Many of the calculations for mast properties are based upon hounded length. But what part of the hounds? To the top, the bottom or somewhere else? To the top of the trestletrees or the bottom? Rarely does and author tell. We are supposed to already know the "right" answer, or to read their minds. Harold Underhill (Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier, Brown Son and Ferguson, Ltd., Glasgow, 1972, page 5, Figure 4) is the only author I have found who gives a definite answer to what hounded length refers to, and he shows the hounds as the bottom of the trestletrees for determining hounded length. Harold Underhill does give a definition of "hounds" in Sailing Ship Rigs and Rigging (Brown Son and Ferguson, Ltd., Glasgow, 1969, page 110): Hounds - A change in the diameter of the mast to form a rest for the eyes of the rigging, crosstrees, etc. So now we know! In any case I think you have done your homework and can justify the decisions you are making for your model.

After "completing" the garboard strake I was looking at the photos of the current day Cape and realized I did not carry the strake forward enough. I was going by the blueprints, and they don't show the strake extending forward of frame 7, just forward of my bulkhead 2. But the photo (below) clearly shows the strake running forward to where the planking is starting to turn up at the stem. I should have been paying more attention to the photos! I cut off the most tapered part of the strake (left below) and added a new piece to extend the strake forward to just past my bulkhead 1 (right below). This is closer to what is on the real vessel. Maybe not perfect, but good enough. I have also started working on the bilge keels, but that is a story for another post.

The garboard strakes are finished - well, I may do a bit of retouching before I paint the hull. I may taper the front and rear ends a bit more. These "planks" had to be about 0.080 inch (2 mm) thick, so I couldn't use any of the 1/16 inch (1.59 mm) planks. I started with a 1/4 x 1/8 inch (6.35 x 3.175 mm) basswood stick and shaved it down to 0.080 inch with a plane. Then I used wet heat to bend it into the shape of the hull. I used a file and sanding blocks to make the angled edges and shape the piece to fit in the angle between the hull planking and the keel. Next will be the bilge keels, and then the "guards" (rub rails) around the edge of the deck.

Another of the hull details to be completed is the garboard strake. I have installed the first layer flush with the other hull planks. Now I need to add the second layer that is built up on top of the first layer. The blueprints do not show the details of this strake clearly. However, thanks to photos from Austin Cox (the current owner of the Cape) of the vessel on blocks I can see what the strake looks like and where it ends. As you can see in these pictures the strake tapers down to match the contour of the other hull plating just aft of where the stem starts to curve upward, This is about bulkhead 2 on my model. The taper at the aft end is a bit harder to see. It is clear that the strake tapers down to the contour of the hull planking a bit forward of where the planks fair into the deadwood, forward of the stern frame and propeller. This is just aft of bulkhead 15 on the model. To help visualize the shape of the strake I made a series of paper templates from the drawings of the bulkheads. You can see the gaps in the templates where the keel and planking come together. These show the shape of the garboard strake. I think the strake can be carved from a 1/4 x 1/8 inch (6.35 x 3.175 mm) basswood stick. I will cut the angle at the corner between the keel and planking first. This will be on the "inside" with the glue where it won't be visible so the angle doesn't have to be precise. Then I will use heat to curve the plank to the shape of the hull. After that I will use the templates with files and sandpaper to shape the exterior surfaces. At least that is the plan. We'll see what Murphy has to say about it!