Dr PR

Janne, Planks were always shorter then the actual hull length except for very small boats. So it was necessary to use several planks along each strake (a line of planks is a strake). For fairly regular surfaces like decks, planks were laid in a repeating pattern. The ends of the planks were fastened down over deck support beams so the fasteners would have something to fit into. Two planks came together at these butt joints. The planks were laid with several unbroken planks in between each butt join. Where two planks met end to end there would be some number of unbroken planks laid side by side before the next place where two planks met end to end. If there were two unbroken planks between the pattern was called 1 in 3 (one joint and two unbroken planks). It would look something like this where "---" is the plank and "-|-" is the butt joint: ----------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------ ---------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|------- --------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------------- ----------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------ It could be 1 in 2, 1 in 3, 1 in 4 or whatever. There are some more complex patterns, but they are not as common. Hull planking as similar, but the curvature of the surface often called for "creative" planking that did not follow a 1 in N pattern exactly. However, there was an attempt to stagger the butt joints in a regular pattern with several unbroken planks in between. This increased the strength of the hull. Two butt joints were never placed side by side in adjacent strakes.

Nice interior detail Craig. Like building a floating doll house. It is fun to add interior detail that will not be seen with a casual look. But peek in at just the right angle and surprise!

Yes! And the chem majors' classes were far more demanding than the ordinary chemistry classes - and a lot more fun. Except for the 5 hour organic chemistry labs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons!! The laboratory had windows, and in the spring we could see the kids playing frisbee on the lawn outside in the warm spring sunshine. That made the labs seem like 10 hours long! Organic chemistry was interesting. Quantitative and qualitative chem were drier and mainly boring. I thought it was physical chemistry that really separated the wheat from the chaff! I switched majors to bacteriology (microbiology) in my Sophomore year and had a much better chemistry background than the other micro students.

I think the answer to the question lies in consideration of how much wear and tear the item will receive. There is a reason decks are not painted - decks get walked on and things dragged on them. Paint would be scratched off constantly, requiring unending repainting. Usually real decks on working ships were not finished. Navies even holystoned decks to grind off the tarnished surfaces. * However, yachts and other vessels that see light service do often have "finished" decks. So will the waterways get the same wear as the deck boards? If so I think they would not be painted. * Note: An exception to this "rule" is that warships generally have large crews, and "idle hands are the Devil's workshop." So some things do get painted or polished just to keep the crew busy.

Valeriy, Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. I was a chemistry major for a couple of years at undergraduate university and I am quite familiar with saponification. Your excellent results speak well for your methods! I do use an acetone wash, primarily for dissolving the solidified resin flux from the solder I use. I have 10 pounds (45 kilograms) of 60:40 tin/lead resin core solder left over from the days I was designing electronics equipment and building and testing the prototypes. The fact that I have had it for at least 35 years and haven't reduced the supply much tells that I don't use a lot of it! It is more than a lifetime supply! I also use a liquid citric acid based flux. It is flux overkill, but it causes the solder to flow into even the tiniest gaps. We used it at work for the high density ICs with half millimeter (0.020 inch) pin spacing. So first I wash with water to remove the liquid flux. Then I wash with acetone. Then I wash again with soap and water to remove oils and grease. After that I polish with #0000 steel wool and then brush it to remove steel fragments. The acrylic sealer I used for a primer adhered nicely to the cleaned brass. After drying 24 hours it did not lift off the brass with masking tape. Handling the parts does not damage the painted surfaces.

My first thoughts are to experiment with poring melted paraffin onto acrylic (Plexiglas) sheets. You could paint the plastic dark blue-grey on the bottom side to represent the water under the ice. You probably can chip away the edges of the "ice" sheets to get the broken ice effect. CAUTION: I haven't tried this so it is just a half baked idea!

I have also heard a "suspicion" that the Titanic helmsman had been Royal Navy (left means right) and the shipping line used the "right means right" procedure. In the confusion the helmsman may have turned the wrong way initially. That was speculation from one of the inquiries about the sinking. But it does call attention to the changes in meaning of nautical terms over the years.

I wonder how those early tiller wheels were rigged? Early on the tradition was that if the order "starboard helm (rudder)" was given the tiller would me moved to starboard - causing the ship to turn to port. By the late 1800s different merchant and navy services were changing so that "right rudder" meant turning the rudder/wheel so the ship turned to starboard. Apparently the British Royal Navy didn't make this change until the early 1900s.

I had never heard of this arrangement (we didn't have tillers on the ships I was on in the Navy), but watched the Captain use it when sailing on the Lady Washington. Many (most?) of the sailing ship references describe a different arrangement where there are two separate tackles, port and starboard, that could be hauled upon to pull the tiller to one side or the other. I think this was used on much larger vessels.

There is something like this on the Lady Washington. Rather than have sheaves in the tiller single blocks are attached to the tiller. The ends of the line are attached to single blocks at the bulwarks. Where the line crosses the tiller is a lever that can be lashed down to hold the line. A 19th century "iron Mike." Here is a view of this rig on my topsail schooner model. I did not put the lever on it because I don't know if one was used in the early 1800s. The belaying pin on the Gjoa serves the same purpose - to lash the rudder at a fixed angle. I suppose the line on the Gjoa might be loose enough so it could be looped over the pin to secure the helm. Even when the line is not lashed down the friction in the tiller rig serves as a shock absorber to dampen movement. I have read this helped control the rudder when it was being pounded by following seas.

Harvey, I wish you hadn't told us about the mis-aligned seams! Now we will all be losing sleep worrying about it!

The smoke stack is finished (except for the antenna). I painted the brass with a thin coat of FolkArt all-purpose satin finish sealer. This is what I have been using to seal the wooden surfaces before painting. The instructions on the bottle say it can be used on a "non-porous surface to add slight texture for increased paint adhesion." It is a water-based clear acrylic paint. After the sealer had dried about 40 hours (delayed due to Christmas events) I painted the black top. After that dried overnight I applied masking tape over the black and painted the grey. The paint flowed on smoothly and adhered to the sealer nicely. Neither the paint nor sealer lifted off the brass when the masking tape was removed. Here is a picture of the fire station at the aft end of the main deckhouse. The life jacket locker hangs directly overhead. It was an open space away from passageways where the life jackets could be dumped. However, it was just relatively open! The two sailors are standing on a "portable" (removable) deck section that is directly over the four GMC 6-71 main propulsion diesels. An inclined ladder will lead down to the main deck behind the sailor on the left. When I get around to making the minesweeping gear a small winch will be mounted on the portable deck section. The winch is for handling the large float for the acoustic sweep device. Just outboard to starboard of the winch was a davit, and the acoustic sounder mounted outboard of that. The life jackets would dump on top of the winch and the spaces around it. A hand grenade locker was positioned where the Captain (in dress khakis) is standing. One of the life rafts will be positioned at the aft starboard corner of the deck house. Forward of that was a pyrotechnic locker. There was a narrow walkway between the lockers and life raft leading to the top of the vertical ladder. There really wasn't a lot of bare deck space anywhere on the ship.

I have the 1989 edition and it is coming apart. I don't know if the later editions would be more durable.

Brian, Thanks! This type mechanism was common for life jackets on US Navy ships. The top is a lid that hinges up, allowing life jackets to be tossed in after use. The bottom is a door that hinges down, allowing the life jackets to tumble out on deck. I have studied the blueprints on the Cleveland class cruisers of WWII and the MSI blueprints of the 1950-60s. One thing they have in common is that the lever that pulls down to open the bottom door was held in place by an ordinary US Navy issue 1/2 inch (12.5 mm) fuse clip. Two of these were used in electrical circuits to hold a cylindrical fuse. Just one was used to hold the 1/2 inch diameter life jacket release handle. The MSI lifejacket locker had to be located above a place on the main deck that was open and easy to get to but not in a passageway. As you will see as the build progresses almost the entire main deck was covered with equipment or stowage lockers. About the only place suitable for the life jacket locker was above the fire hose station at the rear of the main deck cabin. And there was nothing else attached to the rear of the stack which was directly above the fire station, so that was a convenient place to mount the locker. The Cape had a crew of 19 enlisted and 3 officers. The life jacket locker held 25 CO2 life jackets and 3 "fibrous glass" life jackets. I guess the three fibrous glass life jackets were for the officers. They didn't need a charged CO2 cylinder. There were 6 spare CO2 life jackets in case some didn't work. The ship also carried two 15 man inflatable life boats and a 12 foot (4 meter) "wherry," a small boat with an outboard motor.

Silkspan is the way to go for sails at the smaller scales (1:48 and smaller). The thinnest grade (SIGST001) is approximately scale thickness for 1:48 to 1:72 scale. When wet it is VERY fragile, but when it is dry it is very tough. It became popular for wing and fuselage coverings on flying model airplanes. Here are some links telling my experiences making sails from it. There was a learning curve, but the results are pretty good. https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-finished-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=1035898 https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-finished-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=1035392 https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-finished-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=1039363 https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-finished-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=1049586 In my opinion those heavy cloth stitched sails that come with kits look awful!

The same. If you keep your hands in your pockets there is a much smaller probability of screwing up things. And he's out of uniform. The Captain and XO are wearing dress blues, so that must be the uniform of the day. Fuzz is wearing working khakis (that was our most common daily uniform) and a leather aviator's jacket.

wefalck and FreekS, Thanks for the tips. I don't know if I can buy Zapon varnish in the US. However it appears to be a nitrocellulose solution. Duco cement is nitrocellulose dissolved in acetone. I suppose I could just dilute Duco with more acetone to make a thin nitrocellulose varnish. Createx UVLS clear satin is sold here. I have put a bottle in my Amazon cart for my next order.

Eberhard, Thanks. The "waxy" dull surface on the brass I am using becomes visually apparent in just a few hours. It turns from very shiny after polishing with #0000 steel wool to a duller yellowish color. I am trying an acrylic sealer as a primer. If that doesn't work I will try shellac. Of course the fogging of brass is familiar to everyone who had to polish brass belt buckles in boot camp!

DD, I too recommend zu Mondfeld's Historic Ship Models as a good first reference. It discusses vessels from all periods and all western nationalities. The key thing to remember about the ropes in a ship's rigging is that they usually were scaled from the main mast diameter at deck level. Generally the same scales were used on all vessels. However, the rope sizes are calculated in circumference. This almost always confuses beginners (it did me)! For example, for hemp rope the main stay may be listed as half the diameter of the main mast. If the mast is two feet diameter (24 inches) the stay dimension will be about 12 inches. This would be a huge rope, if it was the same diameter as the mast. But it is the circumference of the rope that is the same length as half the diameter of the mast. To get the actual diameter of the rope divide the rope circumference by pi (3.14159). So 12/pi = 3.8 inch diameter. Then all other ropes are scaled from the main stay. But the scaling may vary with the date. So if the main stay is 3.8 inch diameter the shrouds would be the same diameter (100%) in the 19th century, but only 62% of the main stay (2.4 inch diameter) in the 18th century. Mondfeld's rigging size tables shorten calculations a bit by calculating the main stay dimension as the mast diameter multiplied by pi/2, or about 0.166 times the mast diameter. This is about the same as dividing by 2, and then dividing by pi. Other authors give calculations that may differ a bit from Mondfeld, but the results are about the same. When scaling down to the model's scale these small differences don't matter - you will have to choose the closest scale rigging to the ideal dimensions. Mondfeld cautions that the scales may vary a bit with nationality, but his tables are a good place to start. And for later 19th century and 20th century ships with steel wire rigging the dimensions should be reduced about 33% from the calculated dimension for hemp. You are starting down a deep rabbit hole!

Thanks to everyone for the likes and comments. Keith, we had a great Christmas. Seven great grandkids from 1 year to 14 years, and none was sick! I am finishing up the smoke stack. I made the conical cap for the boiler vent from a brass rod, turning it on my hand drill. The hinges for the diesel exhaust pipe caps were made from 0.010 inch (0.25 mm) styrene strips. First the lower pieces were glued to the brass pipes with CA gel. After the CA set the two hinge strips were glued to the lower piece with plastic model cement. I used a bit of clear acrylic sealer to "glue" the styrene hinge strips to the top of the cap. It probably isn't the most robust assembly, but they are protected by the stack cap. I painted it with the grey paint I am using for the decks. It is Tamiya XF-63 German Grey. I have found that the Tamiya paints do not cover well on brass. This was all washed with water to remove the liquid flux, and then acetone to remove any resin flux and oils. There are three coats of paint on this assembly, each allowed to dry over night, and still there are places the paint just "rolls back" leaving exposed brass. The platform jutting from the side of the stack is a support for a radio antenna. I suppose I could have glued it in place with CA, but the solder will make a stronger attachment. Now I need to make the complex insulators for this antenna and two more. I have the Navy electronics data sheets for the antennas and some photos taken on the ships to show me what they look like and how large they are. It will be an interesting project. But the antennas will be some of the last pieces to go onto the model. The last part of the stack assembly is the life jacket locker that was attached to the lower rear of the stack below the air intake grills. The box is a bit wider than long (about 32" wide x 31" long x 26" high full scale). I folded the box from a single piece of 0.005 inch (0.13 mm) brass sheet and then soldered the edges. A separate 0.010 inch (0.25 mm) thick top plate was soldered on - this hides the folded edges that were a bit rounded. A 0.010 inch brass wire serves as the handle that released the bottom of the locker to dump the life jackets. Here are some photos of the stack in place on the aft end of the O1 level. Now I need to prime the funnel and paint it to hide all of the solder stains in the brass! I probably won't get around to that until next year. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Do you have a picture of the finished kit so we can see what you are building?

Been there, done that! If it helps any, just think of it as fate giving you the opportunity to do the work better than before.

When did Ragnar come to the United States? Did he enter at San Francisco or somewhere on the east coast? How did he get here? The reason I ask is that he may have modelled the ship he travelled on. If the family has records of his arrival in the US they may tell what ship he sailed on.

There are many opinions about this. However the discussion in this link tells that belaying pins were in use in Europe in the early 1600s: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/21834-more-on-belaying-pins/?do=findComment&comment=653870

The ship needs a helm! I certainly wouldn't use water - it might soak into the century dry wood and cause swelling. And as a microbiologist I cringe at the thought of covering anything with spit! Not a good idea in my opinion, even if it does "work." Just brushing with a small stiff brush may be all that is needed. I do this with the end of a vacuum cleaner hose nearby (3-6 inches/75-150 mm). But be careful that some parts - like hatch covers - are not just resting in place unattached. Otherwise you may end up sorting through the dust in the vacuum cleaner bag. If a liquid cleaner is needed to dislodge stuff I think I would apply isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) with a small brush and immediately swab it up with a Q-tip. The alcohol will evaporate quickly. But use it very sparingly and work fast so it doesn't have time to dissolve any finishes (especially shellac). Test this first in an inconspicuous place!