Dr PR

Is this a display model or R/C? Choose your materials carefully if it will be outdoors and exposed to direct sunlight. Wood doesn't expand much when heated. Metals expand a bit more, and plastics expand a lot! A fellow in Australia built a 1:72 R/C carrier with a wooden hull and plastic (styrene or Plexiglass) flight deck and hanger sides. In sunlight on a hot day the flight deck buckled upwards and the hanger sides warped and pulled loose. A two meter (6 ft) long piece of acrylic will expand about 5 mm (1/4 inch) in length with a 20C temperature rise!

Piotr, I am happy that you find my posts helpful. I have learned much from other members of the forum! I have posted general details of topsail schooner rigging here: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/25679-topsail-schooner-sail-plans-and-rigging/?do=findComment&comment=750865 I describe each spar and sail and how the running rigging connects to them. In some cases there are several options Another thread talks about belaying options: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/30234-topsail-schooner-belaying-plan/?do=findComment&comment=862302 This is just a preliminary plan for the model I am building. I have made a few small changes while creating the actual rigging, but the general ideas apply to all vessels. Figuring out how to run all of these lines without tangling them is very difficult to imagine on paper or computer. In the long run you will have to work it out on the model, as they did on the real vessels. And no two ships will be rigged exactly alike. I am just starting to measure each sail and plan how to make them. As I rig them I will post pictures and descriptions. It will be interesting to see how close my original plans made on the computer match what I finally come up with! The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley. Robert Burns

I have had little trouble with Duco (nitrocellulose in acetone) type glues on models. There are not many stresses involved if the parts are shaped correctly. However, I have seen two types of failures: 1. With soft wood (balsa) I have seen broken joints where the glue adhered well to one side and the wood broke away from the glue on the other side. This left the glue with bits of wood embedded in it. 2. I used to plank hulls (single layer planking) by applying glue along the edge of the plank being installed - to join with the neighboring plank edge - and to the bulkheads. I have never seen a plank break away from the bulkheads, but because of swelling and shrinking of the planks due to temperature and humidity changes gaps have appeared between planks, even on painted hulls. The best solution I have found to this problem is to paint the entire interior surface of the planking with thin epoxy paint, also covering the join between planks and bulkheads. The epoxy soaks into the wood creating a tight bond between all pieces. I have been doing this for about 40 years and have never seen a crack develop between planks on single layer planking.

Finished? All of it? I'll bet you are glad to have that behind you!! I remember when you started using the insulated electrical wire for the piping. It isn't a common modelling material but for all that piping it is perfect. You can bend and reshape it many times to tweak the curves and get the right alignment.

I am not sure a small revenue cutter would have a coppered hull. Chapelle's The Search For Speed Under Sail (second printing 1983, page 208) says "many American schooners were copper-sheathed and fastened after 1795, though this was expensive until 1815. As late as 1822, however, the old lime-and-tallow, or "white bottom," was still being extensively used in the United States." The British began experimenting with copper sheathing in the mid 1700s, but had a lot of problems. Copper sheathing reacted galvanically with the iron fastenings, causing holes in the sheathing that exposed the wood to wood boring worms. It wasn't until the late 1700s that copper sheathing was used extensively in the Royal Navy. After the early 1800s copper sheathing was common on larger, more expensive American vessels. Commercial ships often did not have sheathing. Copper was expensive so it sometimes wasn't used on smaller vessels. Copper sheathing was said to have lasted only a few years and had to be replaced frequently up until the late 1820s when copper alloy fastenings were used to prevent galvanic erosion. Another consideration is the area where the vessel was operated. Wood boring worms weren't found in higher latitude cooler waters or fresh water. But if the vessel was to operate in equatorial waters copper sheathing was necessary. **** The color of the paints depended upon the cost of the pigments. Normally only the cheapest colors were used, except on large men of was and yachts. Chapelle's The Baltimore Clipper (1968, page 170) says yellow, black, green and blue paints were used on the hulls, with yellow or white bands. Other sources say American vessels generally followed British customs, but up until the mid 1800s the US Navy didn't have a standard paint scheme. The colors were left up to the ships owner or Captain, so there was a lot of variation. However, I have read that black hulls with yellow bands along the gun ports was common through the early 1800s. After about 1830 white bands were common, and white deck furniture and mast tops followed. There was no sudden change of fashion, and I have seen pictures of vessels with white mast tops from the late 1700s.

With my cobbled together tumbler I just ran the drill at "medium" speed - whatever that is. It is a hand drill with a variable speed "trigger" and a set screw to set the speed. I can lock it on so I don't have to sit there pulling the trigger. I let it run for 8 to 12 minutes (longer for larger blocks).

I have the entire series on DVD. I've had it at least 10 years and it cost less than $20. I have no idea how many times I watched this as a kid - every time it came up on TV. And then while in US Navy Officer Candidate's School we were shown episodes just about every day as part of our "training" (indoctrination). I still love to watch it! Gung Ho!

Very nice. You used a lot finer grit than I did (80 grit) and got the same results. So I looks like it doesn't matter much what type of sandpaper you use. How long did you tumble them?

I have used Duco cement to bond planks to end grain plywood bulkheads. It is an acetone solution of nitrocellulose. It soaks into the grain before hardening. It sets up in 20-30 seconds but forms the strongest bond after about 24 hours. It does have some odor, but no worse than cyanoacrylate. I always use some type of clamp or rubber bands to hold the planks in position overnight.

I made a simple device to round the edges of blocks. It worked fine on Chuck's blocks: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=981060 I used SIG SIG-Bond aliphatic resin model airplane glue and was careful to get glue on every mating surface. I let them set over night and then tumbled them. For times and results see the link.

Well, wish me luck on the sails! I have put sails on only one other model (Santa Maria in 1969) and they were paper sails supplied with the kit. I have made the attachments to belay all the running rigging associated with the sails so I need the sails for all those lines. There is a very good tutorial on YouTube for making silkspan sails. I bought enough silkspan for several ships. If at first you don't succeed ...

I have been working on the standing rigging for the main mast. After installing the shrouds I added the main backstays, port and starboard. These attach to deadeyes in the channels and secure to thumb cleats high on the topmast. Then the main top backstays were added, leading down from just below the truck at the mast top to luff tackles hooked to ring bolts in the deck. These are "running" stays. The windward stay tackle was tightened to support the mast and the leeward stay was loosened to allow the boom and gaff sail to swing outboard. After the backstays were done the main stays were added. There is a port and a starboard main stay, and they attach to luff tackles that hook to eyes on vertical timbers of the fife rail. These are both moused like the forestay. These also were running stays. Like the main top backstays (and the fore top backstays) the windward side main stay tackle was tightened and the lee side tackle was loosened to allow the fore gaff sail to swing outboard with the wind. Please ignore all the loose line ends laying on deck. I am still rigging the ship and everything hasn't been tidied up yet! Besides, I still don't know where everything will be belayed. The mainmast top isn't quite as complex as the foremast top. In the left picture above you can see the two pendants for the main boom topping lifts hanging from the aft crosstree. The right hand picture above shows the pendant for the main gaff throat halliard riding over the shrouds and the main stay lines. It has eyes spliced in the ends, and these are lashed together to close the loop as they are on the fore mast. The main topmast stay is secured above thumb cleats on the main topmast with an eye spliced around the mast. The lower end is spliced around a wooden thimble (or truck). Another thimble is spliced to a ring bolt in the aft side of the fore mast cap. A lanyard is attached to one thimble with an eye, and is reeved through the thimbles several times. The loose end is tied around the splice at the ring bolt. Also notice in the picture the small stuff line tied around the jib stay and preventer and looped over the mast cap. This was an added bit of "insurance" to keep these lines secured over the cleat on the back side of the mast. The aft channels and deadeyes are similar to the fore mast rig. Again a wooden "stretcher" is tied on above the deadeyes to prevent them from twisting. This provides two extra belaying pins on each side. One will be used to belay the running end of the mast tackle on each side. The standing ends of the mast tackles are hooked into ring bolts on the channels. The lower block of the luff tackle can be seen here, with a long served strap hooked to a ring bolt. The fall of the luff tackle is belayed to the forward belaying pin on the spreader. I think this finishes the standing rigging. It is a stopping point so I can get caught up on a presentation for next month, taxes, house cleaning, etc. And this leads to the next step. I have purchased some silkspan and I will try to make some sails for the vessel.

Bob, I was looking for my copy of "Spritsail Topmast" - but can't find it - when I came across Anderson's book! Now I am wondering if I actually have "Spritsail Topmast." I have picked up many books about ships and ship modelling over the years from used book stores (when there were such things) and maybe I just thought I had that book.

Jeff, I'm glad you found my posts useful. I have also posted a few articles on schooner rigging and such, primarily to help new modelers figure out all the arcane and variable details. Topsail Schooner Sail Plans and Rigging https://modelshipworld.com/topic/25679-topsail-schooner-sail-plans-and-rigging/#elControls_750865_menu Small Ship Anchor Handling https://modelshipworld.com/topic/27410-small-ship-anchor-handling/#elControls_787942_menu

R. C. Anderson's "Seventeenth Century Rigging" (Model & ALlied Publications, Ltd., England, 1974, page 50) says: "The diameter of the dead-eyes should be about 1/2 that of the mast to which they belong. They should bulge in the middle and go quite thin at the edge; modern machine-made dead-eyes are usually much too flat faced."

Valeriy, Same here. The resistance soldering unit has carbon electrode tips that break if you blow on them hard, and the ends are very blunt. I have a 100 Watt soldering "gun" for large pieces, but I mostly used a small 42 Watt pencil tip iron. I have used it for everything from relatively large brass model parts to installing tiny flat-pack ICs with 0.5 mm lead spacing on circuit boards. Speaking of soldering "irons," my father had a real soldering IRON! Actually, I think it was a large piece of copper, about 1 inch (25.4 mm) square cross section and at least 6 inches (152 mm) long, on the end of an iron rod with a wooden handle. He heated it with a torch or on our gas stove in the kitchen until it was glowing red hot. It was used to solder sheet metal for vent ducts and such. It dated from the 1930s or 1940s.

Rope coils could be tied on with simple lashings of small stuff. Anchor buoy lines were secured to the shrouds this way.

Valeriy, For give me if I have asked this question before, on one of your other builds. What soldering tools do you use? I think I have seen soldering irons of several sizes, but do you also use a resistance soldering station?

John, I would bet there is something I have overlooked! I will be starting the main mast standing rigging next, and there is at least one line, the main topmast stay, that attaches to the fore mast top cap. (and two ways to do that). Then there are the yards and booms to rig, and maybe the sails. There are at least 10 more ropes of running rigging passing through the fore top area! I have ordered some 00 silkspan and will try my hand at making sails.

I am still working on the foremast standing rigging. As I started planning this bit I realized I had not installed sheer poles to keep the deadeyes from twisting. Mondfeld says these were introduced in the mid 1800s, but this is incorrect. Lever describes sheer poles in 1808. The original sheer poles were just iron rods tied to the shrouds immediately above the deadeyes to prevent them from twisting due to forces on the shrouds. But Marquardt elaborates a bit, saying that a "wooden stretcher" or "squaring staff" was seized to the shrouds to prevent twisting, and these sometimes served as a belay rack. I decided to use these wooden stretchers on my model. I first painted them with the brown I used for bulkheads and sanded them to a nice finish. Then I wondered if I should use tan or dark brown rope to lash them to the shrouds. I decided to look at photos of existing ships and realized that the entire assembly should be dark brown/black like the shrouds. I drilled them for three belaying pins. These will come in handy for belaying the falls of the mast tackles and running backstays. Then it was on to complete the standing rigging on the foremast. This image shows the foremast tackle. This heavy purchase, also known as a burtoning tackle, was used to load cargo, cannons and other heavy objects. It was also used to bring in the anchors. The rig consists of a block on a pendant from the mast top. Through this runs a runner tackle from a double block below, through the pendant block, to a hook on a ring in the channels. The luff tackle has a double block seized to the runner and a single block below. The single block has a long strap with a hook below. This long strap was served for extra strength and protection from chafing. The hook on the strap was hooked into an eye spliced on the end of the fish tackle. The other end of the fish tackle was seized around the fish hook that was used to catch and raise the crown of the anchor. The method of fishing the anchor is described here: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/27410-small-ship-anchor-handling/?do=findComment&comment=787942 At the very top of the foremast two foretop backstays are attached with eye splices above the rigging for the topsail yard and the foretop shrouds. These port and starboard lines lead down to luff tackles hooked to ring bolts on deck or attached to the channels. The foretop stay attaches above the backstays with an eye spliced in the end of the rope. It runs down through a sheave in the end of the jib boom (see below). The fore backstays lead down to deadeyes on the aft end of the channels. Above where they attach is a spliced eye in the strap for a single block for the flying jib halliard. Above this is the spliced eye for the flying jib stay that passes through a sheave in the end of the jib boom (see below). The foretop stay passes through a sheave at the end of the jib boom and leads back to a deadeye on the starboard side of the bowsprit cap (below). The flying jib stay passes through a shackle on the traveller and then through a sheave near the end of the jib boom. It then leads back to a luff tackle attached to the port side of the bowsprit cap (below). I have rigged this so the flying jib stay also serves as an outhaul for the flying jib that is attached to the traveller. Here you see that luff tackle for the flying jib stay that allows the stay to be slackened to haul in the foot of the flying jib attached to the traveller, or to allow flying jib stay to be tightened to haul out the foot of the flying jib. On the far (starboard) side you can see the deadeyes for controlling the tension on the foretop stay. The jibstay and preventer feed through the bees behind the bowsprit cap. They are the same cable that was looped around the fore mast top and spliced together, so either could be said to be the stay or preventer. The jib will ride on the aft most of the two lines. The jib stay runs to deadeyes attached to a ring bolt on the starboard side of the bow forward of the hawse openings. Other standing rigging for the bowsprit and jib boom is secured to points in this area. You can also see where the flying jib stay luff tackle fall leads back to the foremost belaying pin on the port bow pin rail. I should add a comment here about how some of these lines were rigged to allow them to be tightened occasionally as the ropes stretched. I show the jibboom guy, jib stay, martingale backstay (and the topmast shrouds, foretop stay, flying jib stay and bobstay) rigged with small deadeyes and lanyards secured around the lines. But some vessels just used simple eyes, or hearts, to tighten the lines. Other vessels used double blocks instead of deadeyes with the falls belayed on deck. I suspect smaller vessels just used eyes and the larger ships used deadeyes. "Mid sized" vessels might use any combination. So you need to do your homework to see what the ship you are building used. I probably could have used simple eyes on a schooner of this size. I think this completes the standing rigging for the foremast.

John, Nice work on the traffrail. I first saw this on another post on the forum and it made a lot more sense than trying to cut a narrow semi-circular piece of wood.

John, I'm sure you are glad that is done! One down and one to go. I am also working on rigging at this time, and it is pretty complex and tedious work. I am saving the ratlines until after everything else is rigged.

Melissa, On some of mu older (50+ years) models I had problems with the wooden planking swelling and shrinking with humidity, age, whatever. This cracked the paint on the hulls. I started using a thin clear epoxy paint on the interior of the planking. Model airplane builders use this paint to seal balsa engine mounts so fuel cannot soak into the wood. I apply a fairly heavy coat so it will seep between the planks and between the planks and the bulkheads. It does soak into the wood surfaces, and when it hardens the hull is very solid. I have hulls 35+ years old that have never developed cracks. I mention this because you are at the right stage to paint the interior - before the deck goes on. Not many people do this, but at least one of best model builders on this site use it inside planked hulls. You won't have to worry about the hull planking cracking years down the line if you do this.

LoS, Are you building a plastic model or a wooden model? The glues will be different for each type. For wooden models I use Duco tube cement (nitrocellulose in acetone) for strong joints that will be hidden - no visible spillover neighboring surfaces. It will affect stains where it is on surfaces, but you can paint over it. It will glue wood, metal, glass an plastics together (but the acetone may craze the plastic). It dries fairly quickly and hardens over night. A popular bottle glue is SIg-Bond aliphatic resin. It is good for wood but doesn't bond metal or plastic well. If you really wants a strong bond use a two part epoxy. It is a bit messy and more work, but it bonds wood, metal, glass - just about anything. For light work you can use plain white school glue. It dries invisible, so It doesn't produce a noticeable glue "stain." I use this on rigging to hold knots and seizing. An advantage is that it is water soluble, so if you need to change it you can just add a drop of water and it will loosen. Another useful "glue" is shellac. It is an alcohol solution, so you can loosen it after it hardens. It is more of a finishing and sealing coat, and it is used for "bright" wood finishing. But it can also be painted on as a glue to bond two surfaces. Some people use it to "set" rigging to hang in the right way. But is will discolor the rigging a bit, so you will need to apply to the full length of then line to get an even color.

NenadM, The technique of making round masts from square stock seems intimidating at first, but it is actually very easy. And it allows you to create the square or octagonal cross section parts as well as the round parts all in a single piece. Try it and you might like it. Here are a couple of links: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=904995 https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=908539