Dr PR

Kurt, Great tip about the yellow ochre and anti-flux. Andy, Thanks for posting those photos. I have seen many brass locomotives but have never seen inside to see how they were made.

Bob, For many (most?) jobs where the alcohol acts as a solvent either isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol C3H7OH) or ethanol (C2H5OH) will work. It is mainly the hydroxyl (-OH) part of the molecule that makes them good solvents. Both evaporate fairly quickly. However, for specific chemical reactions the type of alcohol may be critical and ethanol and isopropanol are not interchangeable. I do not think this is the case with ordinary paints.

Accidents should never happen - but they do.

Roger, I have been enjoying your build. I love working with brass, and if I ever get around to building my scratch model of a cruiser I want to make a lot of it out of brass. I am one of the "electronics" guys who learned to solder assembling electronic circuits. I almost always solder with a drop of molten solder on the tip of the iron to conduct heat quickly. Sometimes I pre-tin brass parts and then just reheat them to get the solder joint. However, I have looked with envy at the fine detailed brass scale locomotives that some folks have made. These have no solder "stain" on the visible brass parts. I wondered how they did this, since much of my work has visible solder at the joints. For things that will be painted this is not a concern, but I still wanted to learn how to solder without any visible solder. The wet tip soldering process will not work if you do not want visible solder stains. This is where pre-tinning the parts comes in, and then using the dry tip iron to apply heat. But as you have noted, heat transfers relatively slowly from the dry soldering iron tip, and it flows fairly quickly through the brass. A hotter tip is needed, and you may need heat sinks to prevent the heat from flowing to earlier solder joints and unsoldering them. I use wet paper towels clamped to the work to absorb heat and keep it from spreading to other joints. Another way is to use a resistance soldering unit. Parts can be pre-tinned on the "inside" surfaces and then heated with the resistance unit. The current flows through the solder, remelting it. Some people cut tiny bits of solder foil and sandwich them between the parts to be soldered. Current flow from the resistance soldering unit will be through these solder flakes, causing the solder to flow on the inside (hidden) parts of the joint. You can make solder flakes just by hammering solder wire into a thin flat piece. This solder chip technique can be used with the dry tip soldering iron. Solder paste (solder powder in a paste flux) can also be used. I have a tendency to make a continuous solder flow along the entire joint between parts, but this often is unnecessary. Often just a few spot solder joints are all that is needed to hold things together adequately (like spot welding). You are right about using liquid flux. I prefer the water solutions of citric acid (lemon juice will do) because they smell like orange juice, and I love oranges! The liquid conducts heat quickly through the joint, and as it evaporates it draws solder into the joint. I use a steel wire brush in a moto tool to remove unwanted solder. The soft solder will brush off of the harder brass easily, and the brush polishes the brass. But you need to be careful for on some small joints you can remove too much solder!

#0000 steel wool gives a fine smooth matte finish. Very good for removing fuzz from wood. However, be sure you brush or wipe the surface thoroughly so you don't leave steel fragments. Maybe even use a magnet to collect the fine bits. The steel bits may rust over time when exposed to humidity. Personally, I have never seen this problem. With sandpaper you need to brush also to remove grit and wood dust.

I have posted some rigging information for tackles here. The entire thread is mainly for schooner rigging, but there is a lot of information about sails, rigging and terminology here. https://modelshipworld.com/topic/25679-topsail-schooner-sail-plans-and-rigging/?do=findComment&comment=787020 All of the tackle shown in your plans appear to be gun tackles - two single blocks. The lower block hooked to a ring bolt on deck. This is a very common arrangement. The advantages of this scheme are: 1. Only one line runs from near the deck to the block on the spar. If the lower block on the line was a double block three or four lines would connect to the spar, and this would require a rope much longer than used in the rig shown. 2. The line from the lower tackle can be pulled horizontally, allowing more men to pull on it. Often these lines would be led through a temporary runner block attached to the deck to lead the nine around obstacles and allow a horizontal pull so more hands could heave on it. Sometimes the rigging of the tackle was reversed top to bottom from the gun tackle shown in my post, with the fixed end of the lanyard connected to the lower block and the fall (loose end) running from the lower block so it always pulled horizontally. 3. In all cases the falls belayed (attached) to a cleat on the mast or a pin in a fife rail at the base of the mast. For lighter spars there would only be a sheave on/in the mast and the halliard would pass through it and connect directly to the spar. For heavier spars (and sails) the halliard would run through a luff tackle (single block on the spar and double block attached to the mast, or a "gun tackle" arrangement with two double blocks. These tackles provide most of the mechanical advantage. These rigs are sometimes called "jeers" instead of halliards. A good reference for English naval vessels if James Lees' "The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War 1625-1860" (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1984, republished in 1990). I sometimes find it difficult to use because he doesn't always define his terminology and assumes the reader knows what he is talking about. But it has a wealth of information about English men of war. A good general reference for sailing ship models is Wolfram zu Mondfeld's "Historic Ship Models" (Sterling Publishing, Inc., New York, 1989). It has a lot of information about ships of many nationalities and periods. Falconer's "Universal Dictionary of the Marine" (1769) can be copied from the Internet. It is very useful for deciphering arcane nautical terms and jargon.

Thanks.

What is the "Sophisticated Finishes" product? The company makes several products, and I can't read all of what is in the photo.

This type of sail was (is?) popular on American east coast fishing schooners, and some racing schooners and schooner yachts. But there it is called a "fisherman's staysail." And they come in all sizes, according to the Captain's or owner's wishes, with some having the tack and clew reaching almost all the way down to the deck.

Valeriy, What is the object projecting from the bottom of the hull near the bow? This is far too early for sonar or other listening devices.

Beautiful!

Just think how noisy it would have been on the bridge when that gun fired! I lost my high frequency hearing and got ringing in my ears (tinnitus) on the cruiser I served on from standing watches on the bridge when the guns were firing - and it was an enclosed bridge. The gun in itself is a masterpiece. The ship as a whole is looking good!

Valeriy, I am glad to see your are back at work! These destroyers are from a period of rapid change in the design and role of the destroyer. I certainly will be following your build. I always learn from your work.

This is a beautiful ship, and it is worth the time/effort to visit San Francisco just to see her. I have been aboard a couple of times and would like to go back again. There are other historic ships there too - and of course San Francisco and a lot of good restaurants. It is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there!

I have been soldering things since I was a kid (more than 60 years) - mostly electronics. I remember my father using a 1" square cross section soldering "iron" that he heated on our kitchen gas stove to work on sheet metal. I have used acid core solder, resin core and liquid flux. I prefer the liquid, especially the citric acid based flux. It smells like orange juice. You can even use lemon juice! What I like about the liquid flux is that it draws the solder into the joint as it evaporates. We have used it on extremely fine parts - 0.05 mm and smaller. And it cleans up with tap water. I use a variable temperature soldering iron with a small point tip. I also have a soldering gun for soldering massive objects, and a resistance soldering unit. I am still learning to use the resistance unit. It has the advantage of not staining the metal surface with solder, and the heat is localized within the solder joint. I use wet paper towels as heat sinks to prevent heat from a new solder joint from flowing to a previously soldered joint. Water absorbs a tremendous heat of vaporization (540 calories per gram - far more than most other substances) before it evaporates, so it makes possibly the best heat sink. I have always ignored the "rule" that you should heat the metal and not the solder. If you put a dry soldering iron tip against a piece of metal the heat flows slowly from the iron to the metal, and can even cause oxidation at the heated point. This allows the heat to spread to more distant parts of the work (bad). I wet the tip of the iron with a drop of solder and apply it to the joint. Heat flows rapidly from the iron, through the solder, to the joint. I apply the solder to the joint at the iron tip and when the metal is hot enough the solder melts and flows into the joint. This is where the liquid flux really works well.

I have one wooden POB model ship that is 53 years old that was glued together with Duco cement (or a similar wood glue from the 1960s) and it is still holding together with no problems. Nitrocellulose has been used in wood finishes on guitars and finishes for metal musical instruments for more than a century. It was also used for photographic film. Of course guncotton is nitrocellulose, and it is used for rifle powder and used to be used for the powder charge in large naval guns. So don't set your model on fire or expose it to a strong shock or the nitrocellulose might explode!

I have been using Duco Cement or similar glues for at nearly 70 years and it keeps forever. It contains acetone and other volatile chemicals, so if you live in California you should worry that it will cause your ears to fall off. I know it isn't "fashionable" these days, but it works very well with wood. It does dry clear, but it leaves a visible film. It sets up in about 20 seconds but doesn't form a strong bond for about an hour. It hardens fully in 24 hours. I have used PVA and it works, but I end up throwing most of it out because it hardens in the bottle, even when kept capped. I never use CA (cyanoacrilate). It turns to rock in the tubes before I get around to using it. If I do get to use it the necks of the tubes clog after a single use.

Bill, This is par for the course. There are as many answers as there are people. And that is the way it would have been in the 1400s. Unless you have actual plans for the vessel you are building you should just pick whatever looks good. 80% to 90% but not more than twice the beam.

I have done quite a bit of research on schooner rigging. Here are two posts that should answer some of your questions. Schooner sail plans and rigging. This shows many sail plan options and defines a lot of the terms: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/25679-topsail-schooner-sail-plans-and-rigging/?do=findComment&comment=750865 This post discusses where all the rats nest of rigging gets belayed on deck: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/30234-topsail-schooner-belaying-plan/?do=findComment&comment=862302

The margin boards (edge planks) along the sides of the hulls (part of the waterways) were bent in this case. That was a project in itself because planks do not "want" to bend on the long dimension. I boiled them to heat them all the way through (it is the heat that softens the wood, not the water) and them clamped them in place. I used multiple margin boards along the length of the ship. It would have been a lot easier to start with a wide piece of wood the proper thickness and cut the curved board from it. I ended up doing this for the cap rails. On the three ships with wooden decks I served on (1960s and 70s) the margin boards were fashioned in this way by carving them from wider planks. The actual method of planking the deck varied from century to century and place to place. The type of vessel (military, commercial and yacht) also influenced the planking method. The "nibbing" method I show was popular in the 1800s and 1900s, and perhaps part of the 1700s. It uses straight planks. I think the technique Allen shows is called "hooking" and it seems to have been popular in earlier years. The planks were often curved, and had to be much wider at the "hook" end. It has the advantage that the margin boards or waterways are much simpler and have no nibs. Another method that is popular with fancy yachts had simple margin boards/waterway planks. The deck planks curved along the outboard edge and were nibbed into a plank on the centerline of the deck. This center plank had sawtooth-like nibbing.

Here is a note about this build. I have been swamped with work for several projects I am involved with in our community, and I had an eye operation in November (came out perfect - both eyes correctable to better than 20:20!). The latest work was staining/dying the Syren blocks to a darker brown color. But things delayed that and now it is winter. The stains have strong odors so I can't work inside, and it is far too cold outside. So that work is delayed until spring. There are still a lot of details to finish on the hull before rigging the masts, but I don't have the time right now. I will continue when things warm up outside. I just have to build that workshop extension to the garage!

On smaller topsail schooners the topgallant yard often just had a halliard, or a halliard and lifts. The clews of the topgallant sail were fastened to the topsail yard arms (end of the yard), and the topgallant followed the angle of the topsail as it was set with the topsail yard braces. The topgallant sail was often lashed to the yard on deck and then hauled aloft where a crewman released the sail and attached the clews to the topsail yardarms. The arrangement shown in your drawing is interesting in that the topgallant yard is aloft but no sail is attached. It is possible that the sail was brought out of the sail locker when needed and hauled aloft to be attached to the topgallant yard. With the topgallant set the vessel was pretty "lively" and susceptible to capsizing if a strong squall hit it broadside. There are numerous accounts of this happening. So the topgallant was used only in light winds when necessary to get more speed, and it had a simple rig so the yard and sail could be dropped to the deck very quickly when the wind stiffened. Even the topsail posed this hazard in really strong winds on some vessels. The British considered American topsail schooners to be over rigged and used a smaller sail area on their schooners, until they observed that the American vessels (often smugglers or privateers) could run away from them with ease with all their canvas set. The Brits eventually came around to "over rigging" their topsail schooners to get more speed. And they lost several of them in high winds.

CH, The basic technique for "nibbing" deck planks into the edge planks is pretty simple. The purpose is to avoid points on the planks at less than 45 degree angle - these were weak and prone to catching on lines and such and breaking off. Basically, the plank is trimmed to about half the plank width at the nib on the outboard side, and then angled back to where the plank encounters the edge board at the outboard side. Now we are at the point where many people have ideas about "how it should be done." On modern ships the nib seems to be half the plank width. On some older wooden vessels it may have been 1/3 the plank width. And the nib end may be perpendicular to the plank edge, or perpendicular to the edge board side. Who knows how many other ways it has been done? If anyone has a good document telling how it was done for a particular period I would like to see it. Here is how I did it. I was pretty anxious about doing this because it was my first attempt. To my surprise, not only was it easy, but the nibs came out perfectly symmetrical port to starboard for the full length of the hull! Here you can see how the plank end was first marked at half the width. Note that the paper "grout" was wider than the plank edge so it stood proud of the plank. Later it was shaved down to plank height and sanded smooth. Then the plank was positioned with the forward end at the trailing edge of the previous nib. Then it was trimmed at an angle from the half width mark at the forward end back to where the outboard side of the plank encountered the edge board. The edge board was marked with the outline of the nibbed plank and cut so the plank would fit into the notch in the edge board. This picture shows the nibbed plank and the notch in the edge board. I used black paper at a thickness of a scale 3/8 inch for the "tar" grout between the planks. Some people use black pencil, charcoal or black marker for the grout. It depends upon the scale width of the grout. This picture shows how the black paper "grout" wrapped around the end of the plank. Here is a picture of the final deck. Not bad for a first attempt! I can live with this. Here is a link to the build log with more details: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=603771

If you click on the picture you will see options for the position of the picture in the column (left, right or nothing) and to change the size of the picture. If you put the picture to the left margin the text will wrap around the right side. I just enter Carriage Returns (ENTER key) until the cursor moves below the picture. Always put a blank line (ENTER) immediately after the picture. This behavior changed a bit a couple of years ago with an upgrade of the forum software, so some old posts may have some misplaced text around pictures (they need the extra blank line below the photo). Always save the post and then look at it. You may have to edit it (click on the three vertical dots at the upper right of the post, and select "Edit") to add an additional blank line or two to get the text to the position you want it.

Wolfram zu Mondfeld's "Historic Ship Models" (Sterling Publishing, Co., New York, NY, 1989) has four pages (134-137) of information and details about chain plates and how they changed over the years. I found this very helpful.