Dr PR

Thanks for the encouragement guys! The irony in this last goof-up is that I was trying to get a better picture of the outer jib. I was using a white dry erase marker board as background and the shiny surface was reflecting the ring light. So I repositioned the board, and as I stepped back to take the picture the board fell over against the model. Fortunately I was still close enough to catch things before the model took a dive to the floor! Otherwise I might be thinking about reconstructing a lot more of the masts and rigging! So Murphy didn't have the last say! And I relearned a lesson that I have learned far too many times in the past - pay attention to what you are doing! **** The model kit was titled "Albatross" but I can find no record of a real vessel with that name. And since I am building a model of an imaginary 100 ton revenue cutter of the early 1800s I have been reluctant to give the model a name. That might imply that it is a model of a real vessel. But now I am thinking of calling it Murphy's Jest or something like that! Murphy's Joke Murphy Bait Murphy's Taunt Murphy's Fun ????

I have been thinking abut a problem that developed as I was adding the fore topsail to the mast. You can see it in these pictures. The lift blocks and sheet blocks were jammed together, and the lift lines were rubbing against the sail clews and the clew blocks. It looked OK "on paper" but just wasn't right after the sail was installed. The sheet block was in the correct place, with the sail clew and clew line block OK. I decided to remove the lift blocks and give them a longer pendant. But I had to do this in place, and things were a bit crowded. Some vessels used a sister block or "violin block" with the lift running through the inner sheave and the sheet in the outer sheave. And in some cases the two blocks were just stropped together end to end to keep the two lines separate. Now the lift blocks fit under the clew of the sail and the sheet is free to run naturally. It wasn't as much trouble as I thought it would be. But Murphy did get in his licks. While removing the old lift blocks the plastic hook on one of the double blocks at the mast top broke! I replaced the plastic hook with one of my metal hooks and the repair was finished. One step back, one step forward. All of this happened while I was installing the outer jib. That was the last sail! Like the other fore sails the sheets are still hanging loose. But the rest of the rigging is in place! Two steps forward. The nomenclature for this sail is a bit confused. Some authors call it the outer jib, but others call it the flying jib. However, the term "flying" sometimes means a sail is not attached to a stay, but is hanging only by the halliard and tack. But there are many references showing a sail that is riding on a stay but is called a flying jib anyway. Likewise the main sail is sometimes said to be flying if there is no boom, and in other books is is flying it it is attached to the boom only at the tack and clew, without being laced to the boom. This is also called "loose footed." So the term "flying" seems to mean different things to different authors. With the installation of the outer jib almost all of the rigging is installed. Most of the lines are belayed and only a few need to be adjusted. The belayed ends are still a couple inches long to allow them to be adjusted, so the deck looks like a bowl of spaghetti. But most of the work was done! And then the backdrop I was using for this last photo fell over and hit the model! The blow caused the seizing to fail on the starboard sheet block attached near the center of the fore course yard! It was in one of the most inaccessible places in the rats nest of rigging just under the fore top. One giant leap backwards! Murphy was busy today!! If there are any newbies following this log keep this in mind. If it can go wrong it will go wrong!

Actually, the trick is to cut the garboard strake so the next plank runs pretty straight to the stem (bow). The lower edge of the garboard strake follows the rabbet at the keel. curving up at the bow. The upper edge of the garboard strake should follow the unmodified edge of the next plank as it curves around the bow. Each additional plank follows the same rule. The lower edge follows the curve of the plank below it, and the upper edge is trimmed to follow the curve of the plank above it. So one edge of each plank is the natural curve around the shape of the hull, and the upper edge is trimmed to fit the plank above it. While this sounds simple, it may be necessary to "hook" planks above and below a plank, cutting it short and hooking the planks above and/or below to fill in the space. Look at the tutorials.

I found time today to install another sail - the jib. The jib halliard is rigged like the fore staysail halliard - through a block that is tied to the forward crosstree on the fore mast top. The tack is fastened to the jib preventer stay just above the bees on the bowsprit. The downhaul runner block is also belayed to the preventer. The downhaul runs through this block and belays on the starboard bow pin rail. The sheets have not been rigged so the sail can be pulled forward to provide clearance to the bow pin rails. Only one sail to go!

One more! The fore staysail is pretty simple. Lever (The Young Sea Officers Sheet Anchor, page 59) said that fore staysails were not used on merchant vessels, but were only used on warships. This likely applies only to square rigged vessels, for multiple foresheets are common on fore-and-aft rigged vessels. But you can see from this photo why the fore staysail and the main course would not be flown at the same time. The clue of the staysail extends back behind the fore mast, passing through the space where the fore course sail would hang. Schooner sails were mainly fore-and-aft with the occasional square topsail, topgallant and maybe a fore course. So the fore staysail was probably used in most cases, with the course rigged only when there was a good wind from astern. I had to find a place for the halliard block pendant to attach to the mast top. Rather than tie it to the stay as is sometimes done I lashed it to the front crosstree, similar to how the main boom topping lift pendants are attached to the aft crosstree on the main mast top. I attached the fore staysail and jib block pendants to the crosstree before attaching the topsail. The topsail hangs down over these blocks, making it a bit harder to rig the sails. In hindsight it would have been a bit easier to rig the fore staysail and jib before adding the topsail! The staysail tack is lashed to the port side of the bridle for the lower forestay open heart. The staysail downhaul block is lashed to the starboard side of the heart bridle. The downhaul is belayed to a pin on the starboard bow pin rail. I have tied all of the hanks to the sail, but the glue is still drying so I haven't trimmed the loose ends of the lines. The sheets are not rigged yet. The sail interferes with getting to belaying points on the fife rail at the base of the fore mast. With the sheets loose I can pull the sail back forward to open access to the fife rail. I have learned that good access to the fife rail is important. Each of the many lines to points on the fore mast interacts with all the others. I did haul the topsail yard back to its highest position, and this put some lift on the fore course yard. That in turn loosened the fore course yard truss lines and the fore course yard lifts. So those lines had to be tightened. Again, it was wise to use white glue to secure lines after they have been belayed. Adding a drop of water loosened the glue so I could pull the belayed truss and lift lines tight again. And I had to adjust the fore topsail buntlines after raising the topsail yard. I would be willing to bet this won't be the last time I need to adjust lines before the model is finished!

There are reviews on the Forum of the shroud jigs - mostly negative.

Balsa would be easier to cut and shape. The filler blocks do not need to be strong. They just provide a shaped surface between bulkheads to glue the planks to. You don't need to fill the entire space between bulkheads. All you need is something out at the hull surface. Some people just use pieces of wood dowel, with multiple pieces cut to fit horizontally between bulkheads along the outer edges. Whatever you use should extend out beyond the bulkhead edges a bit so you can sand them down to fair a curved surface between the bulkheads.

Had the same problem with my Albatross kit. The supplied guns and carriages only fit under the cap rail if the guns were pointed down. Good for fishing maybe, but worthless for combat. I scratch built a new set of carriages that were lower and allowed the guns to run out horizontal, and then have a 5 degree rise.

Waiting anxiously for more schooner progress!

I have been using a mini iron to heat form planks directly on the hull and it works better than anything else I have tried. I clamp the plank in place in a few places, wet it with a brush, and apply the heat. This gives the planks the correct curvature and twist for fit the shape of the hull, and it only takes a couple of minutes. https://modelshipworld.com/topic/37060-uss-cape-msi-2-by-dr-pr-148-inshore-minesweeper/?do=findComment&comment=1074225 https://modelshipworld.com/topic/37060-uss-cape-msi-2-by-dr-pr-148-inshore-minesweeper/?do=findComment&comment=1075263

The ratlines look good. I deliberately saved the ratlines for last because much of the rigging belays on the pin rails and fife rails and the ratlines would block access.

More progress, sort of ... Two steps forward and one step back. The fore topsail has sheets, clew lines and buntlines attached, along with the blocks for the clew tackle. This is the aft side where the bolt ropes are attached. Here is the sail installed on the fore mast. The bunt lines attach to cringles on the foot of the sail. They run up the forward side of the sail through wooden thimbles lashed to the topsail yard and up through single blocks attached to the top of the fore topmast. They lead down through fairleads on the mast top crosstrees and then belay to the fife rail at the bottom of the mast. Another picture from the rear. Things are getting crowded around the fore masthead! The topsail yard halliard, clue lines, topsail yard lifts and fore course yard lifts also run through the crosstree fairleads and down to belay at the fife rail or the bulkhead pin rails. So far the lines are running clear with no chafing. I may not need to reroute any of them! While rigging all of these lines the halliard slipped a bit, lowering the topsail yard - probably while I was rigging the buntlines. I didn't intend for the sail to billow out as if there was a strong following wind! Fortunately all of the lines are belayed with just one turn around the belaying pin, and held in place by water soluble white glue. So it is pretty easy to place a drop of water on the glued area and readjust the length of the lines. Pretty obvious are the dangling topsail yard brace pendants and locks. I have discovered that I didn't order enough of the 0.012 inch (0.30 mm) tan rope from Syren. But I did order one extra dark brown 0.012" package! I made the order calculations with my rigging spreadsheet, and I may have mixed the tan and brown ropes when selecting rope length cells. Or maybe I just used more rope than I calculated - I need about four feet more! I have ordered more. Work doesn't have to stop though. I have all the rope I need to finish the foresheets. The topsail yard braces will be some of the last lines to belay. I don't look forward to that! They belay on the rail at the base of the main mast, and that is one of the most inaccessible places on the model! It took me one hour each to rig the main topmast staysail halliard and sheet on that rail! The topsail yard braces belay inboard of those two lines. I'll have to devise some tool to improve my chances of rigging these lines!

Beautiful model!

Very nice model! I started my current topsail schooner build almost 40 years ago, and am finally getting close to the finish! Like you marriage, family, house and work really interfered with my ship modeling! I am looking forward to your finished model - however long it takes.

Some things are simple. For example, the forward bulwark stanchions were attached to the planksheer with metal "L" brackets with trapezoidal sides. There are a lot of these and photo etch would ensure uniformity. I may also get a lot of metal hooks in various sizes. The pilot house window shades and their supports could be made with photo etch or by hand out of thin brass. Ditto venturis. If here is room on a sheet I will add these. The scuttles and hatch comings had metal flanges. Antenna foundations, searchlight support flanges, smoke stack exterior and bulkhead plates. It would be easier and more uniform to make these by photoetch. But probably the largest number of pieces will be from all the minesweeping gear on the aft part of the main deck. There are some pretty elaborate frames, decks and cable reels. I haven't modeled these in CAD yet so I don't know the total number of parts. I will build as much as I can from K&S brass parts - if I can get them.

Paul, Thanks. I hadn't heard of fuzzy thread. I'll have to look around at Joann's to see what it looks like. As far as the nomenclature goes, here are some references. Chapelle's The American Fishing Schooner (page 401) said chafing matts were wrapped around schooner topping lifts - what I am interested in. He said "Chafing gear was of rope yarns, made up into 'baggy winkle' and wrapped around the lifts or jacks ..." Falconer's Universal Dictionary of the Marine (1769) said "Mat ... a sort of thick web or texture, formed of spun-yarn, or a variety of strands, or separate parts of small rope, or a number of rope-yarns twisted into foxes. The foxes are therefore larger or smaller, containing a greater or lesser number of rope-yarns, in proportion to the thickness of the mat intended to be woven. Mats are commonly used to fasten upon the outside of such parts of the standing rigging as are exposed to friction of other ropes ... The largest and strongest sort of these mats are called panches." Bjorn Landstrom's Sailing Ships (page 179) says "To protect the [schooner] mainsail from wear the boom lifts have been given baggywrinkles." Underhill's Sailing Ship Rigs and Rigging (pages 108 and 112) says "chafing gear" is also called "puddening." "... old rope, canvas, oakum, rope-yarns, etc., made up to required shape an fixed on stays, rails, etc., to prevent chafing the sails." Lever's The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor (page 68) says the rope/yarn wrapped around the anchor ring is called puddening. Nothing else that I could find about protecting sails from chafing. "Service" is commonly used to describe line wrapped around ropes, or "serving" the line. However I have seen a reference (which I can't find right now) saying that anything wrapped around ropes to prevent chafing is called "service." Most of the references I searched through don't say anything about chafing gear, mats, baggy winkles/baggywrinkles, panches, puddening, service or such. So take your pick!

My brother-in-law was "driving" Voyager 2. He calculated the orbits and the engine and thruster commands to get the craft to Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Really cool stuff, even if the paint did dry sssslllloooowwwllllyyyyy!

I made the mistake of visiting Caltech (in 1969) on one of the days when the winds pushed all of the LA smog to Pasadena. You couldn't see more than two city blocks. I walked around campus for a while until the smog started getting to me. I realized I was getting dizzy and might pass out so I went into a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant just to find a place to sit down. The air inside was breathable. In the '60s smog killed all the vegetation that was planted along the Long Beach Freeway into downtown LA. They replaced it all with plastic shrubs and trees, complete with plastic song birds! Plasticland. After I married I had a brother-in-law, three sisters-in-law and an assorted bunch of nieces and nephews who all worked at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories) in Pasadena. We joked that it was a family business. I recall flying down in the mid 1990s to be at JPL for the Galileo rendezvous with Jupiter. We had great views from the airplane until we started to descend into Burbank, and then the air became browner and browner. But the smog wasn't nearly as bad as in the 1960s.

Mark, I bought a 2 oz bottle of Sig-Bond years ago at our local hobby shop. It eventually became thicker. Then I bought an 8 oz bottle about five years ago from the same store when I restarted the Albatross build. It is still good. Unfortunately, the pandemic killed that hobby store (along with on line competition). So now I don't know where I could find it locally. You can order it on line from the manufacturer: https://sigmfg.com/collections/sig-glues They also have other glues and a selection of tools.

Mark, Thanks. Tissue paper and diluted white glue would be easy. I don't know if it would have a smooth finish. I was wondering if there is a way to make the "fuzzy" finish. But at 1:48 scale maybe just painting with flat paint would be enough.

Well it has been "thought out" many times. Each time I think I have the final solution I run across more information that makes me think it out again! I have a bit more progress to report. I finally got the fore course yard in position with all the rigging (I think)! After failed seizing, broken hooks, adjusted sling, and I don't remember how many other hassles it is hanging in the right place! There were other reasons for delays in continuing with the model. I traded in my 15 year old car for a new model. It has more bells and whistles than the US Navy! I have spent much of the week reading about 950 pages of the User Manuals to figure out how to make all that stuff work! And I had to wire a new circuit in the garage so I can plug it in for charging. Lots of fun! And the non-profit I am Treasurer for learned that the Federal funding for a three year project has been cut off! That has left us scrambling! We have contracts with a couple of businesses for the project, and some materials for the project that are already paid for. So we may have an unfinished project, wasting a lot of taxpayers money for the work already done. I guess this is the new "government efficiency." I wonder how many unfinished bridges there are in the country now? So it has been a hectic week. I am glad to be back at ship modelling!!

JD, I just came across a reference to your "bead detail" in the hull planks. Chapelle's The American Fishing Schooners (page 419) calls these "cove lines." He says: "After painted bands, multicolored, went out of fashion, coves about 3/4"wide were cut into the planking. One cove was an inch or thereabouts below the waist line and well above the quarterdeck scuppers. The lower cove had its top along the lower edge of the planksheer of the main deck. ... Discharge from the quarterdeck and main deck scuppers stained these coves, so the fashion did not last long. In the late 1880s the cove below the waist line alone survived, painted yellow. This practice continued to the end of the schooner construction at Essex." Now we know!

Mystery solved! For what it is worth, you aren't the only one to switch two bulkheads. On my Cape scratch build I carefully cut out each bulkhead, using pasted on prints of each one drawn to scale. Then after I had them in place on the center piece/keel piece there were nasty wavy high an low spots when I was fairing the bulkheads for the planking. I finally realized that I had mis-labeled the two parts when I was preparing the template drawings that were glued to the plywood to guide cutting out the parts! I had to take a bit off one and add some to the other. This is why I recommend pausing and measuring everything before starting the planking - or installing the deck. After the planks are on it is too late to correct mistakes.

Chafing mats, also referred to as "service," were placed on ropes that rubbed against sails and caused wear on both the rope and sail. Here are some examples: These photos are of the replica vessel Lynx. Several sources indicate they were made up of bits of worn rope and canvas, sometimes called "baggy winkle." I am looking for ideas for making representations of this stuff for scale models.

I have been ignoring this build while I try to finish my schooner build. I ordered and received some "S scale 1x10 Stripwood" (1/64 x 5/32 inch or 0.4 x 4 mm). This will be used for the outer layer of planking. I have been studying the curves of the hull and planning how I will apply this outer layer. I got the new planks from Fast Tracks Hobbyworks, Inc., in Point Dover, Canada. This is the Mt. Albert Scale Lumber that Gary recommended. **** I have mentioned how I avoided the draft by joining the Navy and some about my tour on the Cape. But the story of how I first arrived at the ship is an adventure in itself. Like most people who live in the US east of the Rockies, I knew California, Oregon and Washington were somewhere out west of those mountains, and I had learned the State names and their Capitols in grade school. But that was about all I knew about the West Coast. When I got orders to the Cape in Long Beach, California, the Navy provided airline tickets. All I had to do was get on the plane. As we were coming in to LAX (Los Angeles International) I recall looking out the window and seeing snowcapped peaks. "Cool!" I thought. My orders were to Long Beach Naval Station in California. I had no idea where Long Beach was (this was long before Google Maps), but I assumed it was on the coast because it had a beach and a Navy Base. I figured I would have to get another flight from LA to Long Beach, and wondered why the Navy just left me in LAX, so I went to an airline desk to book a flight. The fellow at the desk looked at me with a straight face and said "You can't get there from here!" Then he turned to help another lost soul. Well, that was a surprise! So I found an information booth and asked how to get to Long Beach. The attendant told me to take a taxi or the bus. Aha! Long Beach must be close to Los Angeles! I figured a taxi would be more expensive, and on my minimal ($68.00 per month?) Officer Candidate's pay I wasn't rich. So I decided to take the bus. I asked the attendant where the bus station was, and she said "over there," pointing out the door. LAX is a horrible place if you have to change airlines, or find the bus, because it is huge and it seems as if it is miles between the buildings. So "over there" turned out to be a long walk carrying my luggage. After half an hour searching for the bus station amid dozens of buildings I was exhausted. Then a taxi pulled up. "Hey buddy, where you going?" he asked. "Long Beach" I replied. "Hop in" he said. I may have asked what it would cost, but then told him I wanted to take the bus. "Well why did you stop me?" he shouted. "You are standing in front of the bus station!" and roared off in a cloud of smog (Los Angeles air). It was a featureless red brick building with no windows or signs - just a high wall with an unmarked opening. Sure enough, it was the bus station. I guess everyone on Earth is supposed to know unmarked buildings in LA are bus stations. So I rode the bus through endless expanses of roofs and pavement for at least half an hour, and finally arrived at the bus station in Long Beach. I was supposed to call the Duty Officer at the Long Beach Naval Station to find out where the Cape was. I found a telephone booth (remember those?) and looked in the phone book. Long Beach Naval Station wasn't listed! And no Long Beach Naval Shipyard – the largest on the West Coast!! Strange! I called the operator and she exclaimed "There's a Navy Base in Long Beach?!" This was starting to feel like an episode of Twilight Zone! I told her I had orders from the Navy to report there. She said "Just a minute." After a while she came back and said excitedly "I found it! It's in Los Angeles!" Sure enough, Long Beach Naval Station and Long Beach Naval Shipyard are in south LA, and not Long Beach. The operator connected me to the Duty Officer. And after a while he said the ship was in Al Larson Boat Yard in San Pedro, wherever that was. Before he hung up I asked where San Pedro was. He replied – as if everyone on Earth except me already knew that – "It's across the bridge" and hung up. What bridge? I eventually called a taxi and asked him if he knew where Al Larson Boat Yard was. "In San Pedro?" he asked. "Let's go" I replied, and we were off to find the ship. Well, there are two bridges, one from Long Beach to Terminal Island where the Navy facilities were, and another from there to San Pedro in far south Los Angeles. San Pedro was a pretty seedy place, with lots of bars and sailor hangouts. But shortly we found Al Larson Boat Yard. I could see the top of a gray mast above the high fence around the place. The taxi driver got out and banged on a door, and soon someone opened it. Yes, the Cape was there. I paid the driver and thanked him, and lugged my bags through the door to my first duty station. However, by this time it was a bit after 1700 (5 PM) and we weren't supposed to report to a new duty station after working hours. But I had just spent a long frustrating day trying to go where you can't get, and I was tired! So I dragged my stuff up to the gang plank and after a while found the deck watch. He called the duty officer, who turned out to be the fellow I was relieving. He was very happy to see me - even after working hours - because he was getting out of the Navy as soon as I arrived. I slept in the XO's bunk that night. So that was the beginning of my time on the USS Cape MSI-2. Here is my first photo of the ship, in Al Larson Boatyard. **** Oh, and the snowcapped peaks I saw flying in to LAX? I didn't see them again for six months. The offshore breeze blew the thick LA smog back into a high dirty brown cloud that sat over the LA area, and nothing was visible through it. But one morning I got up and opened the drapes on the window of my BOQ (Bachelor Officer's Quarters) room and there were the snowcapped Santa Monica Mountains in the distance! Strong winds the night before had blown the smog over to Riverside. The Cape's crest carried the motto "None Better." Somehow "You Can't Get There From Here" seems more appropriate.