cog

Oi mate, looks familliar ... black'ner new side step? Keep it up you are doing just fine

Oi mate, looks familliar ... black'ner new side step? Keep it up you are doing just fine

50 of them, done. Horrible. 

Most wood doesn't react well to chains being pulled over it's edges

Thanks for the updates Tim, this is a very fine model and it is interesting reading how you research and approach the making of the various components - duplicate just allow usd to enjoy the detail and workmanship twice   to remove them simply edit your post, and in the strip at the bottom showing the thumbnails of all your  uploaded image files, simply click on the delete icon at the bottom of the thumbnail.
cheers
 
Pat

Hi all, this is the first installment of our "catch-up" for our Build Log for the USS St. Louis. This is a summary for our work as of August, 2018. All of the text and pictures are by Howie Smith. I'm going to try to have these pictures with appropriate captions, so here we go! Would be glad for feedback, as this is my first attempt at contributing to this build Log. Apologies for any inaccuracies. My email is timboni@juno.com
Tim

As part of an overall review of our USS St. Louis ironclad topsides, we focused on the forward 45-degree casement sub-structure with the brass 42-pdr Rifled Cannon Barrel on its carriage dry-fit in the centerline gun port. (Photos 1 & 2).

We then proceeded to outline the remaining process for constructing the  removable center section of this casement which originally consisted of a solid stack-up of vertical beams(Photo 3) between the outer sides of the P & S  gunports covered by similar stacked horizontal beams, and then vertical iron armor plates, which totaled up to a thickness of 25-inches.

Our model will duplicate this construction on the starboard side past the centerline structure (Photo 4 ) and then diminish by layers on the port side to reveal the underlying structure. This section will remain removable to maintain access to the gun deck until final stages of model assembly.

We also reviewed the positioning of Vince & Tim’s galley stove and associated furnishings on the gun deck (Photo 5)


and Bill’s exhaust stack thru and above the Hurricane deck (Photo 6 &7).
 

 
This was followed by a second dry-fit of Bob’s port & starboard main steam engine cylinder wooden cores in the engine room,  on their support ramps (Photos 8 & 9).
 
 


The first stage of the bow casement, consisting of the vertical beams and gun port framing for the removable center section has been completed (Photos 10 & 11). The  red beam edging indicates intentional disruption of structural members to reveal underlying or internal model features  The second stage will consist of attaching a layer of stacked-up horizontal beams which include a similar diminishing effect as their ends near the port side.
 

We spent a considerable amount of time discussing Tim & Vince’s problems cutting out the thin triangular strips of .030” thick Fomica substrates for the pilothouse armor plates and after a few experiments, it was decided that rather than sawing or cutting, a belt sander was the best solution and Bill graciously agreed to provide them a 1-inch table model belt sander to use for this purpose..Vince and Tim have made excellent progress shaping and fitting the Formica substrates for the pilothouse armor plates (Photo 12). They also have added .002” thick copper foil to the substrates for one of  the octagonal  pilothouse’s sides as seen in these photos. The foil will be chemically blackened and secured in place using the simulated ¾” bolts and washers previously stamped from No. 18 Escutcheon pins.


The pilothouse has also been dry-fit to its location on the Hurricane deck to verify its proper relationships to the ventilation funnels, galley stove exhaust stack, skylight and forward casement.(Photos 13 & 14)
 

Bill has developed and fabricated a series of improved steam pipe shut-off valves and control wheels (Photo 15) which will be integrated into his steam distribution piping system
Activity will now shift to construction of the stern 45-degree casement and laying planking on the stern deck itself. As a pre-requisite, we decided to revisit the stern deck nautical operations, equipment locations, and  functional geometry  before  committing to casement and decking configurations. None of the existing published aft deck drawings appear to depict a completely satisfactory operating geometry that is also compatible with the few existing contemporary photographs. This includes the 4 mooring bitts, 4 tiller control chain rollers, tiller arc of travel , tiller support roller track and bulwark mooring line guides.
At the heart of this issue, it appears that the tiller was lengthened sometime during City Class ironclad construction but the resulting mechanism geometry wasn’t adequately documented.


Since the USS Cairo iron tiller(Photo 16) was recovered with the USS Cairo and a photograph of the USS DeKalb(Photo 17) locates the bitts, our stern deck reconstruction utilizes these two features to locate the remaining elements to establish rudder travel which was reportedly inadequate in any event.

 National Park Service (NPS) drawing dated 1967 for the USS Cairo (Photo 18) depicts a short tiller (Colored orange to which we have appended its actual length in green) and its resulting geometry.


Our reconstruction geometry is over-laid in red upon the NPS drawing dated 1981 of the USS Cairo (Photo 19) and depicts the maximum rudder travel achievable using the recovered tiller length and will remain the basis for our USS St. Louis model (Photo 20).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

USS St. Louis Ironclad Project Update 31 December 2018
We continue to make great progress on this project but I can't say the same for maintaining the inputs to this build log. Attached are a few new photographs and I will try to update the accompanying text soon.
 
Johnhoward

USS St. Louis Ironclad Project update for May 2018:
The first 3 photos show Bill's progression from the joggle strip, thru planking for the starboard side of the gun deck to its completion this month. Decking on the port side will be limited to that required to support the the main armament cannon barrels, carriages and load crews. At least one cannon will be displayed having been rolled back from its gun port and in the process of being reloaded. The next series of photos represent progress this month on fabrication of our "Doctor" Auxiliary Steam Engine which serves several functions including maintenance of safe boiler water levels. Since the actual "Doctor" was lost during recovery of the USS Cairo, its City Class sister ship USS St. Louis, our brass engine is based on drawings of a similar, but fancier, engine found in the US National Archive, modified by similar more realistic engines recovered with contemporary Civil War era Western River steamboats. The two large cylindrical units above the "Doctor" engine are heat exchangers which utilize main engine steam exhaust to pre-heat river water before pumping it to the boilers. The remaining steam is them either fed into the wheelhouse to keep the paddlewheel water from freezing in Winter, or is vented to the main stacks. A dry-fit of the "Doctor" and its adjacent manual start-up/bilge pump is shown in the main engine room to help us layout the required piping connections. Our "Doctor" engine model has its own  simulated steam cylinder with piston, flywheel, 4 water pumps and control valves, all linked to the "rocking beam" supported by its unique framework. Lastly, several more views of the gundeck near the bow casement provide a good idea of its eventual appearance.
 
johnhoward
 
 

USS St. Louis update for April 2018
Seven of our original 9 Shipcrafter build team gathered to commemorate our 3.5 year milestone on our City Class "USS St. Louis" Ironclad Project and the departure of Scott, third from the left, upon his retirement to Wisconsin.  Scott will continue support of the project, remotely in his original research capacity.
One of our main accomplishments this month was fabrication and successful dry-fit of the "Hog Chains" which span from the aft end of the wheelhouse on the port & starboard keels to the forward face of the boiler/firebox. The "chains" are actually a combination of cables, solid links and turnbuckles, modeled after those recovered with the USS "Cairo". They fit in a remarkably confined space within the hull structure, penetrate the roofs of the "Hurricane" deck houses, and are supported on four stanchions "footed" on the engine room floor.  Another dry-fit of the completed paddlewheel successfully resolved several minor issues. Tom displayed his initial brass machinings for each of the 5 different types of cannon barrels which will make up the 14 cannon carried on the USS St. Louis at the end of September 1862 which our model represents. 
Completed details of the "Hurricane Deck" were assembled to verify spacing with the new "Hog Chains". Initial sketches have been made for fabrication of our "Doctor" Auxiliary Steam Engine which was lost during the "USS Cairo" recovery. Materials are being gathered for this interesting mechanical contrivance. Bill has continued modeling of the  insulated steam distribution and exhaust system. Ten of the 13 wooden Naval cannon carriages were dry-fit at their gundeck stations. The 14th carriage, which will be brass, is for the 12-pdr Boat Howitzer and will be carried on the "Hurricane" deck.
 
johnhoward
 

In an attempt to bring this log up to date I will be adding progress photos for the USS St. Louis month by month since February 2018.
This is the remainder of our activity for February which primarily consisted of completion of our brass paddlewheel assembly, attachment of its paddle-boards, its axle saddle machining, the captain's quarters, cannon ammunition cases, and a few structural additions.
 
johnhoward

We have again temporarily removed the Hurricane deck and are cleaning up numerous details on the gun deck such as the stern bulwark rail, the Captain's Quarters, coal bunker door with sacked coal, the paddlewhee, axle pillow-block supports and framing of gun deck access hatches in preparation for gun deck planking and eventual reinstallation of the Hurricane Deck. We have also started installation of the 17 paddleboards (Buckets) on the paddlewheel and fabrication of the 2 main steam engines which will be shown in future photos.
 
johnhoward

Thanks very much Michael, stow that away as well.  
 
I had to look twice at the cabin paneling with the cushions in place; I thought it was the real 'McCoy' you were using as a reference, not your scale version.  That is impressive!
 
cheers
 
Pat

Michael - the computer keyboard reminds me how big your model is. I do like the opportunity for detail that it presents. I must consider building smaller ships at larger scale in future. 

Thanks for the tutorial on turning faux miniature screws, Michael. That spalted wood looks great! Also, the burgundy cushions look pretty nice as well.

Well now that we agree we all had hair we can move on. first for Pat the sequence for making the screw like pins

 


 



then mounted in the pin vice to cut the slot.
 
I spent the afternoon fitting the rails and stiles to the plan I used the shooting board a lot to trim pieces to length.

 

Then prepared some more salted maple for the bulkhead panels, some trimming still need to be done to bring the panels to the correct widths.
 

This is the material I picked up for the cushions.
 

 
And this is the way they will look with the buttons , these are cotton seat cushions from one of the garden railway carriages.
 

That's all for today.
 
Michael
 
 

Hi All, I had the pleasure of seeing this model 'in the flesh' today , and photos do not do it justice - the paint work is very rich and the model, as a whole, is going to be a very fine example.
 
Thanks for hosting me Steven.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Druxey thank you, yes I had hair in those days I was 19 years old.
Bob thanks for the link. I shall sort something out.
 
Michael

After watching your construction of the door hinges, Michael, I was holding my breath waiting to see whether you'd be able to fabricate operating latches to scale or have to "fake" them. Your Sherman tank answered that question!
 
        All from the Toplicht catalog: https://www.toplicht.de/en/shop/schloesser-riegel-und-verschluesse/moebelschloss/druckknopf-verschluesse/druckknopf-kastenschloss-buntbart   For those who are unaware of it, Toplicht is a chandlery firm in Hamburg, Germany, which carries what is probably the most extensive collection of ship and yacht products anywhere in the world. They are in many instances the only source of many traditional yacht and ship fittings left. Their nearly 500 page free catalog is full of photos and engineering drawings for all sorts of bits and pieces of "jewelry" and I'd nominate it for a "must have" in any scratch builder's reference library.  https://www.toplicht.de/en/catalog        

Gosh, weren't we young then! Lovely work for a young 'un, too.

Pat Thanks, I will draw up the sequence that I used, it might take a day or so.
Steve funny you should mention that, The very first model that I made when I came to Canada was a silver  plated model of a Sherman Tank that was used in the second world war that helped to liberate Holland I made it for the Sarcee Barack's Silver collection. it was a 1/72 scale model and the track actually worked there were 1571 parts that were made to complete this model. I folded a piece of paper with my name age address and that I made it, and placed it inside the model before it was delivered. 
 

I had forgotten about this until you mentioned the idea so yes I will do that perhaps in the charts locker.
 
Michael

Thank you All for your kind comments, and also to those who are following along quietly.
I spent the morning sorting out the forward and aft bulkheads for the dining area had to scratch my head a few times. This afternoon was spent prepping the materials for them. I have decided that the forward bulkhead will be made to include the sides of the seating areas, and will have a location tab at the edges to locate the forward ends of the side panels, the aft bulk head will form as parts of the cooking area and as there is no door they are smaller and will also have a location tab for the aft end of the side panels.
A couple of shot showing today's progress
 

 

 
Michael
 

13. The sails

I postponed it for as long as possible, but now I have to start to make sails. This model is already my second model waiting for sails. I will continue first with this gaff sail boat because the sails are less complicated than those for my Ostend shrimper. Nevertheless I will have learn operating my wife's sewing machine, so it will take some time and probably the progress of this log will slow down a bit. Anyway it will be more agreeable  to work in the warm kitchen than in my cold workshop in this winter time.

Today I made the paper patterns for the sails because this afternoon I will have the first lessons in stitching with the sewing machine by my wife.



I have first learn to stitch long straight lines on a piece of cloth. When that works I cut the foresail accordingly to the pattern and I'm going to work with the sewing machine. For this run I have to concentrate fully on my work and did not make any pictures of the production process but when I make the main sail I will make it up to you.
This evening the fore sail is sewed. There is still a lot to do at it, but I cannot resist to attach it to the model with the help of some pins.


 



Thank you to follow
Thank you for the likes
Thank you for the constructive comments
 
Till next week!

Hello Geert in looking at your gaff peak halliard if it were me i would spread the load a little wider like this
 

I think that it would lessen the possibility of straining the gaff , Just my own thought.
 
Michael

12.3.3 Rigging of the boom
The goose neck

The outer end of the boom

 
Thank you to follow
Thank you for the likes
Thank you for the constructive comments
 
Till next week!

12.3 Rigging of the mast
12.3.1 Standing rig
The mast is supported by three stays: One to the stem and two to the chain plates at the sides.

 

 

 
12.3.1 Running rig Top of the mast and gaff:

 
 
12.3.2 Running rig main sheet.