Mahuna

Excellent ideas and workmanship, Wefalk - thanks for sharing this!

Hi Ed: The exchange of ideas and methods is one of the things I appreciate about MSW. I'm looking forward to seeing your solution.

Thanks Peter. I think the approach will work. It will be a while before I need the actual turnbuckles, so I'm working on other things now.

Hi Peter. Yes, your illustration is what I plan, except that instead of a small washer there is a plug soldered on the end of the swivel to secure it inside the turnbuckle. Jerry - thanks for those links. It appears that the turnbuckles from Model Yacht Fittings are also made with a swivel instead of LH thread (the hook end). This photo appears to be their smallest size, which would be too big on the Kathryn.

Hi Mark: I do have a set of jewelers taps and dies, so threading is really not an issue. The problem is that I only have right-hand threading capability and for the turnbuckles to actually work one end needs to be left-hand thread. This is the reason why I'm planning on using a swivel at that end. This will allow me to tension the shrouds using the turnbuckles. Since the shrouds will be made of wire (Kathryn's shrouds are steel wire) I'm a little concerned about adjusting the tension without using the turnbuckles.

Very nice turnbuckle, John - thanks for sharing it. I just took a look at your Buyboat - very nice! You have a real nice website as well - I plan to spend some time looking at your other models.

Thanks Rich.

Thanks for the link, Druxey. You're right - they are quite expensive. I'll stay with the swivel idea.

The smallest LH taps I've been able to find are 0-80, but at 3/64" I think that's too big for the turnbuckles. The swivel seems to work OK if I can figure out a way to add a ring at the end after the rod has been inserted into the turnbuckle.

Part 44 – Turnbuckles There hasn’t been too much progress on Kathryn lately. Holidays, other activities, and some inertia have kept me from getting much modeling done. There is a lot of planning and experimenting needed before moving on to the next stages. One key item is turnbuckles. Since the shrouds will be made from wire, some working turnbuckles need to be created to allow tensioning the shrouds. The turnbuckle sizes require the use of jewelers taps and dies for threading. Since these tools only come in right-hand thread, the end that would normally have a left-hand thread will have a swivel arrangement instead. I started by making the turnbuckle body from 3/32" square brass bar stock. After breaking some taps, drill bits, and a fairly expensive small end mill, I decided to make the turnbuckle body from wood. The first turnbuckle I made is 3/8” long – 1 foot at 1:32. A 3/32” square piece of castello 3/8” long was held in the lathe using a 4-jaw chuck. The first operation was facing the end of the piece. A small centering drill bit was then used to drill a pilot hole. A #69 drill bit was then drilled into the end of the wood. This hole would later be threaded to take a 1/32” threaded brass rod. The end of the turnbuckle body was then rounded to a depth of .050” These operations were repeated at the other end of the turnbuckle body, with the final hole drilled with a #72 drill. This would provide clearance for a smooth (unthreaded) piece of copper wire that will act as a swivel. A small knob on the end of the wire will prevent the wire from pulling out of the turnbuckle. The slot in the turnbuckle body was cut with a .045” cylindrical carbide cutter on the milling machine. Prior to cutting this slot the milling vise was indicated to ensure that the slot was properly cut. Any slight variation off center would be very noticeable at this scale. The end of the turnbuckle that was sized for the 1/32” brass bar was threaded. A piece of 1/32” round brass bar was also threaded. The following photo shows the finished turnbuckle body, still unpainted. The turnbuckle body was painted using a steel color ModelMaster acrylic paint. The final turnbuckle appeared too thick when compared to photos of the real Kathryn, so the process was repeated using 5/64 wood stock. The following photo shows the comparison of the two turnbuckles. These turnbuckles are ‘prototypes’ for the final turnbuckles, so I didn’t spend much time in the painting step. Prototypes will also be developed for the various shackles, clevis ends for some of the turnbuckles, and other small items. There is also quite a bit of planning required for the stages still remaining, so progress will be slow for a while yet. Thanks everyone!

Excellent block-making tutorial, Ed - thanks! I imagine a small end mill could be used instead of the scraper to make the strapping groove.

Looks great at this stage, Patrick. I'm sure she'll be gorgeous when you're finally finished.

Thanks Carl. The soldering device is actually a resistance soldering unit. Works great for the size of components we deal with in modeling. I decided to use CA to secure the sleeve since there wouldn't be any stress on it.

Thanks Patrick. The work is starting to get a little more complex, so I'll be going slowly.

Part 43 – Rudder Kathryn has a stainless steel inboard rudder today, and this rudder was already in place during the time of the HAER survey. The construction of the rudder and its hardware is different from what is normally seen with traditional rudders, as can be seen from the following HAER drawing. The rudder rests on a bracket attached to the bottom of the keel. Just above that bracket there appears to be a fairly typical gudgeon, and at the top of the rudder there appears to be a bracket that is attached to the rudder post. Aft of that bracket is an unusual configuration on the face of the rudder. I’ve learned that this is actually a ‘sacrificial anode’, generally called a ‘zinc’. From Chemistry LibreTexts: When metal surfaces come into contact with electrolytes, they undergo an electrochemical reaction known as corrosion. Metal in seawater is one such example with the iron metal coming into contact with electrolytes. Under normal circumstances, the iron metal would react with the electrolytes and begin to corrode, growing weaker in structure and disintegrating. The addition of zinc, a sacrificial anode, would prevent the iron metal from "corroding". According to the table of Standard Reduction Potentials, the standard reduction potential of zinc is about -0.76 volts. The standard reduction potential of iron is about -0.44 volts. This difference in reduction potential means that Zinc would oxidize much faster than iron would. In fact, zinc would oxidize completely before iron would begin to react. Although the actual rudder is stainless steel, the rudder for the model is made from wood. The bottom bracket was made by cutting the shape from a flat piece of brass bar stock, and then finishing the shape using files. The bracket was then annealed to allow bending, and was bent around a piece of ¼” square brass bar. A vertical post on the bracket fits into a matching piece at the bottom of the rudder. A hole for this post was drilled using the Sensitive Drilling Attachment. The post (a 1/32” rod) was then soldered to the bracket. And a sleeve made from 3/64” tubing was then attached to the post using CA glue. This sleeve serves as a ‘stop’ to keep the rudder from bottoming out on the bracket. The ‘zinc’ was made from brass and then was finished with Flemish Black to impart a silver color. In actual practice the ‘zinc’ would not have been coated. The gudgeon was fabricated from a 1/8 x .025 brass strip, and the pin was soldered into place. The finished rudder was installed. The steering gear is housed in a wooden box aft of the cabin. A thick piece of stock was used for the ends of the steering box to allow a secure installation of the steering wheel. Since the wheel is set at a slight angle, the top of the forward face was cut to that angle, and the hole for the steering wheel’s shaft was drilled perpendicular to that face using the Tilting Angle table on the mill. The sides and ends of the steering box were glued up using the magnetic squaring jig. The top of the steering box was made to fit. The top was then planked and the body of the box was painted. In the following photo the finished box was set in place but not permanently attached. This will wait until the ship’s wheel has been fabricated to ensure that there is enough clearance for the cabin doors. Most, if not all, of the wood construction is now completed. There is quite a bit of complicated (for me) metalwork ahead, and I will need to spend some time planning the next steps. Thanks everyone for following, and for the ‘Likes’ and comments.

The detail on YA continues to amaze me, Ed. Excellent work!

Thanks, Rich. Welcome back! We didn't have a meeting - I came down with a little bug.

Part 42 – Cabin Interior After building the structure of the cabin and doghouse, the interior of the cabin still needed to be fitted out. During the time of the HAER survey, Kathryn’s cabin contained a stove, electrical boxes, a fuse box, and other equipment in a fairly well-ordered arrangement, as seen in the following photos. Today, however, the cabin interior appears to have been neglected, and is no longer used for overnight living arrangements. Since the model is being built to reflect Kathryn’s status as of the HAER survey, some fitting out of the cabin was needed. The first item was the construction of the low benches, called settees, along the port, starboard, and aft walls of the cabin. The construction approach for settees in the model was simplified. The tops were cut and shaped to the proper dimensions, while the sides that would show consisted of thick pieces of wood that eliminate the need for framing. The settees were constructed prior to installation. The settees were painted while outside the model, and were then installed. The companionway (ladder) reaches the top of the aft settee. Before the ladder could be installed, however, the aft wall of the cabin needed to be completed. The framing of the door was installed, and a watertight sill at the threshold was also installed. Kathryn’s ladder has curved sides and is relatively short. The first step in making the ladder was to mill two slots for the treads in a piece of stock. The drawing of the ladder sides was glued to the milled stock, making sure treads in the drawing were aligned with the milled slots. The ladder sides were then cut out and trimmed. Assembling and gluing the ladder was straightforward. After painting, the ladder was installed. Two narrow columns, simulating the cabin’s cabinets, were faced using the cabin’s paneling and were installed. The construction of the cabin is now mostly completed. The remaining cabin-related work is the installation of the cabin doors, which will be completed at a later step. Thanks everyone.

Thanks Brian. Apart from the obvious error, I'm pleased with the progress.

Thanks Popeye. The hatch has been added to “lessons learned” - and that list is getting pretty long!

Thanks Patrick. It's good to be back and making wood dust again.

Part 41 – The Cabin Hi Everyone It has been quite a while since my last post. Most of the time was occupied by a long vacation trip that included Michigan, Ontario Province in Canada, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, down through Maryland and ending in Virginia – lots of driving!. During the trip we got to see relatives, old friends, and some new friends. A stop in Maryland allowed a visit to the real Skipjack Kathryn, where I was able to take some photos of the details that will be part of the model work yet to be done. Since returning from the trip I’ve been working on Kathryn’s cabin. Kathryn’s cabin interior includes windows in each side wall and in the forward wall. It also includes openings in the side walls and the aft wall for access to the berths that were previously constructed under the deck beams. The following are two photos from the HAER files showing the cabin interior. Kathryn’s cabin has a ‘doghouse’ – a small structure with larger windows – presumably to add light and a little more headroom in the cabin. This doghouse was added to the cabin after the original build but before the HAER survey. After a bit of time attempting to develop a plan for framing out the cabin and constructing the cabin’s interior and exterior walls, benches, and cabinets, I decided that this approach would probably be more difficult than I wanted to attempt. Instead, I developed an approach that would provide the realistic appearance and would be within my capabilities. The model’s cabin walls consist of a basswood form with the openings for the windows and the berth openings. This form is sandwiched by paneling on the interior and planking on the exterior, and is the thickness of the studs that would have been used in framing. The following photo shows the form and the paneling for the starboard wall. The paneling is a piece of scribed deck planking stained with Minwax Sedona Red. After the openings for the windows and berth access were cut, a piece of transparency film was glued over the window opening in the interior face of the cabin form. This simulates the glass of the window. The openings in the paneling were framed out. The panels were then glued to the form. The window in the exterior face of the assembly was then framed out with framing pieces that had been pre-painted. The exterior face of the assembly was planked down to the level of the deck. When this work was completed for all cabin walls, the walls were then glued in place. Molding was installed around the base of the cabin. The following photo shows the interior of the cabin. The cabin deck still needs to be painted, and the settees and cabinets need to be installed. A short companionway ladder will lead from the main deck down to the cabin deck. At this point I need to point out an error I had made in Kathryn’s construction: the cabin opening and the aft hatch are too close together. There should be about 3/8” space between them. This resulted from a drafting error that I hadn’t picked up until too late. I thought about doing some surgery on the deck to move the hatch forward, but the stanchion under the deck beam that supports the forward hatch coaming prevented this. So the model will remain as it is, with the cabin too close to the hatch. The roof of the cabin has an opening for the doghouse mentioned above, and has a camber that is the same as the deck camber. Since the roof of the model needs to be removable in order to view the cabin’s interior, a form was developed that would provide a snug fit to the cabin opening. Another form in the outside dimensions of the cabin roof was glued to the first form, as shown in the following photo. The roof camber was then shaped using a sanding drum on a Foredom flex shaft tool. Each wall of the doghouse would be of two-piece construction, with the sides overlapping as in the following photo of the plans for the doghouse. The dotted lines on each wall indicate tabs that would be left on the interior piece of the wall to allow accurate mounting. Since the openings in the two pieces of each wall need to be identical, the pieces were first glued together so that they could be shaped together. In the above photo, the four pieces for both side walls are all glued together so that the side walls would be identical. The drawing of each wall was glued to the appropriate set of wall pieces. The walls were cut out on the scroll saw and final shaping was performed using the sanding drum and small files. The wall pieces were separated in an acetone bath. In the above photo it can be seen that marks were made on the bottom of the pieces prior to separation – this allows the pieces to be properly aligned. The inner piece of each wall had a piece of transparency film glued to it to simulate window glass. The outer piece of each wall was trimmed to remove the tab from the drawing. The ends of each wall were trimmed where appropriate to allow the overlapped construction mentioned above, and each wall was then assembled. The following photo shows a side wall and the aft wall shaped and assembled. The front and side walls were glued together in a magnetic squaring jig before the doghouse was glued to the cabin roof. The roof of the doghouse and the cabin roof were planked and shaped, and then were painted. The following photos show the cabin roof and doghouse. The cabin interior needs to be completed, and doors need to be added to the aft wall of the cabin. The following photo shows the current state of the model. Thanks everyone! It’s good to be back and making some progress on Kathryn.

Great progress Ed. Your posts are a great tutorial on rigging the model. I believe the techniques you show can be used on any rig.

Hi Patrick The photo sequence really shows how all the detail comes together - I love it! Wonderful work.

Hi Ed - I tried to send you a PM but you're 'not receiving messages' - maybe a full mail box?