Mahuna

Hi Russ: Your Lugger is coming along very well - will be a good looking boat.

Thank you Kees!

Thanks Elia. It was great meeting you, and I hope you let me know when you're in the area again. Your recommendations on the sail making booklet and on the HAER drawings of the Lettie were great - I've been studying both. David's booklet on sail making has answered lots of my questions on how to rig Kathryn's sails. Looking forward to seeing progress on Arethusa.

Thanks Druxey Thanks JD, and welcome aboard. I got the suggestion for Corian from a very experienced modeler - works real well.

Thanks Russ. Corian is a great material for these small jigs for soldering. Thanks Patrick.

Part 35 – Forward Companionway Kathryn has a small hatch leading to the area that used to contain the forward berths, shown in the following photo. The HAER drawings show a metal ladder leading to the forward berths. This ladder (as well as the forward berths) no longer exists, but in keeping with the details shown in the HAER drawings, the ladder will be added to the model (since the berths already have been built). The ladder is 13.5” wide, and the distance between rungs is also 13.5”. The sides of the ladder were constructed using 1/8” x .024” brass strip stock. The rungs are made of 3/64” round stock. Preparing the ladder required a jig to ensure that the holes for the rungs were inline and properly spaced. A length of Corian was used for the jig. First a groove .015 deep and 1/8” wide was milled in the Corian. The brass strip was inserted into this groove, and was held in place by miniature machinist clamps. Holes were drilled .042” apart. A pilot hole was first drilled using a centering drill – this prevented the drill from wandering on the hard brass surface. The hole was then fully bored using a #55 drill. Once the sides were drilled, the jig was developed further. Two parallel tracks were cut into the jig using a .025 end mill. The tracks are .050” deep and .042” apart. The depth allowed the ladder sides to sit vertically in the tracks, while still exposing most of the holes for the rungs. Tracks for the rungs were milled perpendicular to the side tracks using a .046 end mill. These tracks were milled .020” deep and .042” apart. The following photos show the jig ready for the ladder components and in use. After soldering the ladder sides were shaped using files and diamond bits on the rotary tool, and the ends of the rungs were trimmed using the same tools. After cleanup with 400 grit wet/dry paper and steel wool the ladder was blackened using JAX Brown-Black. This is a new product I had decided to try out. The finish is more of a warm black (leaning towards brown) rather than the cool black (leaning towards blue) provided by JAX Pewter Black. The difference doesn’t show well in the photos, but in real life it’s noticeable. As can be seen in the last photo, the hatch coamings were made off the model, and the hatch lid is deeper than the other hatch covers and is natural rather than painted. The hatch coaming was glued in place, and the ladder was then epoxied in place. The lid on the actual Kathryn is hinged, but I decided to make it a press fit on the model. I still haven’t started the planning for the cabin yet. I may decide to do some other work first. I hope to make that decision in the next few days, and will cover that in the next post.

Hi Rich - hmmm ... isn't that the general idea? Hi Druxey, and welcome back! Yup - been getting some work done after my own trips.

Beautiful work, Ed. It must take patience and dexterity to get this level of detail.

Thanks Brian. It was good to see you yesterday, and I hope I'll be seeing some progress on your build(s) soon. Thanks Patrick. It's great to get the hull mostly finished so we can see what she'll look like, and I have to say I'm pleased with it so far.

Hi Patrick Your work at this scale continues to amaze! I do like the photos of your fleet. They're every bit as good as most larger models. Great work.

Part 34 – Headrails, King Plank, Accent Stripe The components for the headrails were painted at the same time as the hull was painted, so installation was simply a matter of gluing and clamping. Kathryn’s headrails are bolted to the hull, and the bolt heads are painted to match the hull. Work-hardened copper wire was used as functional bolts to provide additional security for the headrails. These bolts will be painted to match the hull. The king plank consists of two planks that are 16.5” wide and 2.5” thick (the rest of the deck planks are 1.75” thick). The Sampson post and the mast both pass through the king plank. On the model, the king plank is made of four separate pieces. First, the two pieces that are forward of the Sampson post were fitted, butting the Sampson post. Then the aft two pieces were notched to fit around the Sampson post and were butted against the forward hatch. The aft pieces were marked and cut for the hexagonal opening for the mast. In the post on painting the model I mentioned that I was awaiting some 1/32” red pinstripe tape that would be used for the narrow stripe at the bottom edge of the wale. This tape arrived, but I didn’t like the effect it provided. This narrow stripe is actually a bead cut into the bottom edge of the wale. I was able to find .030” quarter-round styrene strips, which would be much more realistic. The styrene strips were held onto a board using 2-sided tape and were brush-painted a crimson color. The quarter-round strip was glued to the hull using Ambroid glue applied sparingly with the tip of a needle. The hatch coamings and the king plank were then painted white, and the base of the mast and the bolt heads on the headrail were also painted white. The following photos show Kathryn with the mast and bowsprit temporarily installed. One or two more small items can be completed before working on the cabin and deck planking. Thanks for the ‘Likes’, and for following the build log.

Thanks Popeye. Sometimes it's hard to keep my patience during the prep work. Thanks Peter. Seeing the great work you've done on your models inspired me (but I'm a long way from 'museum quality' work!).

Great work Patrick. I can't imagine how you sand such small items. Do you have miniature sanding sticks?

Thanks Patrick. I'm fairly pleased with the results. There's a little touch-up required, but I'll wait on that.

Thanks Russ. I have a friend who is a very good modeler and who specializes in the working craft of the Chesapeake. These are the colors he recommended.

The photography in the book "Working Skipjacks of Deal Island" is all black and white. This photo of Kathryn during the recent rebuild shows the color of the paneling inside the cabin, and also shows the frames and ceiling planks left natural. When I visited the Kathryn after the rebuild the interior planking that I was able to see was all natural, and I think I remember the cabin deck and settees being grey. The exterior colors I'm using are Liquitex acrylics. The white is Titanium White and the bottom color is Burnt Sienna. The black stripe is Mars Black. These paints will develop a shine after a few coats, so I mix Liquitex Matte Medium into the paint to prevent too much sheen.

Part 33 – Painting the Hull The preparation for painting took longer than the actual painting, which makes sense when you consider that the quality of the end result is really based on the quality of the item to be painted. Preparation consisted of priming the hull, which shows a lot of the imperfections, and then addressing the imperfections by sanding down the high areas and filling in any depressions that may exist. I used a white model primer since the hull will be mostly white, and Liquitex Modeling Paste (very much like a thick gesso) as a filler. After letting the modeling paste dry completely it can be scraped (I used a single-sided razor blade) and sanded. I used wet and dry sandpaper (mostly left dry) up to 400 grit. The top of Kathryn was completely masked, leaving the waterway and log rails unmasked since these need to be painted. I used an airbrush for all of the top and bottom painting. The following photo shows the painting setup. The entire sides of Kathryn were painted white and left to dry for over 24 hours before masking at the waterline. While the white was available the small parts were also painted white. These were mounted on a fiberboard using two-sided tape to keep them from being blown around by the airbrush. The paints I used were Liquitex Titanium White for all white areas and Liquitex Burnt Sienna for the hull bottom. The paint was diluted with Liquitex Airbrush Medium. Since Liquitex acrylics tend to develop a sheen I also mixed in a generous amount of Liquitex Matte Medium to reduce the sheen. Kathryn has a narrow black stripe between the sides and bottom. After completing the airbrushing of both areas and removing the original masking tape I ran 1/16” chart tape where the black stripe would be (at the top edge of the hull bottom color), then masked above and below the chart tape. After removing the chart tape I painted the black stripe using Liquitex Mars Black with a small artist’s brush. The following photos show Kathryn after painting. A part of the bowsprit and most of the mast are left natural, as covered in a previous post. I used Minwax Colonial Maple stain on castello to achieve the color needed for these areas, and finished that with Polyurethane. Kathryn has a very narrow red stripe under the bends (wale). This is not something I feel that I can achieve through painting, so I’ve ordered some 1/32” red pinstriping tape. Once that arrives and is installed the preparation of the hull will be completed. The next major construction item is the cabin. This will take some planning and experimenting, and there are a few more small pieces of construction still ahead before the deck can be planked. Thanks everyone, and Happy Modeling!

Sure, Rich - I'll tell him what I'm using.

Thanks Patrick. It's only white primer, but it did change the look. I think I'll be painting the hull for a while yet.

Hi Elia, and thank you! I've made 3 masts and 5 bowsprits so far, and I think the final versions will work. The stain issue was only the latest problem with them. I assume your work in the Phoenix area is finished by now. Let me know if you ever get back out to Arizona - I'd still like to get together with you.

Part 32 – Preparing to Paint I’ve learned a few hard lessons since the last post – mostly having to do with thinking steps through and being sure of how things will work. The bowsprit will be painted white, but there’s an area at the forward end that is left varnished. The mast is also mostly varnished – only the area within a few inches of the deck is painted white. Since the madrone wood that I used for the bowsprit and mast is very white I needed to find an appropriate stain to match the varnished areas of the mast and bowsprit. I tried some stains on a scrap piece of the same wood, and unfortunately found that this wood didn’t take the stain properly – the stain wound up very splotchy, even after using a stain prep to condition the wood. I tested some stain on a piece of castello and it was very satisfactory, so I decided to make another mast and bowsprit out of castello. This was work that could have been avoided if I had thought through the staining before making the mast and bowsprit. Since the next major step in building Kathryn is to paint the hull, there were a few minor items I needed to finish. The first of these is the scuppers. Skipjacks have very basic scuppers. These essentially are a few holes drilled through the waterway, as in the following photo of one of Kathryn’s scuppers. There are 4 scuppers on each side. I marked the scupper locations, made a pilot hole using a miniature awl, then drilled the scuppers from inside. There’s a small trench in the waterway leading to the scupper. I used a small diamond flame in a rotary tool to shape these trenches. The following photo shows the scuppers from the outside of the model. Kathryn has a small metal strip on the outside of the hull guards, presumably to provide additional protection from scuffing. This strip can be seen in the following photo. I used a piece of half-round styrene to simulate this metal strip, using CA to glue the strip to the guard. Since the hull would be painted in an upside-down position, I made a jig to hold the model for painting. The forward post goes through the hole for the mast, and the square block on the rear post keeps the model in a relatively secure position. Both devices have some 1/16" thick rubber glued to the area that will touch the model, as cushioning. The deck beams were covered with masking tape to keep stray paint from the interior. A first coat of primer was applied. I’ll be spending some time fixing the imperfections that show up from the primer before proceeding with the actual painting.

Hi Patrick - I'm glad you're back! It looks like you've made some real progress. The tenders really are tiny, but they look good already.

Beautiful, Ed. How did you transfer the shape of the cleats to the brass plate? Did you paste the drawing to the plate, or simply scribe the shape of the cleats onto the plate, or some other way?

Thanks Carl. We're looking forward to the 30+ degree difference! Thanks Druxey. and Ed I'm very comfortable with the rotary tool, having used it for years in bird carving. Of course, I wouldn't try this with a Dremel - my rotary tool is a higher quality (used by jewelers) and is controlled by a foot pedal and is very smooth running. Hi Ron. I'm glad you mentioned this. I was under the impression that there should be a slight downward bend to the bowsprit, and I actually made one but it just didn't look right. I spent a lot of time with the plans and photos and finally realized it should be straight. I have some photos of Kathryn taken during the HAER survey and they show the straight bowsprit. If the bowsprit had been changed it would have been during the 1950's rebuild. Thanks Ed. All of the metalwork on Kathryn will be quite a challenge and I'm looking forward to it. I'm trying to get all of the wood construction completed before I start on it. I'm hoping to see the Kathryn on a trip east in October so I can get a lot more photos. I'll need to be careful on replicating what I see since some of the components, especially related to the shrouds, have changed since the HAER survey. Luckily I have a friend who knows the former setup really well and can help me decide what each component should be.

Part 31 – The Bowsprit Kathryn’s bowsprit is 20 feet long, and has straight sides (and top and bottom) for most of its length. Forward of the stem it is shaped as an octagonal, even though not all sides are equal. The final 5 forward-most feet of the bowsprit are rounded and tapered from 10 inches to 7 inches. The final 6 inches are reduced to 4.5” diameter and rounded at the end. This is where the bowsprit band will sit. The construction of the bowsprit started with shaping the square stock to the overall dimensions. Then a compass was used to mark the boundaries of the cuts for the octagonal shapes. A rotary tool was used to make the diagonal cuts to roughly form the octagonal shapes. Files were used to clean up these shapes. A rounded scraper, followed by sandpaper, was used to form the rounded front of the bowsprit. Chart tape was then wrapped around the end of the bowsprit to indicate the beginning of the reduced end of the bowsprit, and a stop cut was made with a hobby knife along the boundary of the tape. The end of the bowsprit was then reduced to achieve the diameter that would fit within the bowsprit band, using the knife and files. A brass tube that would be used for the band was used to check the diameter during shaping. The bowsprit has ‘walking boards’ along the top edge, on each side of the bowsprit. These were fitted sometime after initial construction, and were present during the HAER survey (and are present today). These are fairly small, and I used 3/64 stock to make them. I started by spot-gluing two pieces of stock together, using school glue. This allowed me to shape both walking boards at the same time. Unfortunately, I didn’t take photos during the shaping process, but the following photo shows the tools used. After constructing and attaching the walking boards, I realized that two holes needed to be drilled through the bowsprit to accommodate the forestay (which passes through the bowsprit) and an eyebolt for the jib halyard, as shown in the following photo of Kathryn. This would have been much easier if the drilling was done before any shaping of the bowsprit, but since the bowsprit still had flat vertical sides it didn’t present a major problem. The bowsprit was placed in the milling vise, and was checked for proper alignment. The end of the bowsprit that was to be drilled was supported so that the pressure of drilling did not cause the bowsprit to bend. Since the area to be drilled was round, a centering drill was used to start the hole. And the hole was then drilled through the bowsprit. The bowsprit will be painted before any hardware is installed on it, and will not be permanently installed until a later stage. The following photo shows the bowsprit temporarily installed. We’ll be leaving on a short road trip to California tomorrow to escape the heat for a few days. When we return it will be time to address the permanent mounting of Kathryn, and then to begin the process of painting the hull. Hope everyone is well and enjoying the summer - thanks for the comments and the 'LIKE's!