capnharv2

Slow, but steady progress still happening.
 
Worked on a bit more deck furniture. I also have some of the other deck boxes built but not fully painted yet. I think have three or four more to install.
 

The fuzzies you see were cleaned up before installation.

 
And as she sits today. Still needs a bit of touchup on the black on the hull to cover up the yellow smudges. I will most likely be painting the windows onto the various furniture as  I did on the forward most one. I need to make some templates first. I'm still unsure if I'm going to install the cannons since they are so out of scale. I may just close the ports and call it done.
 

There isn't a huge amount of work left before the deck is fully furnished. Unfortunately I'm only working on her at best a couple hours a week.
 
A couple of older pics as well. These were taken before I worked on cleaning up the hull paint. I switched the black to a different acrylic and it made a HUGE difference in the quality.

here's the second part

I couldn't find the side pieces for the fore and aft gun emplacements anywhere in the kit, so I made them from some of the spare printed card. Only later did I discover that they weren't necessary as they are completely covered by the gun mounts - ah well :
 

 
I've finished all the side panels for the two 2nd Deck sections. I started gluing them on from the middle to lessen the chances of finishing up short on one end :



 
There are four curved Bulkheads inside the sections where the guns will be fitted. It was a bit of a puzzle working out how to make them, but I've had success . I've discovered a rather good and easy way to roll round pieces. I use a piece of very high-density foam and an Xacto knife handle. It's a lot easier than using my left index finger like I did before :

 
The tops of these pieces are on an angle. The little extensions should help in supporting them :


 
  Danny

Thanks for the likes and comments...
 
It's been too long since this was updated... so this is a short update about a pesky, self-induced problem.
 
Between doing things around the house and yard, numerous medical visits for both Janet and myself and trying to sort my brain out and what's what, I've been pounding my head over a problem.   If we go way back to cutting out the frames, I put some "tits" on the frames to allow for positive placement of the deck clamps (I think that's right... brain fart).  But.. I've forgot how I was going to deal with them when I did the inner hull planking.   My bad... and my notes are no help.   
 
Here's one frame.. those "tits" are highlighted by the red arrows.

 
After much angst, occasionally thinking of just burning her in the stocks, I started to hand sand them with a thin piece of scrap sanding stick, I punted.   The sanding stick was taking forever and I wasn't pleased with the lack of control and also damage from my fat fingers.   
 
Here's the area I was dealing with... you can see a couple of the offending pieces highlighted in red.

 
What I finally came up with is the below tool..  a felt buffing piece with some sticky-back sandpaper attached. I'm using my mini engraving tool as it's small, lightweight, and the lowest speed is a good 3000 RPM less than a Dremel.   It seems to be doing the job.   Once I've got the sanding done, I'll finish the planking.
 

 
Anyway, I'm still at this and hope to have another update as soon as time permits.    

Well if you find your log on the bottom of the 3rd page. It is clear you have fallen behind on your posting. So here is my latest update.
 
First off a quick bit if info. This may be obvious to everyone else but just in case. I will share. I was tracing the shape of the Cap rail onto a sheet of basswood. It is very easy to get the outside dimensions but how do you get the inside? Well you could spend a lot of frustrating time with a set of French Curves like I did. Or you could use the handy tool pictured below. Set the width to be the desire 1/4" and trace it out. 
 
I should also mention I am pretty happy with my Molding. Both on the stern and the Port side. Starboard is in the works.
 
Enjoy!
 
Next Saturday is my deadline! the last Cap rail will go on and there is some painting to do. I guess there will be no deck before Veterans day. I should note that I painted the Hull below the waterline. This is just a substitute until I get the cooper plates on.
 
 

Thanks, everyone, for this help with the wing transom knees. 
I have completed the gundeck waterways, ready for installation. I have pondered whether I can get these glued and clamped within the 5 minute "open time" for Titebond Original glue. I consulted with the ship cat, and she agrees that it would be risky. So a trip to the store to find some Titebond III, with an "open time" of 10 minutes. Good thing to have a smart ship cat.
 
Mark

Ed, never apologize for your books.  They are bibles for many of us.
 
The covering boards and bill boards are an attempt to prevent injury to the hull and chain plates while hoisting the anchor.  Both of these structures are designed to be easily replaced.  On the Swan class the lining overlaps the main wale.  There are three of them and they are attached with nails whose heads stand proud for easier removal (I think).  There is a decorative groove near the lateral edges.  In order to get a smooth run for the groove, I made the lining off the model, gluing the the boards together on a piece of paper for extra support.  Then I cut the groove.  I removed them from the paper and glued and nailed them to the model.  The lower two boards required bending in two planes to fit the wale tightly.  After listening to everyone's advice I decided to paint them.  I found the appearance of the bright wood garish against the black wale and decided any commanding officer would feel the same way.  There is a molded platform on top of the lining is wide enough to allow a man to stand on it.  Access would be through the gun port.
 
  
 

 

 
The bill board has two vertical stanchions to which the boards are attached.  
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Ken:
In case you want to do a model for the son-in-law of a smaller "container ship" here's a prototype photo.
Kurt

Added details to the various decks and then decided to apply the first working color coat of paint. Still no reply from Tom's Modelworks. Does anyone have a phone number for them? 
 
The tower will now be set aside to allow paint to set and wait for pictures of more details from Evan once in dry-dock. Here are some views.
 

 

 

 

 
Now to prime, sand and paint the hatch covers.
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 246 – Main Topmast Backstays
 
The main topmast backstays are exactly like their foremast counterparts – two pairs of 10 ½" lines looped over the topmast head and secured to the channels with deadeyes by 5" lanyards.  The alligator clamp holding one of the 16" backstay deadeyes in the first picture was very useful when tying the throat seizing and in setting the deadeye height.
 

 
The throat seizing is being tied in the next picture.
 

 
The two round seizings above the throat were made with a series of clove hitches.  The easiest way that I have found to tie each hitch on these and on the ratline knots is shown below.
 

 
After tying an overhand knot one one leg of the stay the tweezers are placed through the loop in the line that is passed behind the stay. The tweezers are then used to grip the end and pull it through to form the hitch.  This process goes very fast and yields a tight seizing from the first hitch.  I am using three hitches on these. 
 
The threading up of the aft deadeye lanyard on this side is being completed in the next picture.
 

 
The first tensioning is started in the next picture.
 

 
The linen lanyards are pretty stiff, so pliers are used to grip each leg in turn, pulling up on the inboard legs and down on the outboard until all four stays have about equal tension and the forward stay is taut as well.  In the next picture the upper aft deadeye is being adjusted to make its face parallel with the stay.
 

 
This can be done by gripping all three of the outer lanyard legs and raising or lowering them until the deadeye faces are aligned. 
 
The next picture shows the four fairleads for these stays ready to be lashed on.
 

 
The lashing thread was first glued to the perimeter groove on the inboard side to make these easier to lash up.  The last picture shows the two starboard fairleads installed
 

 
The loose lashing ends will be trimmed later.  The lanyards will be wound around the stay later after a final tension adjustment in a week or so.
 
Ed

Slow going on the hatches and I have been working back and forth on the tower while waiting for glue to set on hatches. The tower is built up in deck layers that press fit together for now. Keeping them separate really helps as I add details as I discover them. Evan is taking the ship for a month in dry dock for refitting, upgrading, maintenance and paint for about a month. That is when he will be sending pictures of more details that are needed. Anyway here are some "In Progress" tower decks. So far the one big challenge was the NAV. deck and getting the windows angled forward using .0208" square framework. I also cut an access panel on the bottom of this deck to add the window glazing later on. The big challenge I see coming are the ladder ways and railing. I have checked Tom's Modelworks railing but they do not provide dimensions on height and stanchion distances. Has anyone out there used their 1:350 three rail railing?
 
Here are various "In Progress" views showing the tower stacked up and the individual decks. You can also see where I am at with the hatches, about 1/3 of the way complete.

 

 

 

 

 

 
Now back to hatches.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 245 – Main Topmast Stay
 
First some backtracking.  The first picture shows a sheer stave being lashed to the fore topmast shrouds. 

I initially omitted these but reconsidered after being prompted by a comment (Thanks, Scott) and checking through some sources.  This is a 1½" diameter wood stave as opposed to the served 1" iron poles on the lower shrouds. The excess ends and the loose lashing ends will be removed later.  This picture shows the starboard topmast backstays.  The next picture shows the 10½" backstays on both sides placed over the masthead.

 Before securing these at the channels below, I decided to install the 9" main topmast stay - for two reasons.  First, it will be easier to use the backstays with their lanyards for final tensioning rather than the forward stay that loops through shackled bullseyes on the deck.  Second, I have been anticipating a difficult task in fixing this stay at the lower end and wanted to get on with it.  In the next picture, the stay is looped over the masthead and being marked at the limits of the upper serving where the two legs will be seized.

 The lower ends of both legs of this stay are also served from abaft of the foremast, down through the bullseyes, and back up to the ends of the seized legs – as will be seen below.  The next picture shows one of the long lower legs being served.

The needle through the rope marls the end of the served length and will allow the thread to be pulled through the rope at that point to fix the end.  The next picture shows the lower ends being fastened to the shackled bullseyes.

Making these ends fast in the tight space was even more difficult than I expected, mainly because I did not allow sufficient diameter in the bullseye holes to easily pass the served line.  I spent almost an hour getting the port leg through the bullseye, including refitting the bullseye into the shackle several times.  The picture shows that side seized and the stay being pulled through the starboard bullseye.  After enlarging this bullseye hole at the start, this side took about a minute.  There is a moral to this story.
 
The next picture shows the completed lower end.  There are four seizings on each lower leg and simulated leathering in the area of the rubbing battens on the mast.

 Another concern I had about this arrangement was clearance between the four large, doubled lines and their fixings in the deck, as well as clearance around the mast.  This all worked out as planned - fortunately.  The next picture shows the upper end of the stay.
 
The next picture shows the full completed stay.
 
With this stay in place, belaying on the fore fife rails may proceed without having to thread these large lines through later, meaning that work can now begin on the yards of the foremast and their many running rigging lines.
 
But first, completion of the main topmast backstays that are temporarily clamped in the picture.
 
Ed

On a different subject. I borrowed something today.
Semper Fi.
To all who served my deepest gratitude and respect.
 
 

The presentation went extremely well and some are now more informed about the various aspects of modelling.
In working on the hatches I first make the sidewalls fitting snugly on the coaming using Midwest #8006 Basswood strips. Then I glue a slightly over-sized 1/32" hatch cover to the sidewall frame while in place and set a small steel block weight on top until the glue sets. This assures a flat cover index to the coaming; the glue while drying can distort the the cover if not weighted down. Each cover is marked on the inside with B(bow) and S(stern) and location P (port) and hatch number from bow. There is enough slight variation in size to make each cover unique.
 
 
 
I bounce back and forth between making hatch covers and the accommodation tower. The tower is being built with individual decks so down the road details can be added much easier than if the tower were one piece. Things like door hatches, ladder ways and rails.
Here is deck "A" which will index on the main deck; the small locator rectangle will have glue added to the center while indexed into the deck and the glue will stick to the main deck and release the deck when the glue is dry providing a tight fitting locator. This will be the foundation for the tower.
 

 
I used a wood strip spacer against the bay wall and masking tape for centering and gluing Deck "A" locator to the main deck.
 

 
Here is a view of the in progress build up of the tower so far. The challenge is adding the indexing locators of each deck to each other with a tight fit. The tower decks will separate from each other to add details later on. Here is a front view.
 
 
 
Here is a rear view showing various ladder way openings. The individual height of each deck is .375" 
 

 
Here is an overall view of where I am at so far. Many more hatches to go.
 

 
Now back to making hatches and decks.   Bring a whole new meaning to "Down the hatch!" 

The fore channel deadeyes are next.  There are seven 10" deadeyes and three 7" deadeyes.   I wanted a color contrast with the rest of the hull without wanting to stain the wood so they were made of cherry.  Next time I will use a finer grained wood and then stain them.  These were made on the lathe using a jig.  I ground the profile of each deadeye into opposite ends of a piece of sheet brass.  The pictures illustrate the process.  One of the keys to success is to have as little wood protruding from the chuck as possible to prevent deflection of the wood.
 

 

 

 

 
 
The larger deadeyes have a four-piece chain assembly: upper link, middle link, toe (or lower) link and preventer plate.  The smaller deadeyes do not have a preventer plate.  The larger deadeyes have links made of 1.25" iron and the smaller deadeyes have links of 1" iron.  The basis process was to form appropriate sized loops of brass wire and silver solder them.  These are then squeezed around the deadeye, leaving a lower loop through which the middle link will insert.  There is an inward angle on the lower loop but I did not form this until I was ready to install the entire assembly.  The toe link was made similarly, using a nail instead of the deadeye to form the upper curve.  The heights of the lower bolts of the toe links was taken directly from the plans.  The middle link was formed and threaded through the upper and toe links.  Using a heat sink on the two ends of the middle link, the middle link was also silver soldered.
 

 

 
The preventer plates were made from brass strip.  In real practice, these were forged from square bar stock.  To simulate this, I engraved a line down the middle of the plate.  You can just barely make this out in the plates shown below.  The top of the plate has a bend in it to compensate for the thickness of the toe link.  The location of the lower bolt was determined after the entire assembly was finished.
 

 
The final result after blackening and installation of the channel molding and the four preventer bolts.
 

 

 
The shankpainter chain attaches to the hull above the fore channel.  It's purpose is to secure the anchors.  I had some chain left over from a kit which had almost the correct size links (3/4" diameter).  
 

 
The spanshackle ring was made from brass rod.  The curved section was shaped first.  Then the rod was bend to form the side arms.  Finally, the length of the lower arms was determined and the ring was soldered closed after the ring bolt had been threaded on to the ring.  I chose not to add deck planking under the ring so it is installed elevated above the beam the thickness of the deck planking.
 

 

I have been doing a great deal of fussy work on the bay hatches coaming while waiting for more stock to come from Midwest.  A couple of hundred pieces cut and fitted on edge around the hatch openings. While doing this it came to me that given the tight tolerances needed that I better paint the interior and coaming before fabricating the hatch covers. So after priming, glazing and sanding and fussing I finally was able to paint a Gray in the holds, coaming  and bow mooring deck. At least this will be a working color coat for now and will have ample time to dry and set while waiting for the material to arrive on Wednesday. Tomorrow is my presentation to the local Rotary Club on Model Building which has also occupied some of my time as well.
Here is the first working coat of Gray.
 

 

 

 
Now back to the presentation for now and get ready to make hatches.
 

I have been working on cabin details since these will be installed before the deck. I build and installed the bench structure but have not cut out the swing portion of the seat (sitting loose in the photo). The space beneath the bench stores the battery and other gear that doesn't mind getting dirty or wet. Since this is effectively bilge space items will get wet so the battery was contained in a fiberglass enclosure.
 
I also made some plugs to see how they would look. I damages one on (temporary) installation and will have to make a new one.  I am continuing with the front seats and forward details. Will have pictures as I install them.
 
We returned to the Foss Waterway museum today so I got a picture of the boat with "daddy". A rice bag protects the hull and makes a fair working support.
 
Bench seat

Plugs

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
With daddy

Chine strakelets
One unique feature of this boat is the small strakelet along the chine. I formed the strakelets from 1/16 square boxwood by sanding down one side with a simple jig (1/16 square brass tubing glued to an aluminum sheet).
Strakelet section

 Strakelet comparison to full size boat. It still looks large in the pictures but is less pronounced to the eye.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Transom comparison also showing the transom box.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Transom box
The 17 foot Skippercraft has a transom box for the outboard motor. Like much on this boat, the box is dead simple, just have to mind the angles.

On to the interior details.
 

Thanks for the likes and comments everyone....
 
After almost 8 years of construction this should be my last update before finished pictures.  The first shot shows the hull with the dummy masts temporarily placed.They still need gammoning and cleats.  The black board will be her display base - Im waiting for the pedestals Im having machined for me here locally.  
 
The second shot shows the bowsprit - which still needs to be mounted, rigged and small parts added.  
 
The third shot are the toilets - for some reason the ones by the roundhouse proved very tricky and took me the better part of a week to get right - there are many angles here to take into account.
 
And finally the last parts - the anchors in very rough shape, the knightsheads and the boomkins which still need to be shaped.  I also am making some repairs to the rudder.   

Patrick and Nils here are the results, Michael welcome aboard. I finished up closing the gap both outside and inside. Then sanded and blended the surfaces using 120 grit dry and then 320 using a block and sanding diagonally across the curves. Primed once again to seal the exposed wood then sanded with 320 grit avoiding to break the primed surfaces back to wood. Then a final prime coat. This will be a working surface until the balance of the construction is completed. This will allow normal scuffing while handling, but will really allow the primer to harden and the wood to set with the primer. Wood does expand and contract over time so hopefully it will set by the time I am ready for the final painting.
Here are various views of where the hull is now. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Now to move on and start adding the bay hold openings with coaming, basically extending those that are in place on the bow section. Evan is on his way to the ship today and I am looking forward to getting pictures of many details as his schedule allows.
 

Thank you for your comments, always pleased to have them.  Regarding Resistance Soldering Druxey, yes it can be used for silver soldering, if you have the power, however it is more akin to spot welding, as if you move the carbon rod at those temperatures, you are very likely to get sparking - ie, spark erosion  - and in place of a joint you will likely have a hole.  Better to stick with a flame for silver soldering.  However if it is a ‘must have’, flux the parts, place a sliver of silver solder between the parts, hold them all together with the tip of the carbon rod, then switch on and hold you breath - it can be made to work.
 
For those of you interested in looking into the future - as I stated right at the start, this is number two of a trio of models of the Falls of Clyde, number one being the half model, that was used to furnish the shape of the Frames used here.
 
Number three is now well on it’s way. being the fully rigged, sails furled, water line model, that will also be featured in this Build Log, when it is completed.  For a quick - one month only - look see, check out the following link:
< http://www.wworkshop.net/Home_Page_/News%26_Comments.html >. 
I now have the full length -  width - and the hight of the subject, it is just the filling in-between that is going to take up the time.  The masts and three lower yards on each, are clothed in .010” brass sheet, as per the originals were made with wrought iron plate, however I have left inside the original hard wood sticks, for added strength and convenience.
 
Brass and nickel silver wire are used though out, with silver soldering used to create the parts, and soft solder to assemble them.  Why Nickel Silver wire?? - I happen to have a lot of it, and find it much stronger and harder than brass of the same size.  Small eyes formed in Nickel Silver wire are more likely to take the strain than brass or copper, which would likely open up, so would need for eachto  be silver soldered closed to avoid this,

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 238 – Head Sails Running Rigging
 
Each of the three stays described in Part 235 carries a triangular headsail.  Each of these sails is rigged with three lines of running rigging – a halyard to raise the head of the sail along the stay, a downhaul to bring the head down, and a double sheet to restrain the clew of the sail on the windward side.  When bent to the stay, the tack at the lower end of the sail is tied off low on the stay.  Then as the luff of the sail along the stay is secured with rope "hanks" the halyard is hauled up to raise the sail along the stay.  Both the halyard and the downhaul are shackled to the sails head cringle.  On the "unsailed" model, the halyard and downhaul eye splices are secured to the shackle, which is "stopped" to the lower end of the stay with a short length of rope as shown in the first picture at the base of the topmast stay.
 

 
In the picture the smaller downhaul is led down and through a single block back to its belaying point on the forecastle.  The next picture shows the lower ends of the inner and outer jib stays rigged in this manner.
 

 
The downhauls and halyards for the topmast staysail and outer jib lead back on the starboard side and those for the inner jib are rigged on the port side.  The next picture shows the three halyards where they pass through blocks hooked under the topmast trestletrees.
 

 
The lines lead down through fairleads in the top to the fife rails below.  The next picture shows the block arrangement at the topmast head, a double block on the starboard side for the staysail and outer jib halyards and a single block on the port side for the inner jib halyard.
 

 
The next picture shows the staysail and outer jib halyards belayed on the fore mast fife rail.
 

 
As will be seen in the next picture, the rope coils on the rails are quite small because the halyards are fully overhauled along the stay when there are no sails.
 

 
The next picture shows the belayed inner jib halyard on the port side.
 

 
Conversely, most of the downhauls must be coiled at the belaying points so sufficient line will be available to run up to the head of the sails when they are hauled up to the tops of the stays, so the three large coils in the next picture contain sufficient line for that.
 

 
Finally, the sheets – a pair for each sail.  These are shackled to eyebolts on either side of the forecastle, run through bullet blocks at the ends of a double pendant shackled to the clue of each sail, and belay on cleats on the forecastle breast beam.  One side or the other is used, with the lee side slack.  On the unsailed model, I have omitted the pendants and intend to coil each sheet adjacent to its eyebolt as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The picture shows the starboard sheet for the topmast staysail secured to its eyebolt.  When passed through the pendant block on this side, this line would be belayed on the innermost cleat on the breast beam. Eyebolts for the other head sails are arranged to the left on the rail, astride the mooring cleat.
 
Ed
 

JCFrankie, can't comment on the origin of spencer.
 
Tim, the belaying pins are homemade - as is everything except the larger chain and some nails.  They are brass lathe turnings using a special filing jig.  There are about 300 on the model.  They were described briefly in an earlier post (Part 131), but are fully described, including making the filing jig, in Young America, Volume II.  You are right; the downhaul coils are quite a lot of rope.  For each line, I am measuring the amount of rope for each coil based on where the other end of each line is fixed.  The coils are formed "offsite" on a dummy pin rail after wrapping the rope on a plastic rod and wetting it with diluted wood glue.  I will describe in a later post and in Volume III.  The formed coil is then glued over the pin after the line is belayed.
 
Ed

Eric thank you for your interest in this build.
I finished up the rear hull section planking and forming of the propshaft housing which just required a great deal of cutting and fitting of the planks. While waiting for glue to set I moved back and forth with the sanding of the primer on the bow section. Here you can see the results of the sanding showing the highs and lows of the surface.
 

 
Here are views of the hull planking with a close up of the prop area. 
 

 

 
The the large flat sheets were cut and glued for the flat bottom and then weighted with steel blocks and allowed to set on the building board. This weighing down assures the hull staying flat and true.
 

 
 
I will plank as much of the forward hull section and finish off like the bow section and then thew inner racks before joining the two sections for easy handling.
 
 
 

Gil - I feel one of the most memorable meetings of PSSM was held at your house. I still remember Shelly playing his violin and all 3 of your excellent models. This one is up to the same standard.