capnharv2

Ok time for yet another update on the barge. Hopefully we are on the home stretch and I can get some sleep. As a retired Professional manager I should know better. But I committed to the customer that this model would be delivered in July. Somehow every project fills the available time. And painting has been slow. You have to paint wait to dry and repeat. What you see in the pictures below is the completed Hull with all the Light fixtures in place. Not all are glued yet, and there are no bulbs. In case anyone asks the big squares are access panels for the wiring. Tomorrow we will complete the Control Panel. I am particularly happy with this. Also in parallel I am working on scale oil containment booms. But we will talk about the control panel and booms after the Barge is wired.
 
PS I hope from these Pictures you get an idea of the size of this model. It is 7' long and 26" wide.
 
 

Hi all,
 
Just some latest news about my model of HMS Hood - she took out "Best in Show" at the annual Port Macquarie Model Show. I took the half-finished model there last year, this year it was of course finished. I also took all the Card models I've built since then. A couple of pics of the show will follow tomorrow when I get home.
 
Cheers, Danny

Pompom time! I finally dug in and completed one.  Fortunately there are only 3. Although they have LOTS of parts, it was pretty straight forward....NO thanks to Pontos. You have to really take a good look and dry fit everything to get it right. But when you're done, these things are almost operational! I was just waiting for it to misfire by accident! Very nice little things.  Notice that I put it on top of a quarter in one of the pictures for reference.

And here is the control panel for the LEDs

Ok I promised a complete set of pictures before I deliver the tug on Wednesday. so here goes!
 By the way Ron thanks for the tip on Word. It worked like a champ. The Tug is completed right down to the decals and all the details on the mast. I must say that Neal did a great job rewiring all the LEDs on the mast using Magnet wire. This was definitely a team effort. After I return On Thursday we will begin to focus on the Barge. The Barge is scheduled to be delivered in July. We will have a christening party in Astoria for both vessels.
 
 

I am needing to begin the install of the next sail the lower topsail.  I made it, but still need to add the buntlines.  Here it is simply posing in place.
 
Once mounted, I will then add the buntline blocks and the reef points.  I wanted to begin adding the final sails of the mizzen before I finished up the backstays, because it is easier to grapple with these lines and the lifts and their purchased....before the last backstays are installed.
It is a delicate juggle between one task and another.  Always being mindful of systematic progress.
 
I hate redos.
 
Rob

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it!
 
I will be posting pictures of some of the wood to be sold next week over the weekend. All sales will be through the website. Emails are welcome, just please know that an immediate response may not be possible. Julia will be handling the orders as they come, and our son will be packaging them.
 
The pictures below are the whole crew. 

 

Thanks, gentlemen
**********************
There are two jacob-ladders on each side of the hull, a wider one underneath a door in the bulwark and a narrower one a bit forward. The steps probably were made from wood and had slots towards the hull to prevent the water from collecting there and to prevent the wood from rotting.

Milling of the steps for the jacobs-ladders
 
The steps are made from 0.8 mm thick Plexiglas® and the slots milled in. The sheet then was sanded down to the width of the steps and the ends rounded. Then individual steps of the right thickness were cut off on the lathe set-up with a mini saw-table.

Steps ready for fitting
 
Unfortunately, the steps could only be cemented to the hull using cyanoacrylate glue, there being no positive locking. A bit of cellotape provided a guide for alignment. Nevertheless, the procedure was a bit nerve-racking.

Jacob-ladder on port
Jacob-ladder on starbord
 
Further, fairleads for the aft mooring hawser were installed. These were made from oval rings of copper-wire. The rings were formed over two 1 mm-drills taped together, cut off and closed by silver-soldering. The rings were sanded down to half their thickness and one each of these rings cemented to the inside and outside of the hull. The hole was drilled out and filed to shape.
Fairlead for aft mooring hawsers
 
To be continued soon ...
 

thanks guys....Rusty, I am just waiting til I finish planking a bit more.  Its been a long time since I had to cut around so many gun ports.  The Starboard side is a third of the way complete.   
 
You can see the five strakes of the wales and black strake which are darker.  This first layer was done this way on purpose so I could make sure that I put the second and final layers on the right strakes.  Also....the black strake can be left bright and unfinished or painted black along with the wales.  In this case the wales on the Winnie are so wide I think it would look a bit much.  So I will NOT be painting the black strake.   I am using other contemporary models like the Amazon as inspiration for this.  See below.  Imagine if you can if the black strake was also painted black on the model below.  It would be too wide and look over-bearing.  Dont forget to click on those pics of Amazon.....they are quite large and quite a treat to see this magnificent model up close.    I have these handy as inspiration while working on my model.

Oh I also made this mock up of the other carvings to display at joint clubs.   I know its not the best picture....but I thought I would post what all of the other carvings will look like.  These dont have any finish on them.

 

Hi guys. I finally got the lower part of the quarter gallers and the counter all planked up. I didn't leave it bare and painted it to match the wales. One thing about it this time is it's easy on the eyes which makes me think that maybe just maybe I got it right or at least close to being right.  Gary
 

 
 
 
 

Some deck work and control work...
The upper topsail braces are installed too....they are simple....not like the lower and main braces as they come along.
I installed the purchases as the braces come down through the tops and run through a deck block and off to the winch.
 
Rob

I have finally finished Hannah. My main purpose for building Hannah was to begin plank and frame modeling.  That is one reason I didn’t include the rigging. The other reason is that I’m not crazy about rigging.The case was made out of old Mahogany that a friend had stored in his shop. I now plan to work on Halifax the second ship Harold Hahn discusses in his book The Colonial Schooner. I plan to include the rigging on Halifax.

Today I put on the photo etched scrollwork at the stern. It took an hour of aligning and re-positioning and gluing to get it done. I am happy with the result!

Seriously, I think the definition of "small craft" means a a model of a vessel under, say, 40-50 ft LOA. That would cover small working and pleasure boats, usually with one or two masts, rowboats, or powerboats with a small (less than 5-8) crew.
 
There are always exceptions-for example, would my 8 ft long pond yacht be considered a small craft? Probably.
Would my 3 inch long model of the Victory be considered a small craft? Probably not.
50 foot pilot boats? Probably could go either way
 
At least that's where I think this is headed. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Thanks,
 
Harvey

Well. it would be an understatement to say I am overwhelmed by all these most generous comments.  It is also nice to hear from those who have been regular but silent followers.  I wish I could individually  thank everyone for the more than 35 comments and 50+ likes after the last post.  Every one of them is well appreciated.  Perhaps one more photo would not be amiss.
 

Thanks again, everyone, for all your support throughout the project.
 
Ed
 
 

Finished up the mizzen shrouds.  Didn't take long.  Now onto the ratlines.
 
Rob

The lower counter was planked with laser cut strakes.  One thing I noticed on other projects is that some folks find it tricky to bend or cut these strakes to the proper curve.   This is very important because it determines the shape of the upper counter and thus the quarter gallery etc....and it just compounds from there.  So these strakes are laser cut.  I started with the top of the counter and worked my way lower where the final pieces were placed on either side of the stern post.  This will be covered over with a frieze but I added simulated caulking anyway.  I wanted to test how much would be used elsewhere.  Running a pencil along one edge of the joint was perfect.
 

The wales were stated and this is another crucial moment.  The run of this first plank will determine a lot.   The etched marks and references I made after running the batten were used to line up the bottom of the first strake.   I added this first strake with the hull upside down using 7/32" x 3/64" strips of cedar.  I still made adjustments after I finished the strake to try and get a smooth run.
 

I dont care about using a pencil to simulate tared seams on these.  This is just the first layer.  I used the plans to determine where the butt joints fall (4 butt shift).  I added this lower wale strake on both sides before working my up to complete them.  All four strakes for the wales are 7/32" wide.
 

Then it was just a matter of adding three more strakes above that one.  Note how there is no caulking but each strake was carefully added so the seams were nice and tight.  I did have to pre bend the lower two strakes of the wales at the bow edgewise.  This was done as an alternative to spiling the curved shape needed at the bow.  Its the only way you will get the planks to lay flat against the bulkhead edges.
 
I used a hold-down jig in the center as the pivot point which has a slight curve to it.  Then I clamp the plank on either side after bending it as needed.  Note the scrap wood pieces used to help prevent the soft cedar from denting.   As usual I uses a hair dryer on the hottest setting to heat up the strip and then let it cool down before removing it.  The curve you need is very slight.  No need to over bend these yet.   
 

The first layer of wales on the starboard side are completed...all four strakes.  Now to complete the other side.
 
Chuck

Hatch Nr3 Rigging
 
This hatch, like the last 2 to still to come, is rigged as a “Burton” or “Yard and Stay,” rig which had several variations. This hatch is rigged as the “standard” type. What made these rigs interesting for me is that the booms do not move during the cargo operation; the cargo can be moved anywhere along a line connecting the 2 points directly under the end of each boom by coordinating the 2 cargo winches. In this case one boom is positioned directly over the center of the hatch and the other over the side of the ship for loading to/from a pier or lighter.
 
When I was onboard the SS John Brown in Baltimore they ran a demonstration of a yard and stay rig at work, pretty simple when you see it in operation but it took a lot of concentration by the winch operators and foreman, one missed signal and the winches could end up pulling against each other which would quickly collapse the whole rig, with all the expected death and destruction.
 
Here the 2 cargo whips are rigged together and secured to an eye pad near the hatch:

I had to install the life raft racks before rigging the guys to make sure there would be no interference. The racks are made up of 4 pieces of VERY thin laser cut wood. It was a little intimidating cutting them loose from their fret/billet but once they were glued up they are pretty sturdy:

Here is the final rigging, minus rope coils that will come later - it is starting to look pretty busy:

Jumbo Boom Blocks
 
One of the details I had to finish up before starting the rigging was the 30 and 50-ton “Jumbo” booms. Unlike the 5-ton booms which got their lifting power straight off of the winch, the booms used for lifting heavy loads like tanks and planes needed the extra lifting power provided by large pulleys, 5-sheave for 50-ton, and 4-sheave for the 30-ton. They were some big honkers - almost 6 feet high including the cargo hook:


 
 
Fortunately Bluejacket sells some 1/4 inch blocks that are exactly what I needed for shape, height and length:

 
The only problem is that they are triple blocks so I needed to modify them to get them right for this build. I started by sanding off the stropping on one side for the 4-holers and both sides for the 5-holers. Then I used my punch set to make sheave discs from sheet plastic of the right thickness:

After gluing on the discs I covered them with oversized sheet plastic:

 
The plastic was then trimmed and sanded to match the original shape. The 4-holers needed to have the lifting eye cut off and new ones added to the “new” centerline, all of them had new stropping to replace what was removed, and half of them had beckets added (the starting point for rigging a set of blocks):

After painting these should do the trick:

To get each stanchion the correct height, the best way is to mark it in place. I use the Xacto blade to make a cut in the edge. Sometimes it needs a touch of sandpaper to fit, but mostly it goes right in. Then hold it with tweezers while you apply a drop of thin CA glue.

 

The Red Jacket instructions call for cutting the stern caprail out of bass sheet, and fitting it into place. I've always had trouble doing that, because it is difficult to get an even width. Mine always look a little "off."  Taking a hint from the bow caprail on the Charles Notman, I decided to laminate it. The rail is 1/8" x 1/16" so I used 4 pieces of 1/32" x 1/16." A simple 5-minute soak in water made them pliable and I taped them around the stern overnight. The next night it was very easy to lay them down. The finished product looks nice and even.
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 323 – Wrapping Up
 
Finally, 99.999% means complete.  Since the last post it has been a lot of little chores: snipping rope ends, the last few rope coils, touching up with paint, waxing standing rigging lines, clean up, etc.  Some of the "major" chores are described below.
 
The first picture shows the final disposition of the crojack sheets and tacks.  These were simply allowed to hang free from the clue garnet blocks with their full lengths coiled on deck.  They were tied down to one of the beams under the pile of rope coils to keep them vertical and straight..
 

 
The main braces could finally be run, since access was no longer needed to the deck area between the main and mizzen masts.  The next picture shows the starboard brace pendant shackled to the outer boomkin eye.
 

 
The fall of the brace runs from the yard pendant through the lead block on the rail in the center of the picture, then to a deck cleat.  The other blocks on the boomkin are the upper and lower main topsail braces.  Two missing eyebolts still need to be fitted on the rail. The picture also shows the completion of another chore left over from the volume II work, fitting chains to support the boomkins.  The next picture shows both of these.
 

 
The next picture shows the starboard swinging boom, the lower studding sail boom,  being lashed to the fore channel brackets. 
 
 
The alternative would be to store these on the skid beams over the cabin, but this seemed more appropriate, since in port these were often used to moor ships' boats.
 
The next picture shows the model with the dust case removed in the relatively cleaned-up workshop.
 

 
Finally, launch.
 

Please excuse the amateur artwork.  Couldn't resist.
 
Ed

Being part of this huge project, (which we never expected from the beginning) I am very honored that the barge design I did got the name of the former president of the union Alan Cote. I would never believe such a thing would happened.
As Floyd mentioned, it feels extremely good to have been part of a project that will benefit Maritime students in their learning process of getting a well paid job. 
I am thankful for all the support and help provided during this time.
Without Neal and Floyd this would have never happened.
This joint venture has been a challenge and a lot of hair tearing.... lol, but at the end we pulled it together.
I am very proud of what we have accomplished.
I know for sure there will be a picture of the barge and tug together while being used for educational purpose.

We have a Puget Sound Ship Modeler's meeting on the 25th. I will post pictures of the completed tug then.