EricWilliamMarshall

@sjanicki welcome aboard! Thanks for the build log - they are so valuable that it is harder to go without them. (I speak from experience.) I may also building the USS Putty! I’m not great at hulls, so we will see! “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others." - Otto Von Bismarck.

I have not had the pleasure. But I'm game to try, so one is on it's way to my humble shop. Many thanks for the suggestion!

Whoa! What a cameo! I will then.

I've started to whacking away at the hull - working on the contours of the bottom of the hull. I used a couple of gouges on one side. I may try the rotary tool on the other side. Unrelated, I did notice that the plans (General Arrangement - sheet PY1-5) don't match the beautiful laser-cut wooden deck. I didn't check the deck profile against the templates (Templates - sheet PY5-5) before cutting the hull, but luckily those match each other. The location of the masts is also different as well on the plans (General Arrangement - sheet PY1-5) than on the aforementioned beautiful laser-cut wooden deck.

Hmm, are you but one laser cutter away from being than person?

One is forced to move fast otherwise mold and it's friends arrive quickly - roughly 24-48 hours, so I did. When Ida hit this part of world, we couldn't find any high-powered fans contractors use to dry out flooded areas. However, we were able to score a couple of blowers used to inflate kiddy bounce houses. They worked like a charm! Thanks for the kind words; I hope to keep the blog informative and if not, perhaps amusing. May the bridges I burn light the way!

For the time being, I’m shelving the Dapper Tom. The self-imposed planking project hasn’t been fun for a while nor as skill building I was hoping for. I have ordered plans and some more wood with the intent of returning and finishing but repairing the planking yet another time seems a waste without finding another approach to become more skillful. So I’m going to think on ways to work on the planking problem, ideally figure that out and return to the Dapper Tom. I might try the NRG’s half hull kit. We will see. I’m now working on the USS Perry of 1843 - a raffle prize I was lucky enough to win last week at Northeast Ship Model Conference .

In the other Perry log by @sjanicki I was intrigued by his use of a flexible shaft tool. So after a bit of browsing the Foredom site, I cheaped-out and bought Harbor Freight’s $45 model. It works well and I was able to attack the hull in short order. I hope to use a little less putty than @sjanicki though. From reading his adventures, it seems very easy to remove too much material so goal one was to use the flexible shaft tool to only rough out the work and use hand tools to do the finishing work given my lack of skill, experience, etc. with my brand new toy. In playing with the flexible shaft, I could guide the shaft with my pinky and ring fingers and my palm touching the wood with a great deal of control. I’m still getting used to the variable speed though and the unit creates a tremendous amount of dust. I need some way to manage that! It is easy to create ripples and/or undulating patches but not see them due to the dust. I hope practice will solve that. I trimmed the top-down profile, reduced the carving lugs and trimmed the side profile - first with the flexible shaft and then sand paper. For the stern, I used the shaft and then a sharp chisel repeatedly checking against the profile provided by the kit. I’m expecting a delivery of the copper plate and of cd-rom of build photos from the folks at Blue Jacket. While the instructions seem clear, I looking forward to seeing details of the process. It will be interesting to compare those photos to the build logs here at MSW! Next steps - hull profiling!

I’m not sure of the best way find the middle of a solid wood hull, so I used calipers and string. I transferred lines to the deck by needle pricking through tracing paper. I have trimmed the bottom with a hand plane and so now I’m committed! It was only today that noticed the hull is a laminate of three boards.

The Perry had an unusual history. She circled the globe leaving Norfolk, Virginia on the 3rd of December 1843 and returning by the 17th of September of 1845. She next was prepped for the war with Mexico but was damaged by a hurricane and returned to Philadelphia for repairs. She spent the next several years suppressing the slave trade (as the images above indicate) (and a bit of gunboat diplomacy in Paraguay in 1855). She finished her career among other tasks, blocking Confederate ports during the American Civil War. She was decommissioned and sold off in 1865. The great naval historian Howard Chapelle was aware of the Perry. Since she was considered the fastest ship in the Navy at the time, she is mentioned briefly in each of the great trinity of Chapelle books: History of American Sailing Ships; The History of the American Sailing Navy; and The Search for Speed Under Sail. She was designed by Francis Grice and built at Norfolk Navy Yard in 1843. The lines, deck arrangements and sail plan are to be found in History of the American Sailing Navy on pages p.451 and p. 453, figures 134 and 135 respectfully. I share these images under educational use/fair use. All rights reserved by Chapelle and W.W. Norton & Co. I recommend these books to anyone curious about American naval matters during the age of sail. They can be had used cheaply most anywhere.

Another view of the Perry capturing the Martha. This image from the Digital Collections of the NY Public Library (https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-40ad-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 )

The image is of 'U.S. Brig PERRY Captures the Slaver MARTHA, June 1850' (public domain image thanks to https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/USN-902000/USN-902981.html) "On 7 June 1850, the U.S. brig USS PERRY overhauled the American ship MARTHA of New York, suspected to be a slaver, between Ambriz and Loanda. She was a big ship and, as the cruiser came near, hoisted the American flag and hove to. Captain Andrew Hull Foote sent his first lieutenant to examine her. As soon as the MARTHA recognized the uniform of the U.S. Navy, they hauled down the American flag and hoisted that of Brazil. Meantime, the captain threw overboard his writing desk containing his papers which, failing to sink, showed he was an American citizen and that 3/5 of the ship belonged to an American merchant in Rio. In searching her, they found 176 water casks and 50 barrels of farina. A slave deck was laid with irons for securing the slaves. The captain then admitted that, but for the arrival of the PERRY, he would have, that night, got away with 1,800 slaves. MARTHA, with her crew in irons, was sent to New York and condemned."

This is my first encounter with a BlueJacket Shipcrafters' kit. This kit comes with a carved hull carefully wrapped, a number of packages of nicely and cleanly cast metal bits, clean laser cut lumber as well as brass photo etch! The plans are new (dated 2017 and huge!) and the instructions were printed with color photos (on 'regular' printer paper). To my untrained eye, this kit has had a complete make-over in comparison to the older USS Perry kits of yesteryear lurking in the corners which may visit Ebay every so often. Here is my obligatory photo of everything before I start to make a mess of it!!

This weekend I attended my first Northeast Ship Model Conference which I recommend for the curious. To my pleasant surprise, via the raffle, I won a Bluejacket kit of the USS Perry (launched and commissioned in 1843). My obvious thanks to the kind folks at Bluejacket for donation of the kit and the support of the conference. More than one person mentioned the quality of this kit at the conference and Tom Ruggiero told me this should be my next kit! Who am I to argue with Tom! I just stalled on my last kit due to the rude intrusion of tropical storm/hurricane Ida into my basement workspace so this comes at a perfect time. The painting is the Capture of the "Savannah" by the "U.S.S. Perry", 1861 by Fritz Muller (public domain image thanks to https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.50821.html)

Marc, I couldn’t find a way to quickly encapsulate my “sales pitch” for a visit to the Met but did find this set of images which give a feel for the collections I mentioned: http://paintandpattern.com/period-rooms-metropolitan-museum-art/ The Met is a treasure trove for anyone with an interest in historical European wood carving (but that is a niche community within another niche community possibly within another niche! ). In any case, the photos give a better feel than my ramblings do to allow you figure out if it would be worth the trip or not. It was a great pleasure to chat with you!

Marc, the pleasure was all mine! You gave a delightful informative presentation and I was amazed to to see how small your ship really is. The quality of your photos and the outstanding quality of your workmanship displayed in your build log give the impression of a ship model twice as big! Outstanding work and outstanding scholarship well presented. You are triple threat in the world of modeling!

Almost ship-shape! The floor hasn't been this clean in years! The lost of material has led to a slight improvement in organization and I was able to add another work table (as seen to the left) although I'm still working through how best to arrange the power tools. Thanks to everyone for their kind support!

Following storm Ida's rude intrusion into my workshop, I stopped work on my model of the Dapper Tom. No one was hurt and we had less trauma than many of my neighbors. I still have some of the kit, but my lumber, plans and the like did not fare well (or even survive) in the flooding. Now that flood waters have left, I'm in the process of cleaning up and fighting rust and mold. Right now my living room looks like a junk shop. Below is a snapshot from early in the evening just when thing became exciting. Once stabilized, I will start on projects once again. Stay tuned!

I finished the repairs and the extensive cleaning of the older Dapper Tom. I decided to only repair what is existing and not add any new material. To clean the model, I dusted the ship with a 3/4 inch water-brush dry. Then water applied by a water-color brush and removed by a thin cotton cloth. While slow, just water worked wonders. That was sufficient so I did not proceed to anything stronger.

This is the shear I bought. I watched for a few weeks and when I saw a low price, I jumped. 8 Inch Manual Mini Shear/brake Combination, Sheet Metal Brakes Shears Machine https://www.kakaindustrial.ca/products/kaka-8-in-manual-mini-shear-brake-combination-sheet-metal-brakes-shears-machine

I also found a way to cut thin strips for brass without curling via a small shear I found on ebay!

While away I also fixed broken table my brother also rescued from my parent's home. I was lucky; all the parts were included!! There was some very fussy clamping involved!

My brother found a broken whimsy I made in my twenties in my parent's house which he returned to me. I have fixed it. When you turn the crank the airplane rotates and waves rise and fall rocking the small ship.

Chuck made some sage suggestions regarding my wayward attempts, so I am replanking yet again. He suggested wider planks then what I was using and he noted that my garboard ran too far forward.