Mirabell61

Build log part 17
 
 
 
 

getting all the eyelets soldered on
 

stations for hight-fixed and vertical-moveable yards
 

underside of topgallant platform
 

masttop and slide rail for royal-yard
 

underside of lower top platform
 

 
 

Radar Station protection Cage on foremast
 

 

fog horn within protection as well
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Build log part 18 to follow....
 
Nils

Build log part 16
 
 
 
 
 

roller for Yard hoisting / lowering chain (in mid mast)
 

bulls eyes inserted
 

checking mast angles and alignment
 

Fitting for taking up the chainplate (anchoring for the lower top shrouds)
 

 

top spars with access- ladder and devices for antenna and nav light attachments
 
 
 

 

 
 

belaying Points in deck area
 

 
 
 
 
 
Build log part 17 to follow....
 
Nils

Build log part 18
 
 
 
 

foremast
 

 
 

one of the two main lower Yards with twinjackstays attached
 

 

 

Yard mounted to its place
 

 

 

 
 

Stern decoration with nameplate, and hometown badge (Kiel)
 
 
 
 
Build log part 19 to follow....
 
Nils

Build log part 17
 
 
 
 

getting all the eyelets soldered on
 

stations for hight-fixed and vertical-moveable yards
 

underside of topgallant platform
 

masttop and slide rail for royal-yard
 

underside of lower top platform
 

 
 

Radar Station protection Cage on foremast
 

 

fog horn within protection as well
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Build log part 18 to follow....
 
Nils

Build log part 16
 
 
 
 
 

roller for Yard hoisting / lowering chain (in mid mast)
 

bulls eyes inserted
 

checking mast angles and alignment
 

Fitting for taking up the chainplate (anchoring for the lower top shrouds)
 

 

top spars with access- ladder and devices for antenna and nav light attachments
 
 
 

 

 
 

belaying Points in deck area
 

 
 
 
 
 
Build log part 17 to follow....
 
Nils

Mark, It was much easier making the giant rule ;~)
 
B.E. Thank you I am glad it is useful.
 
Sailor, That sounds a lot easier said than done. I will see what I can do.
 
Earlier when I was making the bowsprit stays and creating some eyes with the shrink tube I did give the tapering some thought, and I did serve the whole area to cover the shrink tube on one of the eyes.
 
In the following picture the shrink has been served but I did not taper the strands.
 

 
The eye on the right toward the end of the bowsprit still needs to be served to cover the shrink.
 

 
One of the reasons for learning how to make the real splice is because one of the shrink eyes did come loose early on, it could be seized and only a short piece of shrink used then served and it would look Ok but it would not be as strong.
 
Michael
 
 

Back again after Christmas and other interventions ! Time to progress this build a little.
 
I left off before the holiday when starting to fit the thwarts so finishing that job comes first.
 

 
I then got sidetracked by the arrival of a Carrs kit so needed to try that out.
 

 

 

 

 
Back to the thwarts and fitting all into hull...
 

 
....including the mast support structures.
 
]
 
All done.
 
 
Having recently acquired a micro shaper the next task was to use it to produce knees, thole pin blocks and the two bow fairleads.
 
First the knees.
 
The shaped timber has been sliced into twenty four pieces and....
 

 
...they are glued together in pairs to a piece of dowel....
 

 
..and then glued to the thwarts as seen here.
 

 
This image also shows my ongoing attempt to "age" this build a little as I want it to represent a working boat rather than a pristine model. I am using water colour crayons and spit at present but fully expect to add other techniques as time goes on. In passing, if any reader has experience of "ageing" a model I would love to have your comments.
 
Next the thole pin blocks. The piece of timber on the right was machined to profile then sliced into twelve pieces and finally drilled for the pins.
 

 

 

 
And finally the two fairleads. The piece of machined timber on the left in the image above was sliced into two pieces, drilled, slotted and cut to shape.
 

 

 

 
Various other small parts have been made and fitted…….
 

 

 
....and the large gun and it's carriage is almost complete. 
 

 

 

 
The big gun will not be finally fitted until later in the build. The next task is to complete the outer hull fittings and then start on the paint job. Once that is complete then the fun of rigging and fitting out can begin.
 
More anon.
 
Mike.
 

The most interesting thing is that if you make a mistake or do not like, you can always go back the cotton swab with the acid and start over.
I protect my eyes and my face with a mask, and try it outdoor 

Bart,
 
when using this self adhesive copper tape and the poncewheel method, of course the ponced, plate resembling strip lengths are each overlapping the edge of the last one below and the one horizontaly placed before.
The strips are only ponced in two outer lines, the other two get their poncing from the next Strip wich covers (by overlapping ) in the appropriate positions.
The overlapping is not so easy when you use machine prefabricated platings
 
Hope this ia understandable
 
Nils

Hi shipmates,
I finished today to coppering my Connie with copper-tape. I used a poncewheel in the rear face of the tape, to relief the heads of the rivets.
Now the problem is to make old the copper.
I tried with 30% hydrochloric acid only, with ammonia only, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium hypochlorite
Best results is using first a cotton swab with 30% hydrochloric acid, followed by a second swab with ammonia.
The contact time of the acid -swab must be short, otherwise it corrodes the copper. (first test upward)
Immediately after you have to put ammonia with another cotton swab.
I did several tests (as in the photo) and it can get a nice blue-green shades....
During tests, I've seen smoke after the contact between acid and ammonia. Don't breathe it, because it is toxic.
 

Build log part 18
 
 
 
 

foremast
 

 
 

one of the two main lower Yards with twinjackstays attached
 

 

 

Yard mounted to its place
 

 

 

 
 

Stern decoration with nameplate, and hometown badge (Kiel)
 
 
 
 
Build log part 19 to follow....
 
Nils

Build log part 17
 
 
 
 

getting all the eyelets soldered on
 

stations for hight-fixed and vertical-moveable yards
 

underside of topgallant platform
 

masttop and slide rail for royal-yard
 

underside of lower top platform
 

 
 

Radar Station protection Cage on foremast
 

 

fog horn within protection as well
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Build log part 18 to follow....
 
Nils

Build log part 16
 
 
 
 
 

roller for Yard hoisting / lowering chain (in mid mast)
 

bulls eyes inserted
 

checking mast angles and alignment
 

Fitting for taking up the chainplate (anchoring for the lower top shrouds)
 

 

top spars with access- ladder and devices for antenna and nav light attachments
 
 
 

 

 
 

belaying Points in deck area
 

 
 
 
 
 
Build log part 17 to follow....
 
Nils

Hi Guys,
 
Thank you all very much for the very kind words and your concerns, and of course the like buttons, I really do appreciate it.
 
John, great to see you again mate, you've been missed, thanks for the kind words buddy.
 
Kevin, You have been side tracked by a small plastic matter I believe, You'll soon catch up mate.
 
I do have a small update, the ratlines for the Fore Lower Mast are completed now, for a while it seemed 3 steps forward and 2 back with me ripping out completed rows, mainly because they looked like jungle vines rather than ratlines, more droop in them than a bloke on the booze for a week.
 
Some Pics
 

       
 
So that's a small stage completed now, next step is to make the Bowsprit and Jib Boom, with all the accompanying tackle, I want to have a go at making a slider for the Jib Boom which will be a first for me,  there are some very good ideas on site so as long as I don't have to do any welding I should be ok.
 
I have to practice with my micro wood chisel's I bought a week or so ago, with the 2 foot long handles and 18 inch blades I will have plenty to get hold of, my mistake of the year so-far, hopefully I will be able to work with them, if I cant then they didn't cost a lot so little lost.
 
OK guys that me done, your all up to date, most of you will be way ahead of me knowing what's going to happen but still, I need to find out for myself.
 
Be Good
 
Stay Warm / Cool, depending on your hemisphere.
 
mobbsie
 
 

Hi Guys,
 
Thank you all for your very positive feedback, comments and likes, I really do appreciate them immensely.
 
Thought I had better post this before I watch England thrash Wales in the rugby 6 Nations.
 
OK an update is due and I do have one, the Bowsprit is made and fitted and Gammoning completed, Main and Preventer Stays are fitted as is the Foremast Stay and Preventer stay.
 
I made a start on the Snaking for the Foremast and completed it, then I ripped it all off again as the distance between the ties was too great, I have since redone it and am much happier with the Mk 2.
 
Next step is to do the Snaking on the Mainmast then the Crowsfeet on all three masts. 
 
Some pictures
 
Completed Bowsprit dry fitted

 
Just checking for alignment

 
Stays prior to fixing

 
Main Stay and Preventer Stay fixed

 

 
Gammoning of the Bowsprit

 
Foremast Stay and Preventer Stay fixed

 
I will add some more directly showing the Snaking
 
mobbsie
 
 

Fanatastic workmanship.  What colors are you going to paint them.
David B

Hi Jon -- Here are some references for you on the bumkins (or boomkins, or bumpkins):  Antscherl has a photo on Vol 4, p 29 that shows the port side bumkin passing just in front of the seat of ease.  He describes the shrouds on p. 46 of the same volume.  Petersson shows the bumpkin on p. 61 and p 48.  Lees describes the evolutionary stages of the boomkins on p 36, and he marks 1780 as the beginning of the drooping version; but, again, it seems that the Rattlesnake had straight ones, as appears in Chapelle's lines of the Ratt, on p 136 of The History of American Sailing Ships.  (I've looked in Steel as well, but I can't seem to get a grip on the organization of his work.)
 
And here's a photo (not terribly clear) of my starboard bumkin that shows pretty much how I fit it in to the keel by drilling an angled hole.  It took several tries to get everything to fit.
 

 
Hope that helps.
 
And Happy New Year! 
 
Martin

Bumkins:
 
These 2 little spars fascinate me for several reasons -- their size, I'm sure is part of it, but also the fact that they curve on many of the ships of the period.  Blue Ensign's Pegasus shows the curved version.  But as far as I've been able to make out from Hahn's plans and the MS plans (by Ben Lankford), the bumkins on the Rattlesnake do not have that little droop.  They do have shrouds, however, and a single block seized to the end.  I wanted to post this just because I've followed both Flyer and BE in their work on the bumkins.
 
I made my bumkins from boxwood, just cutting down a 1/8 inch square piece to a rounded piece with notches at each end.  I had to customize the fit for each one so it would come out of the bow at the correct angle.  Since they're pretty tiny, I didn't attach them until all the other bowsprit rigging was done.
 
In this photo, you can see that I've affixed the bumkin shrouds, using a basic seizing to the eyebolts, and a false eye-splice at the bumkin.  The eyebolts might not adhere exactly to the MS plans (Hahn's are bit confused here, with numerous lines converging in a small space), but I set them up where they seemed to make most sense.
 

 
Unfortunately, this photo also shows up the rather rough serving I did on the bobstay.  Really, I thought it looked much tidier when I put it on.

So I'm skipping out from work today, supposedly to get ready for our house guests who'll be here through the Thanksgiving week (this is the week every year when I become an utterly unabashed American, since we have this holiday devoted to eating large amounts of food and drinking even larger amounts of wine).  Right now, though, I'm going to add just a bit to the narrative of my latest travails in rigging.  Here goes.
 
The most consistent problem I've had has come with the deadeyes along the tops.  As I tighten the shroud and the lanyard, the bottom deadeye creeps up from where I'd positioned it.  The bottom deadeyes are all connected by chain plates to the lower shrouds with futtocks that I fashioned from metal wire served with brown rigging line.  I tried tying a loop around the top of the chain plates, but only with slight success.  That's a problem that awaits a solution, so if anybody has a suggestion I'd be happy to hear it.
 
Here's the procedure I've worked out (largely from reading multiple times through Antscherl's account and then trying to translate that into the reality of fat fingers, slippery tweezers, and bifocals that insist on slipping down my nose):  I stretch the shroud to its taut length, holding it in a big loop with tweezers at the bottom where the deadeye will go.  When I have the bottom at the right distance from the bottom deadeye (but see the account of the problem above), I put an alligator clamp higher up the shroud to hold the loop in place.  Then I seize the bottom of the loop, insert the deadeye (3/32" deadeyes at the tops), and thread the lanyards as shown on the MS plans.  A good strategy here is to harden the tip of the lanyard with some super glue so it can serve as a needle to pass through the deadeye holes.  The important part here is to keep the alligator clamp in place so that the shroud will stay taut and the deadeye won't slip in its seizing until everything is tied off and glued.    Sorry I don't have photos of this, but it's very straightforward.
 
Now to the main forestays, all of which belay onto the bowsprit.
 
First I had to attach the bowsprit, which I'd delayed doing from fear of breaking it when I moved the model back and forth tying the shrouds on alternating sides.  Once attached, I put the gammoning on the bowsprit.  For this I used some brown .5mm nylon thread that Keith Jewell sent me as a sample in my last order. It doesn't quite match the color of the other standing rigging, but it's nice and smooth looking, especially for something like gammoning where all the threads are lined up.
 
Basically I just followed Antscherl's account in FFM vol 4, which starts by attaching a long length of line (he says 56", I started with about 48", since I'm working at a smaller scale; I found that that was well beyond what I needed; for the Ratt, at 1:64, I would recommend something like 30", which will be more than ample).  This is connected to the port side of the bowsprit with an eyesplice.  I hadn't seen Blue Ensign's stategy for faking one yet, so I just seized a loop in a way that the seizing won't show.  The line then passes straight down through the foreward end of the gammoning slot, then up from the starboard side, passing behind the thread to the port side of the bowsprit, then over the bowsprit in front of the splice, down the starboard side of the bowsprit, to the port side of the slot and behind the line that's in it, and so on.   This photo sort of shows the process about 3/4 done:
 

 
 
And this one shows it complete:
 

 
Next came the forestay and the preventer stay.   These are belayed to the hearts seized on the bowsprit, with corresponding hearts.  To carve the hearts, I uses 5/32" thick boxwood 1/4" wide, and roughly traced the outline of a heart that I cut out with my jeweller's saw (it just seemed simpler with such a small piece than going outside to the still-in-process workshop to use my scroll saw).  Then I filed off the rough edges.  I opened a hole slightly below center with the Dremel, and then widened and shaped the hole, eventually finishing off with a needle file.  When I had the shape  -- inside & out -- that seemed as right as I could get -- a flattened round wide top and squared narrow bottom -- I cut a groove on the outer edge with an exacto knife.
 
I might add that the little bugger leapt from my fingers countless time, but without ever finding its way into oblivion.
 
After eyeballing the heart from as many angles as I could imagine, to check for appearance, I sanded it, starting with 180 and ending with 400 grit paper, and rubbed some lemon oil on it to smooth out the scars.  Here are the hearts in place -- the one in the forestay twists in defiance of my best effort, but the one in the preventer is visible.
 

 
As always, comments are more than welcome.
 
Cheers,
 
Martin
 
 
 
 
 
 

So, I  worked  out the matter of the Iron Horse, though haven't taken any photos, since it's pretty plain -- just a blackened thick wire, bent into shape and set behind the tiller with a double block seized by a thimble.
 
That was pretty much (I hope, I dream, I surely delude myself) the final item on the long checklist of little details that needed to be installed before starting to attach the standing rigging.  And so last night I took a deep breath and attached the first deadeyes.  On my one and only other build, these gave me endless headaches as I did them over and over and still couldn't get them to line up even close.  This time I used the handy jig -- the piece of wire inserted into the 2 deadeyes -- to set the distance.  And here's the consequence -- starboard then port:
 

 
 

 
Now, to my eye, the lanyards look a bit long.  Antscherl gives a length of 3 times the diameter of the deadeye, and that seems to be fairly standard.  But all 3 plans of the Rattlesnake show the lanyards to be just about this long.
 
I might also point out that on the starboard side, I ran the lanyard through the shroud above the top deadeye incorrectly from outside to in.  I realized my mistake when doing the corresponding port lanyard and went back and corrected it.
 
It's also worth mentioning that the lanyards (.02 mm Egyptian cotton) aren't nearly a white as they appear in the photos.
 
If anyone sees something I've done wrong, I'd appreciate hearing about it.  I've left off trimming the loose ends until I'm sure that I've actually got the procedure down.
 
Cheers,
 
Martin

Onward -- I've been working on this update over the past few evenings, and am now adding it in between sessions of trying to sort out the photos.
 
Under the heading of “Things I should have done before now” comes the holes for the futtock shrouds.  These would have been much easier to cut before I attached the tops to the masts, but now I simply have to deal with it.  I drilled locating holes with a small bit in a pin vise, then used a round micro burr on my Dremel to widen the hole, and switched to a square ended burr to smooth the sides of the hole and make it as straight as I could, and finished with an exacto to square the corners and clean the inside enough to allow the chain plate I’m using (from the kit) to pass through.
 

 
In the process of maneuvering the Dremel around the trestle trees shrouds, I knocked off several cleats, two of which have entered the realm of the Unknown. Here’s a shot of the restored cleat:
 

 
So, I decided to use the kit’s chain plates, because I just couldn’t think of how to fashion something otherwise.  Right now, they’re still just hanging loose in the tops, so if anyone has a suggestion for a more eye-appealing, or more historically accurate solution, I’d love to hear it.



Next it was on to the spritsail yard, attaching 4 ringbolt thimbles along the top, lifts & braces, horses and stirrups.
 

 
This is also where I had to make a decision: I looked at Antscherl’s account of yard slings, and I thought of serving them, but after my earlier experience of having the served line look vastly out of scale, I decided to go with the method of seizing a loop on one side, then passing the two ends over the other side and wrapping one end forward and the other aft onto the spar, and then seizing the resulting loop, like this:
 

 
– I should also point out here that the Model Shipways rigging plans show a very clear illustration of the spritsail parral that would go here.  But I did not have these plans when I was working out that problem.  The MS plans look as though the line is served, and maybe, in the months to come I’ll practice, practice, practice on serving line fine enough to look good at this scale.

With the spritsail topsail yard, I followed pretty much the same procedure, but without the thimbles, and without stirrups for the horses.  And I again followed the above procedure for hanging the yard with slings rather than with parrals.

In looking at the MS plans here, I see close by another detail (Oh, had I had these plans back then), and that’s the boomkins.  The boomkins seem to be where some of the running rigging from the foremast in addition to the spritsails passes.  I have not installed boomkins, so it looks like I’ll be working on yet another problem of how to fit them in at a late stage (luckily, the bowsprit isn’t glued in yet).

Getting back to what I did manage happily to do, I also installed a knotted footrope (ie, horse) along the length of the spritsail & jibboom, passing it through a small stirrup at the spritsail topsail.  The MS plans show this footrope simply passing over the spritsail topsail yard (I think), and Hahn’s plans are confusing here, so the short stirrup is my solution to the problem of how to hang the footrope in two curves.

Deciding to put off figuring out (much less actually doing & making) the traveller and its attendant rigging, I’m going back (maybe fleeing would be the more appropriate verb) to the fore and main yards, which seem a touch simpler.
 
Here are the sizes/dimensions for the blocks & line that I’ve hit on for the Fore & Main Yards (nb: the line is Egyptian cotton and comes from Keith Jewell; I mention that because there seems to be differences among different sources):

    Braces: 4mm blocks, .3mm line
    Jeers: 7mm block, .6mm line (Jeer tyes will be .5mm)
    Clue Garnet: blocks 5 mm, .5mm line
    Topsail: blocks 5 mm, .5mm line
    Lifts & Sheets: 3 & 4 mm blocks, respectively, .5mm line

For the horses and stirrups, I first cut 4 pieces of tarred .5 mm line about 3 or 4 inches long (these were actually scraps that looked to be about the right length to allow for a loop and then a comfortable clove hitch around the spar), and seized loops at one end with .25mm line. These will become the stirrups. Turning to the horses:  I seized one end of a .5mm tarred line to the end of the yard, then put the stirrups on this line about where they belong, and tightened their loops onto the horse, then fastened the other end with a clove hitch to the spar.  I let the stirrup hang down about 3/8 of an inch from the middle of the clove hitch to the bottom of the loop.  I put some diluted white glue (Weldbond: it dries clear) on the knots & seizings, and let them dry.  Once I had the stirrups set, I then finished off the horse by knotting its inner end with a clove hitch on the far side of the sling cleat.  When all the knots had dried, I then used a small paint brush to daub diluted glue on the stirrups & horses to stiffen them in a shape that makes them look heavy.  Here’s a shot of them drenched in diluted glue (I had to put my hand up, because my cheapo camera insisted on using the background as the focal point):
 

 
After the horses, I attached the other blocks & lines, marking the appropriate places from the plans.  Here’s the final spar:
 

 
I have to thank Russ again for steering me to the MS plans, which really are helpful: not only do they show the details, but they also contain comments (and unlike the Mamoli plans, they’re in English.  Once I’d figured out the configuration of the Main spar, I simply followed it for the Fore spar.

Cheers for now, I need to go through my photo file.
 
Martin
 

Thanks, Russ.  The only one of the sources you mention that I don't have is the Steele -- I've seen that it's available online, but haven't tried downloading it; at Amazon it's available, but not in this month's budget (I just got back from a bruising trip).  And the Model Shipways does go along with Hahn, Antscherl, and Petersen and Lees, so you're right there too.
 
And fair enough Aaron, I'm on it:  I only started this log recently, with the rigging, so I don't have any photos of what I did up to this point.  But I just now went into the shipyard -- which happens to be slightly tidy at the moment (because I actually cleaned the place up before I went on my trip -- me wife said she wanted to be able to walk through there while I was gone -- can you imagine?) and took a few snaps of the hull in its current shape.  Here you go (comments always welcome!)
 
First, here's a view of the stern with my attempt at carving:
 

 
And next is a view from midships
 

 
And from above, of the boat, with the stairs that I got some special assistance with from Alan Yedlinsky:
 

 
And then here's the head rails with the figure head:
 

 
And that's it for now.  Looking at these pictures, I see lots and lots of details that stand out mostly for what I HOPE to do differently, if not better next time.
 
Cheers,
 
Martin
 
 

Build log part 12
 
 
 
The ultimate GF 2 actual Version has rivited plates to the frames and also welded plates for horizontal seams. As I do not exactly know to what degree the riviting was in 1958 when launched, I "rivited" the entire models hull. Perhaps someone may now better...
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Build log part 13 to follow.....
 
Nils

Thanks Nils and Nigel and the "likes". Your continuing interest and encouragement is appreciated. I'll try to post a full profile photo soon Nigel.
 
Bob

Thank you Crackers, after all it was Doris that got me into the whole model boat building caper.
 
Thanks Bob, My hope is to improve both the look and the time it takes to do it.
 
Denis I take it you have experience the terrible twos?
 
Greg Thanks , and I can see why it takes a few times to get it right.
 
John I don't think my finger would take to kindly to getting skewered with fine wires.
 
Mark thanks, your commendation is greatly appreciated.
 
Texxn5 thank you for looking in and your kind remark.
 
I have been "practicing" today and made some sequential pics of this splice here.
 

 
Now all I have to do is learn how to taper the splice make some better thimbles. and make more shackles and blocks
 
Michael