BANYAN

Thank you Druxey; appreciate you looking in and will greatly value any suggestions you may have to offer.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Hi folks, a few more progress pics showing the redone paintwork (hull) - still some touching up needed but it is getting there. 
 
Note the 'vermillion' ports (colour as per contract).  i have portrayed her with bucklers in place on one side, and open on the other.  The bucklers will be secured with a batten across the towing timbers once I have placed them (very soon) using a threaded rod and wing nut system.
 
The next jobs are to add all the detail to the bulwarks which will include, ring bolts for gun tackles and breeching ropes, cleats for securing lines, iron garlands for ready use shoot, lead linesman's platform etc.
 
As usual, all comments, suggestion for improvement etc are most welcomed.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Hi folks some more progress on this build.  I have now done a fair mount of the painting.  The bulwarks and cap rails are finished but the hull still needs its final coat of black - you can see where I have started final sanding etc.  The figurehead requires some touching up of the white to complete it also.
 
The following show progressively how I have been proceeding.  First I built a build cradle which is hinged at the front so that I can angle the deck appropriately under a large mill to drill the mast holes.  This cradle keeps the ship nice and steady - there are two bicycle spoked from the keel (epoxied in) that pass through the assembly and secured with nuts under the board; the door wedges are for leveling the deck laterally.

The next photo shows her masked and the priming coat applied.  the last two photos are of her in her current state.  the larger holes are for the scupper outlets; the final size is much smaller - a 9" scupper at 1:1.  The smaller holes are for the Lang Scuttles mentioned earlier in this log.

 


 
I have also attached a 3D render of what the capstan will look like.
 

cheers 
 
Pat
 
 
 
 

I keep forgetting you are doing all of this superb detail at 1:72 - wonderful work!
 
cheers
 
Pat

I keep forgetting you are doing all of this superb detail at 1:72 - wonderful work!
 
cheers
 
Pat

Thank you Druxey; appreciate you looking in and will greatly value any suggestions you may have to offer.
 
cheers
 
Pat

You have transformed the model into an educational and interesting asset for the museum Dan; a very nice job indeed on your repairs and detailing.
 
cheers
 
Pat

You have transformed the model into an educational and interesting asset for the museum Dan; a very nice job indeed on your repairs and detailing.
 
cheers
 
Pat

The real deal has weld lines all down the hull and visible panels. I’ve scribed in the weld lines and will pre shade for oil canning . There are a plethora of bilge holes which I have drilled in based on photos of the ship. I can now paint below the waterline and see if the primer stays on this time. 

Thanks for looking in all; appreciate the feedback as it keeps me motivated
 
cheers
 
Pat

How come I missed this until now? You are doing a lovely job on her, Pat. I'll enjoy continuing to follow your progress.

Thank you @KeithAug, @mtaylor, @BANYAN, @prutser, @Jack12477, and @*Hans* for your reactions. Much appreciated.
___________________________
Started building the boat vane.
The gap in the table is 3 mm, and I am using 2 mm aluminium plate for the vane.
Electrical connections, or tracks, must reach the boat from under the table, to operate the nav lights.
A printed circuit board (PCB) is 1.5mm thick, leaving a 0.5 gap if the PCB is mounted within the aluminium plate.
So here is my attempt to create this by-pass.

The slots in the vane is to allow bulkheads to fit in.

Making brackets for both the PCB and the base plate.

Made the PCB and attached it to the vane. 

Have ordered some parts to further my progress with the vane section.
Will return to this later-on in this build log.

Very nice work Dan, that coin really shows the scale and level of detail.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Nice work yet again Dan.  Starting to look like??  Your effort is every bit as good as a builder's model with perhaps even better detail.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Great results from some meticulous planning and execution Dan.  As always, your explanations make easy reading and are very informative.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Thanks for looking in all; appreciate the feedback as it keeps me motivated
 
cheers
 
Pat

You have transformed the model into an educational and interesting asset for the museum Dan; a very nice job indeed on your repairs and detailing.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Very clever Tecko; a little humour to keep the viewers attention is a great idea.  This will be a very interesting diorama.
 
cheers
 
Pat

You have transformed the model into an educational and interesting asset for the museum Dan; a very nice job indeed on your repairs and detailing.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Hi folks, a few more progress pics showing the redone paintwork (hull) - still some touching up needed but it is getting there. 
 
Note the 'vermillion' ports (colour as per contract).  i have portrayed her with bucklers in place on one side, and open on the other.  The bucklers will be secured with a batten across the towing timbers once I have placed them (very soon) using a threaded rod and wing nut system.
 
The next jobs are to add all the detail to the bulwarks which will include, ring bolts for gun tackles and breeching ropes, cleats for securing lines, iron garlands for ready use shoot, lead linesman's platform etc.
 
As usual, all comments, suggestion for improvement etc are most welcomed.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Hi folks, a few more progress pics showing the redone paintwork (hull) - still some touching up needed but it is getting there. 
 
Note the 'vermillion' ports (colour as per contract).  i have portrayed her with bucklers in place on one side, and open on the other.  The bucklers will be secured with a batten across the towing timbers once I have placed them (very soon) using a threaded rod and wing nut system.
 
The next jobs are to add all the detail to the bulwarks which will include, ring bolts for gun tackles and breeching ropes, cleats for securing lines, iron garlands for ready use shoot, lead linesman's platform etc.
 
As usual, all comments, suggestion for improvement etc are most welcomed.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Hi folks some more progress on this build.  I have now done a fair mount of the painting.  The bulwarks and cap rails are finished but the hull still needs its final coat of black - you can see where I have started final sanding etc.  The figurehead requires some touching up of the white to complete it also.
 
The following show progressively how I have been proceeding.  First I built a build cradle which is hinged at the front so that I can angle the deck appropriately under a large mill to drill the mast holes.  This cradle keeps the ship nice and steady - there are two bicycle spoked from the keel (epoxied in) that pass through the assembly and secured with nuts under the board; the door wedges are for leveling the deck laterally.

The next photo shows her masked and the priming coat applied.  the last two photos are of her in her current state.  the larger holes are for the scupper outlets; the final size is much smaller - a 9" scupper at 1:1.  The smaller holes are for the Lang Scuttles mentioned earlier in this log.

 


 
I have also attached a 3D render of what the capstan will look like.
 

cheers 
 
Pat
 
 
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 273 – Fore Upper Topsail Yard Rigging  2
 
With all the bench work finished, the yard could now be hung to complete its rigging with a few exceptions mentioned earlier – mainly braces.  This part deals with the halyard and the lower ends of the topgallant sheets.  These are worked together.  Tension in the halyard pulls the yard up.  Sheets are used to hold the model yard down by linking them within the sheet block as described earlier.  In the first picture the yard is suspended in its lowered position – its final position on the model.
 

 
In this lowered position, the yard would be down on its lifts that will be rigged later.  Unless there was some desire on the part of the captain to show off the masts with yards at the upper sailing heights, this is the most likely position after the sails were taken down.  Note that the yard at this stage droops down a bit due to the clearance between the mast and the parral.  In the next picture the yard has been raised to its upper position.
 

 
The yard would be at this height under full sail.  It would be lowered as reefs were taken in to shorten sail.  The sails above would have been fully taken in before reefing this sail, so the yard could be lowered freely.  I fixed the yard temporarily in this position so the gin block shackle could be fitted to the end of the halyard chain.  The shackled block is shown in the next picture.
 

 
In this picture the yard has been lowered.  The copper shackle will be blackened.  Note the drooping topgallant sheet chains.  These will eventually be shackled to the topgallant clew lines when that yard is installed.  The next picture shows the topgallant sheets at the sheet block.
 

 
The chain sheets are connected to wire falls that run down toward the foot of the mast.  The wire cable was made by twisting up 36 gauge stainless wire and is less than 1" in diameter – hard to see.  I have highlighted the wire in white in the picture.  This runs down to the block of a whip, which has a standing end hooked to a deck eyebolt and the fall belayed on the fore fife rail.  When the sheet is put in tension to hold down the yard in this position, the chain interferes with the cap, as shown, if it is rigged through a fairlead in the top.  This line would normally be slack with the yard in this position.  I could leave it slack and rely on the downhaulers to hold the yard down, but slack model wire is pretty unruly and does not look good.  I have tentatively rigged this line to run vertically down along the mast so that it runs in a straight line to the whip block in the lowered position.  The two whip blocks with the cable connections may be seen near the center of the next picture.
 

 
The wire cable is just visible in the picture after rerunning it as described above, roughly on the centerline of the mast.  The standing end of the halyard is also wire, slightly larger, and may be seen at the lower part of the next picture.
 

 
Without full tension, the wire shape shows the problem described above. Sufficient chain has to be left on this leg to raise the yard.  The lower end of the wire standing leg, after tensioning, is shown seized to a channel eyebolt in the next picture.
 

 
This wire is a bit more visible – still pretty slender.  The running leg of the halyard is shown shackled to the upper block of a triple purchase tackle in the next picture. 
 

 
The lower block is hooked to a channel eyebolt on the port side.  This halyard arrangement was used on large yards to distribute the weight forces to both sides of the hull.  This tackle would consume a lot of rope when the yard was lowered.  The downhaulers used to help lower that yard and the other yard rigging will be described in the next part.
 
 
Ed

Hi again to all - 
 
Here is the second and final installment of this little build log.  Hope you enjoy it.
 
With the model and bases polished up, I could move to the fun part – populating it with people.  The vision of Professor Smith was to make the Pike display more ‘hands-on’ and interesting for the school age groups that visit the museum.   The idea was to have a number of vignettes around the ship that would show both the civilian crew and the naval armed guardsmen in realistic settings.    The internet quickly turned up a number of wartime photographs of Navy men servicing the guns.  Here are a few.

Photographs of civilian crewmen were harder to find, other than sterile, posed shots of a ship’s entire crew, all of them scrubbed up as if for their class photo.  I did round up a few, like these motley sailors at cards, and the captain at his desk.

The figures themselves were sourced from Shapeways.  I knew of them from the funnel cages for the Michelangelo, but was surprised at how many offerings were in their catalog when I searched for “1/24 navy figures”.  Dozens of poses, uniforms, helmets, and caps.  Here are a few.  The guardsmen came from their combat sets, with helmets and life jackets.  The crew from the merchant navy sets, some with lifejackets, some without, and even one in the apron and hat of a cook.

The figures are produced in two quality levels, coarse and fine, with the latter being a good deal more expensive.  The financial parameters of the contract mandated the former.  Although they are described as ‘soft’ by Shapeways, when they arrived I found that they are printed in a hard, brittle white plastic with just a little give.  Following the instructions, they were cleaned of oils and primed.  Here is the figure of a kneeling loader for the 5 inch gun.  In the close-up you can see how rough the surface actually is, especially on the skin areas.  Some details, like his helmet brim and strap, have extra lumps of plastic, while the strap is connected to his neck with an extra web.

Using knives and grinding bitts the extra bumps were removed and the helmet strap was cut free.  A wire wheel was used to smooth the flesh of the face and hands, leaving the white plastic showing.  To perfect the pose the hands were sliced off at the wrists and rotated.

I painted the figures with craft acrylics in basic colors.  Little attempt was made to be hyper-realistic with shading and washes, trusting to the eye of the viewer to supply those textures.  The 5 inch shell was turned to military specifications from a birch dowel on my drill press/lathe.    

Although all alone and in closeup the figure appears crude, but on deck I think it worked out pretty well. 

And here is the 5 inch gun with six guardsmen crewing it.  Notice that there are separate propellant charges and warheads, as well as some joined as one shell ready for use.   

It was while researching the gun and its ammunition that I discovered another little-known detail of Wally’s model.  All the way to the starboard side of the gun there are three shells upside down in a fixture.  It turns out that this is the fuse setting machine.  The fire control officer in control center would wire down the proper setting to the machine, and the crank was turned till the shell setting matched.  This substantially improved American rate of fire.

Here is the 3 inch gun at the bow with a gunner and loader.  Even in a fairly close-up shot the Shapeways figures stand up to examination.

The 20mm Oerlikons are served by gunners whose arms were surgically removed and positioned to grasp the handles of the model’s guns.  One is African-American, as were many sailors during the war, watching out warily for the enemy.

The civilian crew is on lookout as well.  The helmsman stands ready at the wheel with his eye on the gimballed compass and the old man’s eye on him.

On deck a few crewmen muscle oil drums onto a pallet while the mate shades his eyes and keeps them honest.

I’m still adding touches.  There will be several figures involved in a lifeboat drill, and additional deck workers.  As an extra I rounded up a 1/24 scale Sherman tank, a broken Radio Shack R/C toy.  After removing the incorrect spotlight, muzzle brake, switches and markings, their holes were filled and painted.  The broken tracks were repaired and reinforced with black fabric tape and the tank set on deck where it will have some crewmen securing it with chains.

But whatever other vignettes get built, there is one that is already a hit with the school crowd.  At the rail the cook watches while his KP swabby empties a pail full of scratch-built garbage.

Hope that this was an entertaining diversion.  Now back to the Michelangelo.
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

so ........here is the update from the last couple of days.   I haven't been able to get to the table as of yet........somewhere between snow and looking up sub models,  took up my morning.   the update starts with finishing off thew winch and cementing it to the deck.


I added the wiring on the side,  and ran it down to the base.   I then set to work making up the trays for the catch.   I was going to make a rack for them,  but due to tight quarters,  I opted not to.   I used the plastic fish inserts to assemble them.

sanding them down a bit will decrease the thickness of the sides.   I also set to making the rack for the other buoys.

for another idea that I have brewing,  I added stringers to the shrouds,  lashed with thin black thread.

after some more assembly,  the rack now looks like this.......

as for my bulbous,   bouncing,   baby buoys,   they were fit to be tied........or is that the other way around   

I did decide to add a sort section of table behind the winch........just not enough room to do what I wanted to do.

the trays were lined on the bottom with .5 x 3 mm Annegre,  leaving slot spaces for drainage.  the rack was painted before it gets any hardware.

the trays were trimmed after they dried........still need to be sanded and painted.   the sails have been traced out......they need to be cut out now.  I'm debating to bring out the sewing machine,  or just draw the pleats on the other side,  and leave it at that.  it's only two sails......hmmmmmmm.