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Harvey Golden
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That is quite an eclectic book-- it covers a lot of ground beyond models. It seems on first glance only the first 3 pages cover models? Chapman lists a supplier of model fittings, and it's the same one advertised in Hasluck, 1905 (attached below)-- must've been a good supplier to have been in business that long; I wonder when they opened. H-
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The Gaff Topsail is hoisted! Next up are the yards' lifts, braces and sheets. As I've built the two intact Nattilingmiut kayaks that Amundsen collected on King William Island, I thought I'd also make the three wood and caribou antler sleds-- the specs for these come from J. Garth Taylor's 1974 "Netsilik Eskimo Material Culture: The Roald Amundsen Collection from King William Island." The model sleds are made from cedar, paper, and copper wire, lashed with button thread.
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This evening I fixed the mast's pin-rail situation-- my model had half the number of belaying pins she should have had (as per the old Model Shipways plans); the Gjøa in the museum as she is today seems to have been short five, having just five (This is just on the horse-shoe shaped rail around the mast). Sounds easy enough, however ... The handle-ends of the pins I ordered didn't match the five I had in these positions, so I had to swap out others here and there to get ten matching pins. I had to re-space several of the extant pins so they would accommodate the doubling and look properly spaced. Also, the pins are not long enough to project through the bottom of the rail, so each 'lower-end' is a dummy of bamboo, inserted from below and glued. Old unused holes were plugged and painted. All of this done while she is nearly fully rigged, which is of course when I realized more belaying pins are needed-- made for some tight work, though nothing was damaged. Anyhow, an in-process shot, and a completed shot, with the foresail halyard replaced. Now I can finally begin to hitch off all the loose ends and tighten things up! Best, H-
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What exquisite luxury to have the full-size functioning vessel close at hand, and permission to board her! Your model is looking very good, as does the full-size! Harvey
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Almost time to relinquish the dining room table-- I got a lot done though! I'm so pleased with how the sails turned out that I decided to go all out with the rig, so the square, square topsail, and the sprit topsail will be set; Gjøa will be in full bloom by spring! One little hitch discovered this morning. . . I set up the mast's pinrail like how she is in the museum today, but there are apparently a number of pins missing. The old Model Shipways plans shows many more (and their functions), AND I ran out of pins (ordered, though). So, back to the shelf for a while. H-
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All credit to Steggen-- I'd never heard of the book or museum before, but it was a major help! Best, H-
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This is great to see! I didn't know about his book on Clinker boats, but am a big fan of his "Working Boats of Britain"-- his pen and ink drawings are about as good as they get (up there with Adkins, Manning, Paris, Af Chapman, etc.). My only (successful) experience with Lapstrake is a finger-size pram for my Gjøa-- I'd like to brush up on it, and it sounds like that's the perfect book and method to use. Will follow along.... Best, H-
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The mainsail is up! Looking like only minimal adjustments will be needed, mostly just tightening thing up as the boom and gaff hang nicely. Just one hoop glued so far, and just a few robands tied. Peak, Tack, and Clew temporarily fastened and the throat temporarily pinned. Feels nearly done, but a lot more to tend to: matte-ing out glue spots, gluing down falls and attaching hanks to pins, securing both anchors, hanging the rope ladder, tying off the boat lines, adding the main-sheet, and I still have to see about whether or not this ship had a rudder. . . H-
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Thank you Keith! It's a delightful challenge to make a brand new object look so old and worn; so real.
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No progress worth showing, but some progress made. Lots of adjusting this and that and doing this here and that there . . . and picking up half a dozen loose parral beads from the gaff after they came cascading down from on high (not sure I found them all, but I have several lifetimes' supply). Pretty sure the main gets hung tomorrow, but who knows? Anyhow, I did take some decent photos; all that lack of sanding, using crap wood, and blotchy paint seems to add a bit of je ne sais quoi. H-
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Thank you Jon! At this stage of building a scratch-built model, one might get the impression I know what I'm doing . . . Rigging in general is beyond my comfort zone, and everything you see is new to me. Along with the knowledge and generosity of others on this forum, the following three things were of great help in executing the rigging: 1. The .pdf "Jakt <Jelse>" https://fartoyvern.no/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/5-21_Jelse_THD_v1_MH-SS.pdf 2. Copies of the old Model Shipways plans for the Gjøa-- particularly the Belaying/sheeting diagram and the details of gaff, boom, yard, etc. 3. Lennarth Petersson's "Rigging: Period Fore-and-Aft Craft." Of the latter reference-- it covers three regional craft, none of which are from Norway, but it illustrates the concepts, purposes, and terminology very clearly, and helps corroborate matters from the other two sources. It's also fascinating to see how different people found differing solutions to the same requirements. FWIW, the British ship in Petersson seems to be the closest to the Gjøa w/r to rigging execution. I hope this is helpful, as is this thread-- I'm very aware there must be mistakes in my project though; I rather wish I was following your path! H-
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Thank you! Little by little...
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A week-long window of free access to the dining room table has just opened! The model is 40" from tip of the bowsprit to the tender on stern davits-- my "official" model work bench is 41" wide, so this is a rare chance to get some serious work done, with access to both sides. The main goal is to get the main sail on. The last four mast hoops are on-- I did not thread them onto the mast before attaching all the foresail rigging, crow's nest, shrouds, etc., so I cut them open and then glued them back together around the mast. The boom and gaff are already fitted out with blocks, cleats, etc. I also got the parral beads on the gaff and have rigged it into temporary position with the throat halyard and peak halyard. Also, the rope ladder for the crow's nest is ready to hang. Also, I've fitted those puzzling Ørefiken thingies-- shown below, though not rigged-up yet, nor properly attached (will be lashed further). Special thanks again to Steggin, who shared the source that provided the answer of how the Ørefiken was set-up (see .pdf he links to at bottom page 3 here). With luck, I'll be attaching the mainsail tomorrow or so; still have to get the topping lift set up.
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Not to be left out, I also have a suggestion 😉 I also would hand letter it, but to ensure it has the odd character of the original's lettering and mis-matched weight, etc. I would trace it onto silkspan or tracing paper and then paint the back side (to form the background color). For tracing, I'd get rid of the perspective/foreshortening by simply stretching the image to what looks reasonable-- below is a simple example (it can be printed to proper size, or if you are brave, you can use your computer screen as a "light box"). A Pigma Micron or similar quality pen would make short work of it, even in tiny scale. Just thoughts- H-
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You're in for a BIG treat, then! They're hard to find; hoping your local maritime museum may have a set.
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The Historic American Merchant Marine Survey volumes have a few color plates in them-- rendered artistically by the surveyors. I don't recall which volume, but they show a nice though not extensive range of colors on various parts of certain boats (fishing craft and/or coasters from the 19th C, [though undoubtedly 'touched-up' by the time of the survey] if I recall). Best, H-
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Hi Jond! Nice to see another scratch built Gjøa on the ways! My 1/32 version is a bit stagnant at the moment, though nearing completion. Yours is looking great, and I envy the slightly smaller scale! Best, Harvey
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Nothing more delicious than an odd looking paddle-wheeler with a good back story-- "Billy" definitely fits the bill! ... and for future consideration:
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Thank you Phil! While it nears completion, I'm definitely on the slow track. Best, H-
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Thank you Matle! This information is very helpful-- glad you found my build log. The PDF that Steggen linked to (second post from top; this page) is to-date the best info I've come across yet, but you've clearly shown how the line is run to a reef point, which makes sense. Seeing your drawing on the photos makes me think it must have been a way to sheet the foresail with a reef set without lowering the foresail. By keeping the sail raised with a reef in, sheeting to the traveler may not have been a good option physics-wise, so a higher position of the block-- lashed to the stays-- would offer better purchase. This is all just an un-educated theory, though.... Thank you again!
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Flying Jib, Jib, and Foresail are all up and sheeted. I used Dr PR's method of making the hanks on the foresail, as noted on his build-log of the Albatross-- thanks Phil! The Øerifiken continues to perplex, particularly with regards to its purpose, and is so far omitted. I've got a book en-route that will hopefully help. The sheeting of the foresail on the traveler is made exactly like that in the paper Steggin linked to on the previous page-- one with a cleat mounted right on the side of the lower block. The foresail also has a downhaul rigged with a light line. The falls are mostly glued to the proper pins-- will be adding separate rope coils soon. Here are some pics: The model's keel is 1-1/2" above the floor (on the stand), and the mast tops out at over 36" high-- my usual work-space is too small for this model, so I've moved it to the living room floor (I live in a 1913 corner grocery store, so a very spacious living room with 11' ceilings). I've been working on the rigging for the gaff and boom, attaching anchor points for blocks on mast, boom, and gaff. More line and more blocks have been ordered. . . going through this stuff fast! H--
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Thanks Siggi! I used archival pva glue to attach the bolt ropes. Just a line of glue along the sail edge, then push the rope against it; once it is situated properly, I elevate the glued section to dry (ensuring it doesn't adhere to the table). I just do about 4-5 inches at a time. Hope this helps! H-
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I just saw your build of the St. Roch-- that is a lovely model!!! I've been aboard at the VMM some years back, and it is good to see it preserved. First, I know very little about handling ships like these, but the idea of a fixed cleat for a sheet connected to the traveler seems like it would restrict the movement. I had been thinking maybe it was cleated to a cleat affixed to one of the lines adjacent the blocks, or something like that-- figure 117 in the paper Steggen linked to shows a variation of this, where the cleat is affixed directly to a block. Now I'm wondering what the cleat is for on the St. Roch (also wondering how wrong I am about all of this 😉). Thank you again! H-
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Thank you Steggen! This is very helpful. I'll have to take time to digest (and translate) this. I see figure 111 has a line labeled Ørefiken, and it is shown (unlabeled) on the plans I have. Seems to have good info on the traveler as well-- thank you again! H-
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