Snug Harbor Johnny

You've done very well with the project at a challenging scale (most of the Scientific clippers were about 1:125) ... well above average form some that I've seen. You don't need to glue in the masts, as the shrouds of the standing rigging will hold them in place. An oldie I've done some restoration on did not have the masts glued, and that was a blessing - as I could take them out to work on repainting and fixing hull details. An alternative to casing is to mount a wood shelf on a wall with an identical shelf above it as long as the model fits in the space between the shelves with a little room to spare. Then you can screw in hooks into the front and sides of the top shelf, from which acrylic sheets (with holes to fit over the hooks) are hung - with the bottom edge of each sheet cut to overlap the bottom shelf. They will keep out most of the dust, yet the model will still be accessible by lifting the front panel. Every few years, a few deft passes with simple compressed air ("dust off" for computer keyboards) will clear away what little dust might have infiltrated the wall mounting. You only need to do the 'standing' rigging' - and using the durable rigging line from Ropes of Scale is a smart move. I know you will always be pleased when viewing the finished display, and you'll have good memories of your father. That's all have left of my own Dad, aside from one small airplane model he made.

'Never heard of using mineral oil before shellac ... and I'd be wary of it (or any pre application) without first experimenting on trial pieces. When making furniture from dark woods - such as mahogany or black walnut - I have used light application of 50-50 turpentine/boiled linseed oil to enhance the color of the heartwood. A couple days were allowed for outgassing and polymerization before the first coat of shellac. Amber shellac was used on mahogany, (which has red tones already in the wood) but clear was used on the walnut. The application of any sort of oil might affect the glue bonds between the deck and applied items, whereas shellac or varnish should not. Experiment on trial pieces first. Try using a light clear shellac first, followed by an amber overcoat, and compare that with a test of just the amber.

Your sanded deck looks just fine - I really like the look. Decks were in constant use and got maintenance, yet some builders darken them. Since you want to glue some items to the deck, I'd wait before applying any kind of sealer. Both shellac and varnish have been used in the past, and that can keep fine particulates from getting into the wood fibers - and make future cleaning much easier, especially if the model will not be in a case. The application can be with a small art brush and is sparing, so a single application will have a mostly matte surface. Over application or multiple coats will make the surface shiny, and you might not want that appearance. Even if gluing wood to wood, the modeler's bane is that spindly items in the future might just come 'unstuck', like a fife rail with rigging attached. Then fixing it is a pain. That is why pinning is a good idea where possible. I've attached a photo from a project where I made a fife rail where the vertical posts are toothpicks with shaped ends (found locally at a food store) - other builders have used 'fancy' toothpicks (hors d'oeuvres skewers) for railings. So I simply marked and drilled holes in the deck for the round posts to go into and glued them in. The rail is attached so firmly that only a force great enough to snap the wood will cause failure. (Dropping a model is never a good idea.) The original builder just penciled the plank lines on the deck, and used an amber varnish over. 50 years of dust and grime (when I rescued the Gorch Fock from way in back of an jumbled antique shop) from the neglected model came off with a little TLC, and appear OK now.

Anywhere glue touches will act as a 'resist' to any subsequent coloration - thus causing light splotches. One way around this (before any tinting is attempted) is to apply a thin coat of clear shellac. This sparing coat, which can be slightly thinned with denatured alcohol before application, will act as a sealer without changing how the wood looks underneath (mostly) once dried. Then I brush a light coat of amber shellac over top, and the appearance gets a uniform light amber color, as shellac will fuse with itself (the undercoating or 'spit coat', that is). You can't glue anything (wood to wood) after that, but something with a reasonable 'footprint' (like a cabin) can be secured with epoxy or CA. But things like fife rails, bollards, pumps, eyebolts, etc. have to be pinned into the substrate. Many plank-on-bulkhead models have only a thin sub deck below deck planking, which doesn't give much to 'pin' into. Solid hulls have an advantage in that department. So it is advisable even before laying the sub deck on a P-O-B model (the 'skeleton' phase) to improvise filler wood between the tops of the bulkheads flush to where the sub deck will be applied. Then the builder will have more 'meat' to pin stuff into later from above.

Here's another good record of late 18th century color chips:

Wow - a tribute to perseverance !

LOVE this display concept !! I think I'll use something like this for a couple of future builds.

This is close to a full-sized 'demo' rope making rig I used to take to historic sites for special events. Mine had 3 planetary gears of wood (I've seen vintage cast iron rigs that have 4 spindles, so either 3 or 4 strand rope can be made) mounted on a vertical harness maker's vise, a movable tailstock that could be set any distance from the headstock, and a rope maker's 'top' with a hanging weighty to keep it from revolving. As the strands tightened with spinning, the rope would self-make as the top progressed from the tailstock (on wheels - with a leather flap and weight hanging off the back to maintain tension, yet still allow the tailstock to move forward as the rope spinning shortened the length of the strands between head and tail stock). One difference is that the gathered strands at the tail stock were on a 'swivel' that could also counter spin as the rope was laid. to automatically balance the forces. That way, once the rope was done, there was very little 'whipping' of the rope to take out excess twist force. The final step was to 'set' the rope by attaching one end to a post (or tree) and pulling on the rope as much as possible. It would then stretch out a little during the setting process. I have no picture or videos of the demos, since I could not DO the tasks and take pictures at the same time - and I had no photographer. The ggreat thing about Chucks Rope Rocket (and he may eventually be able to re-source parts to resume selling units), is that you can make lengths as long as the distance you have available. You don't need a table that long - just a stand for the geared spinning end, and a table at the other end long enough to accommodate the lessening of strand length in part 2 of his method (no 'top' is required). Part one is just spinning to get a tension, and in theory - for a given working length and strand composition this would be a finite number of turns. Yeah, try counting that, so I just let the drill spin the strands like crazy until the stand with the spinning head starts to want to fall over - and thats tight enough. Then at end 2 on the table, I get a hold of it before unclamping (not good to lose it, or it will shoot away from you and ruin everything), turning (in the proper direction to lay rope from the center of the ru outward), applying the drill and counter spinning - letting the hand holding the tail rig move it along as the pressure dictates, and the rope looks complete. In theory (again), if the counter twist matches the initial spinning twists - perfect rope just falls off once cut and tied. But there will always bee some imbalance - with associated 'kinking'. This is fixed by 'whipping' the rope to remove any imbalance - and then it looks just fine with no kinks. BUT, then I 'set' the scale rope (just as in full size rope) by tying one end to something (or just stepping on one end) and pulling the other taught. You can 'feel' the rope stretching and relaxing as it get 'set' just so. Its really a learned skill. Lastly, with Gutermann or Metler poly, one put coils of scale rope on a cookie sheet into a preheated oven (325 deg. F) for 5 - 7 minutes to heat set. Then there will be a minimum of ravel when cut during use. Do not overbake or you might melt the poly and ruin the rope.

I edited my original post above, which is the best I can do at this time. The Fair American is an interesting build, and there are MSW logs dealing with peculiarities of armament fit, and decking ... I suppose there is not 'definitive' solution.

After its capture in September 1780, the U.S. brig Fair American was taken by the British and sold into service, eventually becoming a slave ship. The British Royal Navy itself did not incorporate it into its ranks for long, and it was sold in 1783 after the American Revolutionary War concluded. The fate of the vessel's crew was different: they were taken as prisoners of war to Forton Prison in Gosport, England. While a few managed to escape (including the captain and lieutenant), most of the crew's ultimate fate is unknown, though one seaman enlisted in the Royal Navy to avoid further imprisonment. The vessel itself was used for six full voyages in the triangular slave trade, before being wrecked as it began its seventh return journey. EDIT: The above was a Google A.I. overview of the fate of the Fair American, and I didn't go deeper (at the time) in to the source documentation - which appears below the 'overview' (and has highlighted text where taken). I'd have to re-query 'exactly' to get back to where I was. The overview mode is often a quick way to 'get into the weeds' of a topic - quicker than using a card catalog in a physical library ... but you have to be careful of the query wording, and still check out the source material. Garbage in - garbage out.

Chris is right - in that warships with lots of guns have gunports, carriages, and tackle to fiddle with (in addition to everything else). Clippers have tons of rigging, although one can build one in harbor with only standing rigging. You did well with the Roar Ede (1:25), so you could consider its "big brother" - the Billings 1:25 Oseberg (current edition). Artisania Latina has a 1:75 Bluenose II (there are a couple MSW build logs of it) that is a good compromise between modeling in either too small or too large a scale - something to consider for compatibility with your dexterity level ... also the space available for display (don't forget to think about the size of the case if you don't want your model to become a dust collector). Occer has a similar scale kit of the Endurance (several build logs on MSW ... ranging from an "out of the box" build to one with many enhancements), which is readily planked and doesn't have too complicated rigging. These moderately priced kits can be easily enhanced by using scale rope (aftermarket or self-made) and better blocks and 3-D railings where needed.

Glen, If you want exposure to the best dramatization of the true Essex story, just watch the movie 'In the Heart of the Sea'. If you have to pay per view, it is WELL worth it. I found it a gripping story not just because of the 'main event' - a whale sinking a whaling ship - but the entire milieu of Nantucket whalers and their often precarious and always hard lives. Then AFTER the main event is a heart rending depiction of those who perished horribly on the whaleboats or on a tiny island waiting to be rescued, and those who survived ... and were evermore haunted by what they had to do to survive. You can stream it online, but it is far better to watch on a home screen at night. If you watch the trailer, you'll want to watch the film. And if the film doesn't inspire you to take on the SIB Essex challenge, nothing will. https://www.google.com/search?q=in+the+heart+of+the+sea&sca_esv=3d3f4dbf6750febd&rlz=1C5ZNUK_en&ei=ICsBaYacOYesiLMP8KCt0A8&ved=0ahUKEwiGrN2i4ceQAxUHFmIAHXBQC_oQ4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq=in+the+heart+of+the+sea&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiF2luIHRoZSBoZWFydCBvZiB0aGUgc2VhMg0QLhiABBixAxhDGIoFMgsQABiABBiRAhiKBTILEC4YgAQYkQIYigUyChAAGIAEGEMYigUyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyHBAuGIAEGLEDGEMYigUYlwUY3AQY3gQY4ATYAQFI_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&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:3e6e3650,vid:K-H35Mpj4uk,st:0

Ahoy, Glen ! After wondering how to (possibly) top or at least equal the feat of you Queen Anne's Revenge spewing fire, I thought of something as a suggestion. How about a sperm whale striking the Essex? !! You might use a somewhat larger bottle and model in a larger scale for effect, so the ship can be at an angle inside and heeled just after the whale strike. The stove or depression would be just above the water level with the head of the whale also above water in contact with the hull, with waves and spray pushed out on either side of the white whale's head. Semi translucent blue water would show the body of the whale still under water, but the flukes of the tail could come out of the water - possibly flicking one of the whaleboats. The reason for an angled ship would be to allow the long whale body to be 'fore-and-aft' within the glass container - possibly a half gallon cider jug. The ship had stopped to harvest whales from a pod, so the sails would be hauled up to the yards, and there could be a couple more whaleboats watching the scene in horror - with small figures in the boats and also on the ship. I looked for some period images and pasted them below a imagination starters. Another option would be to have the ship be the Pequod and the whale Moby Dick.

Of course, straight files are the old-school standby.

'Don't know how anyone can top this cool project ... you've raised the bar for the rest of us mortals. Kudos !

I know what you mean about a parent throwing out stuff. Before I left for 6 months of payed internship in another state (yup, in the 70s they payed interns ... today companies get them for free - 'just for the opportunity'), I was told to organize a number of fossils collected over several teenage years (now unattainable due to privatization of sites and development) and pack them in a box. I did this with care and padding, taped the box and marked EACH of the six faces of the box with permanent black marker "FOSSILS" and placed it on a shelf in a basement storeroom where I was directed to keep the box. There was a next to last college semester after that and then another 6 months of payed internship, followed by the last semester (so the degree took me 5 years to earn). While packing my car ready to leave home and 'seek my fortune' I looked for the box of fossils ... but it was gone, along with most of the stuff that had been in the storeroom. Dad claimed never to have seen it when he 'organized and cleaned' the room - so it was said. He also didn't know what happened to my bike either ... until reminded by Mom and a brother reminded him that he'd donated it to Goodwill. He was angry that he was 'busted' about the bike, so I just let it (and the fossils) slide.

If you need narrow widths of relatively thin brass stock (still available in sheets), you can use a heavy-duty paper cutter (one-arm shear blade) to slice off thin strips.

I wonder if suitably sized 'hardware cloth' (metal mesh found in home/garden supply stores) could serve as railing. GREAT job on the pre-dreadnaught, Gramps ... and someday I may do a paper USS Baltimore seen in a MSW topic last year. I bought a downloaded version from the designers, then enlarged to the biggest size I could print.

Kudos, mate ! A great job in a challenging scale ! 253 hours over 121 days is a respectable pace. My side project was started the weekend before this past New Year's, and I logged 60 hours of actual work (in one month) before I set it aside to do the Admiral's list of jobs - as well as being 'stuck' on how to proceed. So the elapsed time since starting is over 9 months, but the work log has only 60 hours (I'm not counting the couple hundred hours spent thinking about it and looking it over from time to time). I'm guessing my work log hours should be about on par with yours in the end - whenever that might be. Fair sailing ! Johnny

'Heard that after 43 attempts, someone found the perfect mix for a toning stain for this kit ... They call it Grecian Formula 44.

Blame some sub-contractor. Or perhaps a plan or sketch got wrinkled or folded a bit after being approved by the King. Not wanting to offend the King, the construction went right-on ahead. I found a more recent 'example' of something like this from a 60s issue of Mad magazine: The bent fuselage of the Snud U-14 stood for many years as a Soviet military secret; only after the last example of this little-known type had safely crashed was it revealed. During the design stage in 1938, a blueprint had been wrinkled accidentally and because nobody would own up to responsibility-since damaging state property carried the death penalty-the mistake went unchecked and into production.

Thanks, Chris ! It worked like a charm. From time to time I learn new things about the MSW site - like moving the cursor over 'Everywhere' at the right of the search tab reveals all the topics that can act as a filter for a search. Johnny

New update on this project: I was asked if I'd sell the Sergal 1:65 Great Henry kit in a private message, and with mixed emotions I agreed to the request since: 1.) The original kit components had not been compromised - just a trial fitting of the hull frames, with a few pieces cut from the printed sheet stock; and 2.) he seemed to desire the kit either to build out of the box (or possibly to collect?). I did advise him of the large size of the kit model - some 51" in overall length and 36" keel to mast top. That was far larger than I had ever anticipated, ergo my desire to do a model in a more manageable size at 1:88 - so I could use the kit cannon/fittings. So I let go of the kit for someone who wanted it for what it was. That leaves me with my own drawings and hand made frames that are substantially different than the shapes of most of the frames that were in the kit. All the kit drawings and fittings went with the kit, of course. So what I have left is a scratch build, or at least one that may incorporate bits and pieces of commercially available fittings ... I don't intend to re-invent the wheel or do crazy things like making my own blocks, deadeyes, etc. Nor do I intend to go out and cut my own tree, saw into rough planks, age to dry, re-saw into stock that can be further re-sawn into planking wood. And forget trying to locate a source of metal ore, then smelting and purifying brass and iron to make metal stock that I can fashion metal fittings and cannon from. THAT would be "true scratch" building. I'd like to edit the title of this build, but don't see how at this point. Whatever ... the Sergal kit was an 'inspiration' that got me out of the starting blocks on a build of my own in a scale of my choosing. Seeing Baker's Mary Rose scratch build and Louie da Fly's re-build of a Great Henry (wow, and in a small scale no less) also influence what I can do on this project. Johnny

I bought the Khufu Solar Barge kit a few years ago (zootoys) with no problems, but that was pre-tariff. The engineering is good, as I covered in my MSW build log, yet building skills are still needed on a boat model. The instructions are all Japanese, but with patience I was able to translate with my phone and the Google Translate app. This helped explain the many pictures of assembly steps that came with the kit, as well as a couple other build logs and my own judgement - on a few things to do differently.

You could make it easier to do these details in 1:24 😉