Snug Harbor Johnny

I'm impressed by the state of your project, and note that rigging will be the 'other half' of the work. I've been struggling with correcting the problems with my original 1:100 Billings (1960's vintage) ... not that I'm being overly critical as Billings has made many fine kits over the years, and has significantly improved them as new scholarship and technology (like laser cutting) have become available. And the delay means that I have much better information to work with. The plan is to depict it near completion but without sails (perhaps only 3 were set on that fateful 'voyage', and the rest were found still in the sail locker). Not having sails will make it easier due to much of the 'running rigging' being omitted. There will be shrouds, stays, halyards, lifts and braces ... and some of the blocks intended for running rigging will attached where they would be. With this time period there were no jackstays, foot ropes or iron mounts for any of the yards (like clippers had) ... just parrels.

'Bout time for another small step forward, and some more decisions on how to proceed. This project is definitely a substantial 'kit bust' from what came in the box, as has already been noted. With the stern scratch re-worked and the bow area to be done from scratch, the project approaches semi-scratch ... but I wouldn't go quite that far. It's more a work of art, and I said something to that effect on a recent post to an Endurance build. The smaller the scale, the more simplifications have to be made. I'm finding 1:100 (or thereabouts) not too difficult, yet challenging nonetheless. I imagine that I was someone allowed to the build site in 1628, where I made some quick sketches and notes - figuring that I could make a more complete and detailed version after the ship was moved, the object being to do an oil painting if not a model. Then came the shocking news of the sinking, and all I'd have to work with are those initial rough sketches and pacing-off ! Of course, with MSW there are other builds to look at, and every one has it's own unique characteristics and charm. I suppose that what I end up with will be no exception. I'll need 2 catheads, so I found a piece of spruce stock from one of my 'parts kits', drilled a hole through the side for 20 gauge brass beading wire (soft state) with a finger operated pin vise, and cut two slots in the end for the sheaves with an ordinary hack saw (holding the stock end-up in a vise). A piece of 1/8" brass rod was chucked in the Unimat, and I drilled the same size hole in the end. I should have used a small center drill first, since the wire drill 'walked' a little off center before 'grabbing' ... no matter. A model railroad track saw was used to clice a thin sheave off the drilled stock after first scoring with a sharp pointed tool cranked-in from the side. The parts are shown below. There was a little wobble to the end cuts in the wood - course corrected as I went. The second cat head came out better. getting the wire through everything was fiddly - a sewing pin was used to rough align the assembly, then the wire end was filed to 'sharpen' and it finally went through. One wire end was bent over a wee bit - the other cut with the angled side of the flush cutter so I could bend that bit over as well. Below are the finished pair. NO, I'm not going to do the first one over ... its 'good enough' and the close-up magnifies every defect. I did put the tiny brads in the sides and stern as previously indicated. Of the 560 that I started with, 130 remain .. so that works out to about 430 brads put into the hull ... I didn't bother counting as each hole locations was pencil marked, 'dinked' with a prick punch and drilled with the flex-shaft before each brad was positioned and pushed into place. I think they add something to the project. Too many brads might have been distracting as they are slightly out of scale (better for the 1:65 AL version), and the toothpick trunnels are also out of scale, so too many of them wouldn't have been good either. I find the combination pleasing, and I have only myself to please. BTW, the holes without brads in them are where chainplate will be fastened. The first mast sections were put temporarily in place so I could 'eyeball' (with a hacksaw blade as a straightedge) the line of the shrouds coming down to the lower deadeyes located by pre-drilled holes in the channel (can't be seen here) and through to the attachment point below the channel. Will it be 'exact'? Likely not, but not enough to be a bother - and that (as I've said) should be 'good enough'.

I see you're in Alberta, and that make me recall a Gordon Lightfoot song, 'Alberta Bound' ... Anyway, GREAT JOB you've done on your project. I 'get' what you've said about not wanting a long dragged-out log, as there are others on this ship with a lot of detail. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing a closer picture of how you handled the stanchions and railing (there is a bunch) ... did you use the PE provided with rigging rope strung between, or did you go to the luxury of buying 3D stanchions for wire railing? This is a build in my future and I don't mind seeing how multiple builders did things on Endurance. Come to think about it, ship modeling is really an art form, and what we make has to have at least some compromises from a full-sized version ... and the smaller the scale the more has to either be left out or simplified (like teeny ships in a bottle that require SERIOUS simplification). Another form of ship artwork is painting, so the farther away the ship appears in the painting the smaller the 'apparent' scale is - and the same 'simplification effect' applies to 2D art as it does for 3D art. So don't worry about close-up photography ... that only magnifies the smallest of irregularities that an in-person observer will never discern.

Super job, mate ! I'm seeing some advantages to modeling earlier ships ... no jackstays or footropes.

Don't forget Georg Phillip Telemann - great baroque small-ensemble stuff.

Hmmmm, 78 ... 87 ... could be lysdexia. (dyslexia 😉 )

I have a an old Unimat miniature lathe. Since its powered by a Dremel type motor, it is underpowered for metal turning, but with light cuts it does OK on brass or aluminum stock (relatively small in diameter). Steel is tough on it, but wood cuts 'like butter'. For our purposes, the most useful accessory is a 3-jaw 'Universal' chuck ... that is, one that operates with all three jaws closing simultaneously so that round stock is automatically 'centered'. One can then 'spot drill' the end on center (after facing-off the end), followed by drilling (sometimes in steps, depending on stock size). Since the Unimat is so small, the largest dowel stock that can pass through the head is around 1/4" - suitable for most yards and a good many mast sections - but not all, depending on scale. You can see how I used my lathe in the Khufu build (see at the bottom of my post) doing a whole bunch of palm-head supports for the canopy. A somewhat larger and more powerful lathe (that can also take thicker rods) would be preferable ... but only up to a point - we're doing modeling, not machine shop jobbing. The second accessory to get is a 'live center' with drill chuck for the tail stock. This will permit support on the end of round stock so you can have a greater length extended from the head stock. This is limited by the diameter of the material (and the type of material), and the depth of cut - so that deflection is limited. What I've had to do is work on short extensions of stock (due to deflection and the lack of a live center), then advance the stock to work further down on the piece. Drilling with the tail stock is done with an ordinary drill bit chuck that screws on the threaded portion of the tail stock - and is not 'live' (so the drill bit will not rotate). Some time ago, a four-jaw 'independent' chuck was obtained for square and odd sized workpieces - and I was able to do round work by centering a piece of round stock 'reasonable well' (as large as 2" in diameter) within the steps of the jaws (when reversed), THEN truing-up the diameter by cutting the periphery after face-off. Boring was done with a small bar after drilling. A "T" groove table mounted to the cross bar permitted a tool mount to be more easily manipulated and angled than an ordinary tool holder. These ideas should get you off to a good start.

Some say that Domenico Scarlatti was the most prolific composer for the harpsichord, having written over 500 sonatas. Others say that he was the most PERSISTENT composer, having written a harpsichord sonata over 500 times. This may also apply to doing ratlines ...

OUTSTANDING method, mate ... and VERY well shown pictorially ! It is step-by-step and easy to understand what you did. This will definitely influence me on a future build, so I'll be sure to watch further developments on your build. This is effectively 'caul bending' (or veneering), in which several thin pieces are formed around a bending caul (I may have the spelling wrong) after some glue is put between the elements to be formed. I did exactly this when building a bent-side Spinet Harpsichord (a large project). The side of the instrument's 'bent side' meant that I only needed a curved piece to bend against, and used a number of wood blocks held by clamps to keep the outside of the work-piece itself against the form (that had a small amount of 'spring back' allowance due to the 1/4" or 6.35mm thickness of the components). You have made a nifty jig to allow the exterior clamps to hold the bent pieces together while the glue dries, due to the small size of your application. The thinness of your component pieces means that there is little need to worry about spring-back. The method you show may take planning and jig design, but it is WAY better than drafting outlines on plank stock, then jig sawing frames out. Hand sawing frames makes for too much variation that is hard to sand to uniformity and still have them symmetrical. dealing with the grain of the wood can also be a challenge ... thin ribs are prone to breakage at the weak spots, and end-grain in places on the edges makes fairing and planking more difficult. By forming frames as demonstrated, there is great strength all along each rib. Once all the ribs are in place, a stable planking jig exists. Once planked, the attachment points along the sides are released and the ends can be trimmed where they should be. Fair sailing ! Johnny

'Just LOVE how your hull is coming along ! There are some similarities to the Khufu barge, in that there are 'stringers' spaced on the interior, and the bottom is nearly flat - giving the craft greater stability (in NO ways canoe-like) yet able to move across shallow waters.

Thanks for the tip, George. 'Just ordered some in that size plus the next up from that ... they'll come in handy whenever the clipper project get underway. Right now, I'm focusing on finishing the current build - which has waited too long for completion. Yet the long delay has made current information and scholarship available, much to my advantage.

Perhaps some 'plastic wood' filler might 'fill-out' the bow area. Instead of the wood grate stock as railings, pins stanchions with thread (or very thin wire) may be better. Beads for dead eyes might do. Think 'out og the box'.

How did you make (or source) the tiny jackstay eyebolts? They seem a real challenge at 1:96.

I saw Artesania Latina's 1805 Swift with a 'buy it now' price of $49.99. The AL Bounty Jolly Boat was for $42 and change. These look like great beginner kits that don't cost much ... and I know there is at least one build log for the Jolly Boat. Check it out.

Ahh, lacing the deadeyes ... With the CS the lower ones are inboard and below the gunwale. Many other ships have presious little room between lower deadeyes on the channel and the hull. This makes me thin k that I might try 'rough lacing an upper deadeye to a lower one BEFORE mounting the lower deadeye on the channel. Just as cannon tackle have the free end on the line wrapped around the sheaved lines between the blocks to keep them neat, I plan to do the same with the free end of the deadeye lacing line before mounting the lower deadeye to the channel. A shroud with a loop seized on one end goes through the lubber hole and over whatever mast section to braced, then the free end will be put around the upper deadeye , snugged and tied so it can still be adjusted. Then the lacing line can be adjusted (taking up shroud line as needed on the upper deadeye) until the desired position of the upper deadeye is achieved. Then proper seizing is done for that shroud around its upper deadeye. The other side's 1st shroud is done concurrently to the above. The (in pairs) the other shrouds are done in turn, and the upper deadeyes should all be fairly parallel to the gunwale at whatever height chosen.

I knocked over a container of the tiny brads and thought I'd have a time picking them all up. Then I remembered a handy 'magnet on a stick' the Admiral has, that looks something like a golf club. 'Worked like a charm, since the brads (and a few other bits) are magnetic. Too bad there's not a 'magnet' for brass. BTW, I found that quick set epoxy ('5 minute' type) does NOT stick to the silicone mold, and that parts cast in epoxy have a 'flexing state' after 15 minutes, so perhaps the curved figures for the cupola roofs can be modeled and cast flat - then formed during the 'flex stage'. After much more time than that (30 -40 minutes) the pieces are firm - hmmm ... about the time a blue pill takes to work. 'Full cure' is 3 - 4 hours, but I like to let them sit overnight before sanding/filing for any clean-up. I didn't find 'casting resin' at Hobby Lobby - they have discontinued sales. I asked why and the answer was 'defective product'. I believe that there were too many people who did not mix EQUAL parts and did not get proper curing - thus returned product for a refund as 'defective'. The manufacturer provided no warranty due to lack of control of product use, and also had a 'litany' of hazard warnings because of component chemicals ... again, we have ultra cautiousness these days over ANY potential liability. Yet these hobby 'resins' are just epoxy that color is added to, with varying cure times. Two aisles over they sold bottlers of epoxy glue with varying cure times as well ... go figure. BTW, if the Admiral's in a mood and sounds 'beat to quarters', this gunner can chew the pill (tastes bitter), chase with water on an empty stomach and be ready for action in 15 minutes ... aye-aye Sir !

'Saw a clear demo on the 'sew' method for ratlines (it may have been part of the USS Tennessee log 1:96 scale), The shrouds/deadeyes are done first, of course (and some save the ratlines for last to make other rigging easier). A sewing needle is used to pull ratline thread through the shrouds (with paper marked for horizontal ratline spacing fastened with clips behind the shrouds) from whichever side one is comfortable starting with (RH vs LH). Then everything is adjusted, and after all ratlines are in place and tweaked, a tiny bit of one's glue of choice fixes all the joints (thinned PVA vs CA), with the very ends clipped close with flush cutters.

'Realized that I need a few more tiny lion heads and round gunport surrounds - and the old latex molds crumbled with age. Not finding liquid latex locally - and it is a long process to 'build up' layers thick enough to use as a mold, I ordered 2-part silicone mold material on-line and found a new mold easy to make. I place intact original parts (molded form dental "stone") in a plastic compartment from a Mamoli kit ... any convenient container thats not too deep will do - or even a flat glass or plastic surface that one put a cookie cutter over as a 'dam'. Traces of gold paint are on the pieces to copy. The silicone material is two-part, and at room temperature has a 30 minute working life. The key to successful curing is getting EXACT amounts of part A & B together, and the best way is to weigh it out - I'm using a small cut-down plastic cup 'tared' (zeroed) on a small digital scale. I watched the stiff 'de-bubble' itself after 3 minutes of mixing with a stick - and allowed 15 minutes for this process to occur. A stick was used to drizzle silicone carefully on the items so as not to have bubbles. 'Should have used a little 'Stick-um' on the backs so they would not shift, causing a thin film of silicone to get behind them - later trimmed away with nippers. After 3 hours curing the edges were teased up[ with a dental tool, and there was no sticking to the surround. The cured mold was 'squeezable' to pop out the originals. And a nice mold was made ... with a few specs of gold left behind that were easy to remove by squeezing the mold and wiping with a damp cloth. Now the Durham's water putty I tried did not cast as nice as dental 'stone' ... not so hard and more brittle, whereas 'stone' is made to be worked on in a dental lab. I tried less water and added a little Elmer's glue to the Durham powder, and that worked better. What I'll get today is was is MEANT to be used with silicone molds - resin. This is available in hobby stores and referred to as 'casting resin'. Below are the initial pieces made - the gun port rings had to be Ca'd together as they broke on de-molding. Casting resin will be much tougher. As far as the ship goes, I realized that the angles of the sides astern were a bit too far off, so trimmed them into a better profile - nat quite right, but what I'll have to live with on my attempt to make a 'sow's ear into a silk purse' ... if not silk, then perhaps linen. The drilled channel were CA'd on the starboard side. Of course there's lots more to do.

Actually ... there is a little 'real' (Honduran) mahogany available by the piece in specialty wood craft stores (those that are left). The largest is a chain called Woodcraft. I've heard that there are some South American tree farms that raise exotics for legal import. One has to pick a piece carefully and then re-saw it yourself. Now, East Indian Rosewood is completely illegal and not available - but there is a limited quantity of a related Caribbean species.

'Takes me back to my teens when I built Estes rockets ... eventually designing a two-stage 'egg lofter' powered by D engines. It went so high (and there was no central hole in the parachute) that gusts blew it deep into a wooded area - lost for good. I also launched boost gliders and a plastic camera that would take areal shots of varying quality depending on how the nose was pointed. Yup, did my own B&W photography in those days ... you could buy film, paper, developer and hypo (fixer) in many 'mom and pop' hardware stores - a camera store for sure. Its amazing the materials youths were allowed (after supervised instruction) to use ... that are now considered too hazardous for kids to get anywhere near. I did see in one of the few remaining independent hobby shops in our area both E and the 'fabled' F engines ... 'Would have like to try one of those back in the day.

I see a model plane on the top shelf in the corner ...

'Seems I decided to put the doorways on the stern decks while what 'next' to do was pondered. It's basically going ahead without instructions, but making them up as I go. The large doors on the weather deck are not where they should be, but previous work (out of the old box) forced them where they ended up. The voids behind them were filled with balsa chunks, covered with veneer, then two cast doors from a parts kit were epoxied in place (after painting). They looked 'stuck on' so I put frames around them. The 3 other doors higher up are about where they should be, and were made from shaped balsa for the headroom, backed with veneer (CA for speed) and front door panels were added. From thin stock the roofing was glued around the top plank by plank, and side frame pieces were added. A thin black lining pen marked planks on the doors, and scrounged port lid castings were glued on as hinges. Then a dab of Titebond glued the door assemblies into place. Ladders from level to level will be added. I'm fiddling now with the channels, which should go in with lower deadeyes before I start putting the 500 tiny brads into the hull, thus there may be a few days before there is something worth showing. I'm not 'on the clock' ... unless the Admiral starts giving orders.

I googled Dusek (new to me) and found they are a Czech supplier of a number of kits - including what I presume to be 'new old stock' of the GH they list as Mamoli (still listed as 1:53 when it is really 1:70) ... as well as they own version of the GH with guns below the weather deck. My next step is to try and 'inventory' kits and scratch builds of the GH for 'commonality' ... a sort of 'crowd wisdom'. I think that term arose from an experiment where over a hundred random passers by were asked to guess how many candies were in a big jar. The answers were all over the place, yet when the numbers were averaged once the data was collected the answer was very close to the actual number of candies in the jar! The experiment was repeated and found to have statistical significance. In my old profession of manufacturing/industrial engineer (sad to say I was made redundant after 30 years with the mass exodus of many types of manufacturing from the U.S. to other countries), I was tasked with creating the equivalent of an 'intelligent system' of setup and run times to streamline shop loading for a variety of complex CNC machined parts. The 'run times' were easy, but many had failed to 'crack the nut' of reliable rating setups that could take over 12 hours in some cases (most were in the 2 -6 hour range). The solution was to document the work content in common usable subunits, each previously built up of component units having many dozens of motion sequences typical for CNC operations. The times for small motions had roots with Gilbreth's (of Cheaper by the Dozen fame) work with 'therbligs' (micro motions), and became usable international values with H.B. Maynards MTM data (Methods Time Measurement). Many developed easier to use systems based on combinations of MTM data. Long story short, my own system combined hundreds to thousands of subunits. Although the accuracy of any individual group obviously varied, the combination of MANY produced what is know as the 'leveling factor'. That is, all the plusses an minuses effectively 'canceled each other out' to produce reliable information.

There was a 7-up Kung Fu parody commercial in the 70s - Cola nuts - Uncola nuts ... can you choose wisely? (Kid grabs 7-up) ... Well done Weed Hopper.

You are right, sir - and I stand corrected ... the name on the box is indeed Mamoli. Age will sometimes 'mix names up' in my head, but at least I got the 'M' right. I have edited the error out of my previous post. The Mamoli GH version is still a pretty nice kit (nominally 1:53 on the box, but it is very close to the Airfix 1:72 GH - I have both for close comparison of kit contents). Mamoli has the armament on the weather deck (representing about a 19' beam on deck) where there is not enough room to have the guns recoil back without rolling up on the grates (or be loaded for that matter). The lines are similar to the full-sized reproduction GH anchored on the Thames for tourists 'Before' the side nacelles were added at the waterline to make the ship stable. If the Mamoli bulkheads were modified by 3 scale feet per side at the waterline and the natural tumblehome continued up from there, there could be sufficient room for cannon use on the weather deck. Airfix has the broadside armament on the deck below (as most other versions have), and the sternmost gun port is lower, consistent with the change in deck level under the quarterdeck of a race-built galleon. They place two lighter guns per side on the weather deck. The first port on the gun deck is also a little lower and spaced further apart than the rest ... which got me thinking about DeSilva's sworn accounts of 14 guns for broadsides (7 per side) plus '4 at the bows' (ergo 2 astern and 2 forward) - but there were doubts as to whether 2 heavy guns would be of use on the forecastle deck with space restrictions and the sail on the bowsprit, which appear to have a typically high angle on the many period illustrations of contemporary vessels posted by Krill and others on MSW. If the first port on the gun deck (below the weather deck) was nudged a little forward where the bow curves, it could indeed be a forward firing gun (reference the drawings of the Vasa contemporary in another MSW thread) - one on either side. That would leave 5 heavy guns (port and starboard) for broadsides, plus the 4 lighter guns on the weather deck. With the 2 stern cannon, that would make 18 guns for the principal armament - in agreement with DeSilva. I rather like this idea ... of course speculation, as are all GH builds. Good pictures go the 'Drake cup' are hard to find, but a side view of the silver GH on top I recently viewed had a couple square openings below the weather deck (emulating gun ports there), and what was previously thought to be 'ports' on the weather deck is the jeweler's representation of a railing there and also on the quarter deck. All food for thought, I suppose.