Snug Harbor Johnny

Very nice work on Polaris !

I forgot about Durham's water putty (which cures fairly tough - perhaps not quite as hard as what Dentists call 'stone, a type of plaster made for casting likeness of teeth after and impression is made), and can be sanded. You need to apply to a 'porous or fibrous substrate (like coarse sanded planking) ... something with "tooth" for the plaster to grip to. If one seals first (or the surface is very fine sanded), the dried Durham's can flake off. No fumes to worry about, mate. Yet manufacturers are advised by their lawyers to be SUPER cautious and plaster warnings all over whatever product they are selling. Like a flimsy card table that has a warning - DO NOT stand on this flimsy POS - because it will collapse under your weight.

Back in the day, there used to be a pretty good wood filler known as Hobbypoxy Stuff. It came in a can pre-mixed and ready to use, and it air dried without (as I remember) much of a smell - and could be sanded once dry (depending on the thickness applied). Of course, that was back in the day of small hobby shops selling supplies for stick-built model airplanes (RC or not) - plus trains, plastic models, etc. I've no idea if 'Stuff' is still available, or whether there is an alternate product.

I'd leave textile spots alone. Trying a 'spot remover' might only make them worse.

'Left my car windows open and an unexpected thunderstorm got water inside. The seats dried OK the next day (which was sunny) but water soaked seep into the floor carpet and a musty smell was quickly generated. Even after several sunny summer days had likely allowed the water too evaporate, the musty smell lingered. What I did was to use a whole box of baking soda sprinkled all over the floor carpet and 'worked it in' a bit. Then after a day I vacuumed the powder away, and the smell was greatly reduced. So I repeated the treatment and the smell then was mostly gone - then after a month it was completely gone. I don't leave my car windows open anymore ... since water is the real culprit that allows mildew to proliferate. Sooooooo, this is why the second solution pasted below holds promise. I used to know a librarian that had knowledge of paper conservation methods, and she said acids in the paper greatly contribute to premature yellowing (aging) and weakening of wood pulp paper. VERY old books (pre 20th century) are more likely to have paper made from rags (cotton fiber), which last a lot longer. I imaging that sprinkling a little fine baking soda BETWEEN the pages can also be effective in odor removal (just a couple days in a sealed container), before fanning the pages to let the powder fall out. Fresh Air Very light cases of musty pages can be cured with a little exposure to fresh air. If the book is not a valuable antique, you also can treat it with a few hours of direct sunlight. However, before you begin this or any other book-cleaning method, it is essential to make sure the pages of the book are not damp. If you see wet or damp pages clumping together, stand the book upright on a table, and gently fan out the pages to separate them. Next, let it stand in a warm, dry spot. If the book is very old or valuable, do not place it sunlight. It may fade pages and cause them to permanently curl up. Baking Soda The same baking soda that absorbs bad odors in the fridge can absorb the bad odors in your books. Place a cup of baking soda or an opened box in a plastic box or bin with a lid. Put the book in the box with the baking soda and close the lid. Leave it for 48-72 hours, then check on the book. Repeat until the odor is gone. This method is ideal for multiple books.

Crew of a 110 pounder Armstrong Gun, firing, aboard HMS Warrior. The Rifled Breech Loading guns made by Sir Armstrong's orginal system of construction was adopted in 1859. Although manufacture was discontinued in 1864 they continued to be used for many years due to the numbers produced. The Armstrong RBL 7-inch gun, also known as the 110-pounder, was an early attempt to use William Armstrong's new and innovative rifled breechloading mechanism for heavy rifled guns. he Armstrong "screw" breech mechanism used a heavy block inserted in a vertical slot in the barrel behind the chamber, with a large hollow screw behind it which was manually screwed tight against the block after loading. A metal cup on the front of the block, together with the pressure of the screw behind it, provided "obturation" and sealed the breech to prevent escape of gasses rearward on firing. The sliding-block was known as the "vent-piece", as the vent tube was inserted through it to fire the gun. In modern terms it was a vertical sliding-block. To load the gun, the vent-piece was raised, the shell was inserted through the hollow screw and rammed home into the bore, and the powder cartridge was likewise inserted through the screw into the chamber. The vent-piece was lowered, the screw was tightened, a tube was inserted in the top of the vent-piece, and the gun was fired. Shells had a thin lead coating which made them fractionally larger than the gun's bore, and which engaged with the gun's rifling grooves to impart spin to the shell. This spin, together with the elimination of windage as a result of the tight fit, enabled the gun to achieve greater range and accuracy than existing smoothbore muzzle-loaders with a smaller powder charge. On top of each powder cartridge was a "lubricator" consisting of tallow and linseed oil between two tin plates, backed by a felt wad coated with beeswax and finally by millboard. The lubricator followed the shell down the bore, the lubricant was squeezed out between the tin plates and the wad behind it cleaned out any lead deposits left from the shell coating, leaving the bore clean for the next round.

Since I'm on-and-off the site at irregular intervals, I miss a lot of stuff ... dang, 'just remembered there is a place to click to see posts 'since the last visit'. I keep forgetting about that. You know, they say the memory is the second thing to go. What was the first? ... I forgot. Yet the GH is a definite interest of mine, and I have a Mamoli kit in my stash that I want to "bust" based on all the research available since the 80s kit was made - I inherited it from my father, and I'm amazed at the number and quality of the drawing provided, also an 'old school' feature in these days of more limited photo instructions and few full sized plans. The Revels kit is an old standby, and you're putting much care in the build. Thanks for your clear photos and posts! Johnny

As a teen, I made a dandy model of the liner United States out of paper that was about 2 1/2 feet long. With everything I made in those years, there is no notion what happened to it (other than a parent 'cleaning house' while I was away). I went to a dock on the Philadelphia waterfront some years ago to see the once-proud liner moored, neglected and showing rust. 'Guess with everything already stripped from her - as well as all the asbestos still inside - it turned out to be cost prohibitive to get her ship-shape to cruise again. People game for cruising prefer those mega 'love boats' afloat these days.

'Looks to me like thin copper sheet is just applied over an underlying row so it "looks" like the plate below is tapered. In the case of planks (which are much thicker, the 'stealer' is tapered down to nothing (in a planned way) and the next plank butts up against it and then onwards - and the new plank may be tapered also as needed. But remember the 7th Commandment 'Thou shalt not steal' ... (so why would the Lord help them who 'help themselves'?) And there are logs/references elsewhere in MSW that demonstrate how (with a bit of planning and foresight ... and a lot of pre-marking the bulkheads - or first layer of planking in a double planked model) one can completely plank a curved hull without having to resort to stealers (except perhaps in the stern where the fairing must go out to a vertical (or near vertical) profile where the rudder will attach. Briefly (as I recall), one makes even marks (equal to the widest planking stock) up and down at the widest point of the hull - that where the distance from the shear to the keel is longest. Then one makes the same spaces pencil marks along a straight line equal to the distance marked on the hull on the short side of a piece of paper. Turn the paper sideways and mark the center at the opposite end. Using a straightedge, draw lines from each (numbered) pencil mark all the way to the 'vanishing point'. Now you have proportionally decreasing lines. Measure the length from the shear to the keel at convenient distances fore-and-aft, and cut a vertical slice from your proportional drawing where the distance from top to bottom matches the new distance measured on the hull. Use the marks on the guide to transfer mark to the hull (doing do both port and starboard). When done (and it is a little tedious), you will have the entire hull marked out (save as noted at the sternmost area - there you will have to have a couple inserted pieces). Each plank will have to be custom tapered (and with a slight bevel on the edges as needed), as measured off the pre-marked hull. This step is even more tedious than the marking, but that is what 'museum quality' models exhibit. Now for a ship to be copper (or Muntz-metal) bottomed, you can forget most of the above and plank below the waterline any way you want as long as you're happy with the lines - that area will not show. Another technique I've seen on some models not copper clad is to stop planking a little below the waterline and have enough ribs showing (one can cut out the bottom center area of solid bulkheads so that what will show will resemble ribs) and add enough 'dummy' ribs for good measure (they can be fit in after planking). Then you don't have to plank the entire hull OR go to the trouble of coppering - and still have a dandy looking model by doing a good job of everything else. Many British Admiralty models were made in this manner.

Vlad, Your pictures of the lower topsail yard with Howe's rig are the clearest yet on how that can be done. The pair of eyes on top of the yard through which the bar of the gantry passes allows for some dimensional chance of the triangle formed by the gantry and crane below as the yard swings to either side. The weight of the yard is shared by the gantry and the crane together. The crane has a pivot beneath the yard, and the foot of the crane is an eye resting on (and passing through) a fixed eye at the mast - so the crane can swivel right or left, with the yard moving slightly forward or back along the bar of the gantry as the geometry dictates (due to the pivot point of the crane being closer to the mast than the pivot of the gantry above at the level of the yard). Done this way, the forward thrust generated by the upper and lower top sails when both are set (the lower edge of the upper top sail being laced to the jackstay of the lower topsail yard as you describe) is split between the upper topsail yard (conventionally rigged with a bracket that can slide up and down the top mast) and the crane that connects the yard to the mast (the gantry as shown does not have an end stop, so cannot transmit thrust to the mast). Of course, there are braces for both yards that can also transmit thrust to the vessel when belayed and the lines are tight. Now if the beam of wood placed on of the bottom front portion of the topmast (to which the fixed eye for the crane's bottom eye is mounted) was not tapered, but was of a thickness to match the location of the gantry pivot on the cap where the yard is mounted, then the triangle formed would have no dimensional shift as it turns ... imagine a 'solid' triangle of metal hinged to the mast (with a suitable piece of added wood to the base of the topmast that is even with the cap above) that can swing freely to either side. It does not change its shape. I suppose that an iron bracket or ring with a protrusion could attach to the mast at any position (per the length of the crane), so that the fixed eye will be directly under the pivot of the gantry above it - thus no need for the added wood. If the crane is a longer one, it could go all the way down to the forward edge of the platform platform to an eye that would be in-line with the gantry pivot above. Then there would be a bolt or suitable end stop at the end of the gantry arm so that forward thrust can be transmitted. As the yard bears against the stop, force would go through the gantry arm to the mast cap. Then only one eye would be needed on top of the yard as there is no forward and back motion. This would also be advantageous if only the lower topsail were set (e.g. when the upper topsail yard was quickly lowered as a squall approached). I'm still in the learning phase, and seeing all your wonderful pictures is highly instructive - as are all the fine build available on the MSW forum!

As usual when all the data is examined, a more realistic picture can be envisioned. Still, hits on lighter armor would likely have some effect. 'Brings to mind a visit I had in the 1970s to the outdoor WWII Tank collection at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. There was an example of a Jagt Tiger (Hunting Tiger ... or was it a Jagt Panzer) non-turreted anti-tank vehicle with thick, sloping front armor. There had been a direct hit from some allied gun on the front, and it looked as if an oversized 'ice-cream scoop' had taken a 'scoop' right out of the armor plate (something like 6" thick) ... but the round did NOT penetrate. Another round had been deflected by the gun mantle. It would have taken another hit in exactly the same spot (not likely) to have a chance of defeating the armor in that location. Some of the tanks had open hatches so a visitor could get inside (which I did). There was also an indoor museum of all sorts of military items, but I don't know if anything seen decades ago has been maintained or is available for viewing these days. One would have to check before attempting a visit.

Simple eyes are easy to make in any size or thickness required. Brass wire is available in a variety of sizes in hobby stores (there are varieties pre-darkened for use in beadwork/jewelry) and some hardware stores (only bright wire will be in those locations). A relatively short length of whatever gauge wire you need is bent around whatever size drill shank is needed to form the desired eye. Then the ends are twisted with needle nosed pliers to make a shank. This is put through the deck or hull (while accessible), and the ends are separated and bent in opposite directions before applying a dab of cement or epoxy for good measure. I'd be reluctant to have the eyes 'stand proud' of the top surface in any case, to prevent bending. In applications where there is no access to the underside, a hole nearly the diameter of the twisted shank is made, a bit of suitable glue is placed in the hole and the eye (with trimmed shank) is pushed into the prepared location. The cement will mechanically grip the twisted shank as well as bond to the surrounding material, so the installation should be quite resistant to pulling out. From what I've seen in the available MSW build logs for this kit, there are challenges with some of the thin mast pieces and spars - since they often want to bend when rigging is added. The CS log by Bruma shows how to strengthen the bowsprit internally, and many have fashioned wooden replacements for thinner spars. You've already replaced the molded plastic belaying pins with metal, as others have done - no danger of breakage there.

Now THAT'S going to be a model ...

'Guess you'll use metal deck eyes instead of the plastic ones from the kit. It may be worth considering mounting the deck eyes where they go on the deck, and bending the ends over underneath the deck (and fixing with a dab of epoxy for good measure) before gluing the deck in place. There are also some eyes that protrude from the hull, and pre-mounting them (with ends bent over and foxed) can also be done before permanently mounting the deck. I still favor the book by Noel C. L. Hackney 'Cutty Sark', #3 in the Classic Ships and how to model them series. As said elsewhere, it is a highly compressed (in logic or organization) primer meant to enhance a 70's Airfix 1:130 scale plastic model of the CS - so one has to leaf back and forth a bit to glean what info is desired. The book has pin diagrams and darn near every rope imaginable is covered - from the order of rigging, the origin and belaying points. There is great info on all the block sets that control the chain sheets2 - also blocks needed for halyard rigging.

Such a nice method ... and a great outcome for the boat ! This is something that anyone learning from MSW logs can benefit from. Sure, its a lot more trouble than just building them as provided by OcCre - but you are going to significant lengths to make the entire Beagle build far better than an 'out of the box' exercise. I tip my hat to you!

The red accessory at the bottom looks like an oil burner - so owners could switch from coal in the 1940s to more convenient oil. Instead of a coal bin, an oil tank was installed with a fill line going up to the outside. Coal furnaces always need stoking - unless one had an automated stoker, but they still produced lots of coal ash that had to be collected either for trash disposal or for dumping out back if the yard was big enough. Some systems were 'gravity - hot water', where the lighter heated water rose to radiators as the heavier cool water went back to the furnace. When converted to oil, a line pump was often installed, which was controlled by a simple thermostat (bi-metal coil) that would tip a mercury switch to close the circuit to the pump when the room temperature fell enough. Still, these 'one zone' systems often made the upstairs warmer than the down stairs, which is why people kept the upstairs room doors closed in winter to keep heated air from the first floor downstairs (the opposite in summer in pre-air conditioning days, so heat would flow out through the window screens form all the upstairs windows). Our first home had radiators and a converted coal to oil furnace (with circulator) with 'tankless coils' that heated the water line for hot water without the need for a separate hot water tank. My father in law helped me convert to baseboard heat where the copper tube had lots of thin fins - so we could get rid of all the bulky radiators. We eventually converted to an efficient natural gas furnace with separate (gas heated) hot water tank so the furnace could be off Spring through Fall.

As a diversion, I saw a pic of what armor piercing shells are capable of ... sobering indeed.

Your's is the clearest step-by-step explanation of a great method to use at 1:96 and smaller ... perhaps even 1:70 ! BTW, I love flush cutters - as well as many tools used for beadwork (the Admiral put me on to those).

Another 'Charlie' story ... he and another friend got hold of a mag wheel when they really WERE magnesium. Once evening, they thought it would be cool to light it somehow ... so they built a small fire on a rocky slope on one side of a large field, and heated the mag wheel for some time. It didn't ignite - perhaps because of an oxide layer keeping oxygen away from the metal under the layer. In disgust, Charlie threw a stone at the hub - which must have gouged through the oxide layer ... and the hub started to burn (as magnesium does) with an INTENSELY bright white light that sent them running as fast as possible away from the scene. 'Must have been like the illumination of a night rocket launch. A fire truck arrived after the magnesium was consumed, and they put out what was left of the campfire.

We also didn't know that commercially made gunpowder mixes finely powdered ingredients in a slurry that is milled long enough to intimately incorporate them on a molecular level ... which after drying and granulating produces a powder that will 'flash' - ergo explode - without containment. The stuff we made dry with mortar and pestle was far less effective ... didn't stop us from experimenting. The local hobby store sold refills for chem sets, and the most popular ingredients were ... potassium nitrate, surfer and charcoal.

They're right about 'standing' water, which urethanes can take better - which is why wood table tops at restaurants and bars are often urethaned. 'Forgot to mention that while shellac flakes have an indefinite shelf life before mixing with alcohol, MIXED shellac (sealed) can go bad after a couple of years ... something to do with the slow production of esters in 'side-reactions' - which can be slowed down by refrigerating the sealed contained of mixed shellac. Commercially prepared cans of shellac often have a date stamped somewhere on the can, so avoid buying one that is 3 years or older ... look for a 'fresh one'.

... love it! - actually ... love, Love LOVE IT! (regardless of the time involved). I prefer to be 'event driven' rather than time driven.

I'll also agree with shellac - one of my favorite finishes since shellac has stood the 'test of time', and a very old (meaning 200 year +) shellac finish can be 'freshened' with a single pass of methanol ('shellac thinner) applied with what the French called a 'tampon' - a lint-free cloth twisted around some absorbent material that when moistened with alcohol has the bottom surfaced flattened somewhat so a surface to be treated can be lightly rubbed. This applicator is also used to apply amber (or clear) shellac to a large surface. One can use a soft artists brush for smaller areas/items. The main disadvantage on furniture tops is that if someone puts an alcoholic drink down (where some of the beverage has dribbled over the rim), it will leave a 'ring' on the surface (since the alcohol will dissolve the finish around the rim of the glass). But this can be repaired and blended with new shellac by someone skilled in the art. BTW, shellac will 'fill the pores' somewhat of 'open pored/grained wood top prevent dust from settling in over time. Once grained has been clogged with dust, abrasion is often required to get below the soil - although some finishers have used a contrasting wood powder to enhance pores/grain first, before applying finish. Also, shellac is compatible to apply over a linseed oil finish mentioned below. 'Traditional' varnish (formulae vary) can 'crackle' over time, or develop cracks/crazing - but still has been used fro a long time - as it will resist the above phenomenon. But to re-finish varnish generally requires removal by abrasion first. Polyurethanes are 'modern' and we don't know how they will hold up over time. Another traditional finish is hand-rubbing (either 'colored' wood or wood that has been stained) with 50-50 boiled linseed oil and turpentine. This will darken and enhance the initial coloration. Always experiment on trial pieces of your wood first. Minwax stains for coloration (often applied after a light application of Minwax 'conditioner') are compatible with an over application of either varnish or shellac (after an overnight dry time. Artist oil colors can be used sparingly to alter Minwax tints to 'match' existing finishes.

Outstanding ! Your build log will be a real help for anyone doing a ship of this type ... very inspirational !