Snug Harbor Johnny

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 !

'Had a look at the framing video, and I think its WAY cool. The Khufu boat build from Woody Joe had a novel way to frame and plank ... THIS kit has another ingenious design! Its definitely on my want list in the future.

I'll watch with interest. I built the Revell Arizona as a teen, but my 'fleet' of ships got disposed somehow (as happened to a lot of youthful stuff) when parents 'cleaned house' during college and while I was trying to get established in a career and marriage post graduation. Not long ago I did a build of the Metal-Earth tiny Arizona (cute but basic) - which is in the MSW library of completed builds.

'Found the following on-line: Of the Bismarck's 2,200-man crew, only 115 survived. British ships picked up 110 survivors but left with hundreds of German sailors still in the icy waters after spotting what might have been a U-boat. German vessels later picked up only five more survivors.

'Brings to mind a teenage acquaintance of my brother and I ... the friend's name was Charlie. 'Seems my brother was invited over to Charlie's back yard one summer day while his dad was at work and his mom was out shopping to do a science project he read about (not sure where). In a jug he'd placed shreds of aluminum foil and added granular household lye (sodium hydroxide). Wow, remember when you could buy Red Devil lye at most any food or hardware store? The experiment was set-up under a crabapple tree. Water was added and Charlie tied a small weather balloon (from Edmunds Scientific company ... remember those cool Edmunds catalogs) to the neck of the jug. Very soon a reaction occurred in the jug that had an output of hydrogen gas, and as the water got hotter and hotter - the ballon filled up quicker and grew (as my brother related) to about 3 feet in diameter. The object (from the source) was to have a very buoyant hydrogen-filled balloon, and one was supposed to tie a stamped post card wrapped in plastic for any finder (wherever the wind would take the balloon) to send back saying where the ballon was found. Charlie had other ideas (unbeknownst to my brother). The balloon was tied off (but still attached to the neck of the jug) and Charlie added a fuse (taken off a cherry bomb). Before my brother could say much, Charlie lit the fuse saying, "Run !" He imagined that it would make a loud explosion, but was unaware that oxygen was needed to get the explosion he imagined. Rather, the ballon 'popped' from the heat of the fuse - and that set a ball of pure hydrogen alight without making a 'boom'. My brother described it as sort-of like the Hindinberg disaster (Oh, the humanity !) ... it was a persistent fire and NOT an explosion. However, the burning ball of hydrogen ALSO rose into the air and passed right through a portion of the crabapple tree - singeing all the leaves as it went. And the fuel was consumed just as the fireball cleared the top of the tree. The contents of the jug was poured out in a corner of the yard, and a few days later Charlie's dad noticed that there was a brown 'column' going right up through the crabapple tree - which (as such trees often are) was ordinarily susceptible to a variety of fungal diseases that cause a lot of leaf yellowing, browning and loss. So the man scratched his head (as Charlie would relate) and commented, "I wonder what's wrong with this tree now?"

Sailors before the introduction of foot ropes (as Louie da Fly has illustrated elsewhere) had to set/furl sails astraddle the yard ... or else as pictures in contemporary art - they walked the yard. This is something like 'high steel' workers have done since the invention of skyscrapers built of girders. Design, materials and safety rules/devices have changed in recent decades - but there are b&w movies of ironworkers walking (or sitting having lunch) on steel beams dozens of floors above ground level ... with no net or safety harness. Talk about 'guts' - or nerves of steel. 'Guess its all about what one is used to and has grown up with. Oh yeah, how about the old custom of a 19th c. warship coming into harbor with a good part of the crew all standing on the yards to make a good show !

... But if the gas is on too long before the lad works up enough static charge, there could be quite a flash when the fuel-air mixture ignites - hair singeing, to be sure !

'Could be that in cases of relatively small mast rake, some of the tops didn't have to be 'dead level' ... and ships do pitch and roll - so the only time a 'level' top would actually BE level would occur when docked or when becalmed. That is, unless one wants to consider the very instant the surface of a top passes through the theoretical 'level' point as the ship rolls and pitches. Check out the Vasa on completed builds - its main mast has what I'd call extreme rake, and the main top is built at a deliberate angle to the mast to be level.

Thanks, Bruce ... Figure 1 of the paper clearly shows a sheet 'sandwiched' between the keel and the false keel - and the edges are indeed turned up to cover where the copper ends on the keel. likely this was to allow nailing on the sides through both lead and copper along the strip. With the use of lead to cover bolt heads, etc. (mentioned elsewhere in the paper), the material between the keel and false keel was likely lead - as specified in the contract language posted earlier in this thread.

Interesting that lead was specified in a contract to go BETWEEN the keel and the false keel. Lead and copper don't appear to have a galvanic action, as lead solders easily onto clean copper - as does tin. The inside of copper cookware were often 'tinned' with tin so acidic and other food ingredients don't corrode the copper or produce verdigris (copper sulfates and such). Ergo, in the first specification in this thread, perhaps the copper to go BETWEEN the keel and false keel was to be tinned (easy to do with copper, and tin-lead alloys often have a lower melting point that either constituent), thus eliminating the need for separate lead sheets. It is unknown why lead sheets were sometimes used (or tinned copper), unless it was to clad the back edge of the false keel (for protection from marine organisms) BEFORE it was tree-nailed to the keel - thereafter sheathed in copper from the join to the cutwater. The second specifications say that the keel is to be coppered before the false keel is added. So if bare wood was put against the copper keel, there might be a 'chink in the armor' so to speak.

OK, I'm trying to give the quoted text (pasted below) a bit of thought, and can think of a couple possible explanations that could encompass a missing punctuation mark - and old pronunciation (dialect?). The text: The Sides and Bottom to be filled or sheathed with Copper and to have thin Copper put between the Main and False Keels all Fore and Aft properly tuned up and fastened, the labour to be done by the contractor. Now there may be TWO tasks or processes described separated by "and" - without a comma after the first Copper. So one application is to sheath the sides and bottom in Copper, ... and (a second specification) to have thin copper (presumably thinner than the copper for the sides and bottom) put between the Main and False Keels (I'm not quite sure what this is, but likely what we take as the 'keel' (made wider at the bow by the presence of the false keel). Now 'tuned up' could mean (in dialect) what we'd pronounce 'turned up' - meaning one or more edges. For instance, tin flashing (formerly lead) has been used for slate roofs - and there is something called a "slaters' edge" on the flashing against the house, where the top edge is folded over to make it harder for water to creep farther than the tops of the overlapping flashing. So perhaps there was a way in treating the copper material that 'wrapped' the keel from stem to stern (just a guess), where (starting astern) - the forward edge of the keel sheathing has the edge folded back a little (1/2" to 1"), so the rear edge of the next piece (having been folded under) engages the last piece and can be tamped down flat with a mallet before nailing. This might explain why a somewhat thinner copper would be used in this application due 4 layers on the leading & trailing edges (after assembly) as well as the sharp bends of the keel itself. Note that the forward piece lays over the one behind it like the scale of a fish, so the join would resist coming apart. The second guess on 'tuned' might be a typo for 'tinned' - which (with often haphazard and variable spelling in ye old days) might have normally been spelled as 'tined'. In the American Colonies, the word 'horse' was often spelled 'hors' - perhaps a comparable analogy to 'tined'. Now "tin" is thought of as thin sheet iron (steel, actually) that has had a surface treatment whereby the strip off a roll is passed (dipped) through a fluxed bath of molten tin. This leaves a very thin plating of solidified tin (actually 95%tin and 5% antimony, so that the tin does not crumble away under very cold conditions - like around zero Fahrenheit). This was made into all kinds of 'tinware', and was very resistant to rust - which otherwise would quickly oxidize through the thin steel. But 'tin' can refer to any thin sheet metal, so after the specification of copper sheets to cover the ENTIRE keel (at & below the waterline) as well as the sides and bottom (the whole labor generically falling under 'tin work'), we could clarify with a dash to punctuate: 'The Sides and Bottom ... the Main and False Keels (-) All (to be) Fore and Aft properly tinned up and fastened ...' In other words, the rectangular sheets are to be oriented fore and aft (as opposed to vertically). I suppose if an apprentice started to do it the wrong way (bass ackwards), an experienced hand might say, "Somewhere a village is being deprived of an idiot."