Snug Harbor Johnny

Titebond (or any yellow 'carpenter's glue) is time proven, but there is a cure time - and parts that don't stay by themselves need to be clamped or otherwise secured (like tying). CA (the 'medium' viscosity type) is quick, but it can stick to fingers like crazy, and still penetrates wood and 'seals' it - leading to the staining and surface appearance problems noted by many in the forum. For holding down planking (pre-conditioned for a place on a hull) with the 'finger clamp' method, I have used 1-minute (or 3-minute) epoxy successfully. Just a wee dab of part A and part B from their respective tubes are placed near the end of a wooden door shim (available in packs at hardware stores) and mixed by finger tip. (It wipes right off on a rag or the lower part of the wood shim.) Applied to the wood to be secured (either by finger, dental tool or matchstick), I held it in place until set (1 to 3 minutes, and that is a 'soft' set), and the piece would stay put. Any getting onto the surface by accident or 'squeeze out' came off (after setting or curing) with a x-acto knife or a light sanding - and there was no significant penetration or staining of the wood the way CA can do.

Talk to the hand ...

Zinc based alloys (sometimes called 'pot metal') can be first painted with zinc chromate wash primer before applying a regular metal primer. Die cast (1950s and earlier) model locomotive (Lionel, Marx, etc.) were of zinc. Lead or (currently) tin based alloys are soft and easily bendable - a 'scratch test' in an inconspicuous place can be an indicator. Zinc alloys are 'tougher' and less bendy, with a higher melting point than the former types.

We who are about to die, salute you !

Superb work! Yes, we do sometimes have to 'suffer' for our art - for ship modeling is an art form as legitimate as any other, and one that goes back to the time of the Pharos (if not beyond).

The British considered Colonists (Americans) who revolted to be traitors, and treated them accordingly ... and often appallingly. (ref; the Paoli massacre, where Redcoats surprised and encampment of U.S. soldiers in the pre-dawn hours and bayonetted them rather than take prisoners.) The fight between France and England, on the other hand, was not a revolution (revolt against divinely ordained authority) - but a 'civilized' war (England and France had many wars over the centuries over a variety of political squabbles) between established (recognized) 'Nations'. Tut-tut, cheerio ... mum's the word.

Other Wasa builders may have comments, and seeing other builds already helps me formulate the direction and methods to go forward and complete my build - however ambitious it may be.

Ahoy! from Snug Harbor Johnny, this is my first build log but not my first build. All (but one) of the models I constructed (ships, planes, rockets in wood, paper or plastic) growing up in the 60s & 70s did not (alas) survive transitioning to adulthood, and my adult non-work activities ranged through a wide variety of Colonial crafts demoed in public with my wife - who got me into 're-enacting' time periods ranging from Renaissance to Edwardian ... but mostly of the 18th & 19th century. Now in semi-retirement, I want to more-or-less finish the old first-issue Billings Wasa that works out (as best as I can compare the model to the original) to about 1:105 scale. The information on the newly-raised warship was in the early stages in those days, so I don't fault the kit for making some assumptions to 'fill in blanks' (which there were a few then) - perhaps influenced by a contemporary model of another Wasa built in the late 18th c. (A 17th c ivory model of the Norwegian Lion - a near contemporary warship to the first Wasa comes much closer to the mark, and could be a 'twin' ... but that's another story.) Here is the aging plan (separated down the middle and slightly misaligned) from Billings, which shows the ship having an 18th c windowed stern cupola, the stern not as high as now known, a forecastle deck and a figure head not as jutting as later restored to the original in a Stockholm museum. In fact, the state of restoration and knowledge of the original (and pictures available on line and in books) is astounding - so I'd like to do at least some 'surgery' to make my model come reasonably close to the original. It will by no means by 'museum quality' or 'dead-on' accurate, but still should be recognized by knowledgable modelers as the Wasa. I anticipate that the effort to undo the forecastle deck (forced by the internal bulkheads in the kit at that time) may not be worth the effort. Or I could be wrong about this and with a little guidance I might chance to undertake it. Ah yes, note the hank of full-sized jute rope in the upper left of the picture, which I made myself on a real rope walk that is one of the crafts I demonstrate at historic houses and fairs. (Other crafts have included book binding, candle dipping /molding, colonial gun making, harpsichord playing - on one of three I built myself - and dancing, of all things ... I was strongly encouraged by my wife to help her start an historic dance group.) So I mat yet build a mini-rope walk for making my own scale rope for ship models. Well, there's the hull - untouched for decades - that was single-planked, and has a slight 'bulge' from the middle bulkhead being just a tad fat as supplied (and can be seen on other vintage build of this kit not corrected by fairing) ... and I did not appreciate the finer points of fairing in those days. I drilled little holes and filled then with round toothpicks to simulate wood pegging (tree nails ?). The modeled rings around the gun ports of the weather deck were done as follows: I modeled one in clay on a piece of glass, then painted successive layers of latex gunk (drying thoroughly between coats) to produce a one-sided rubber mold, which I peeled off the glass and cleaned out. Modeling plaster over the back of the latex mold to support the flimsy latex and then multiple 'copies' of the gunport rings could be made from hard dental plastering the mold - taken out when cured. I did the same for little lion's head for the inside of the gun ports (yet to be made.) More on those gunport later. Here's the stern, and the 'carvings' were modeled as described above - except that due to the complexity, I just slathered wood putty into the mold and slapped it onto the back to set. After all, it will all be painted anyway. But the arrangement of the carvings and size of the stern were what was thought by Billings around 1970. I plan to cut of the top below the feet of the lions and move that piece upward to raise the stern to where it needs to be - as well as correct the relationship to the pair of cupids below ... and many more figures need to be added - another challenge. Now for those gun ports. After cutting them (many are not quite square) I glued false 'decking' below each line of ports to support gun carriages and pieces of wooden dowel I drilled-out so that the 'half-cannons' supplied in the kit would fit into them. I also 'lined' the gun ports with small pieces of wood for a better look. Yeah, I know now that the plank widths are out of scale - they should be half the width - and the pegs are way out of scale ... they are what they are, and they really look OK on the model to the casual observer. Now you can see the 'stanchions' (extensions of the kit bulkheads are fat, but they can be trimmed and additional false stations added. There needs to be a third level in the stern, and raining the stern will provide space for that - but it will won't be exactly like to original ... just closer. I'll have to make the 'coffin-like' doored companionways as well. And there's the darned forecastle deck - most warships (at least drawings of them) before and after do have it this way, and perhaps I'll leave it but add a bulwark plus railing. There would be a lot of nasty cutting to get rid of it, and the deck would definitely show a surgical 'scar'. Under where each mast is to go I've already glued a large block of wood to drill a hole into for the mast. Do I try and mess with it, or just leave it alone? Here are some of the kit fittings. The full cannons leave much to be desired, but the ports on the weather deck already align to the carriages as-is. I can carefully belt sand some off the underside and glue 'wheels' on the outside so there will appear to be a little space underneath the carriage. Yeah, the blocks an deadeyes are plastic - but I bought a bunch of wooden ones to use instead. I'll have to make triangular deadeyes for the shrouds. Those bits in the plastic box are little lion heads cast from a latex mold - a few are flipped over to the flat reverse. Now here's a view with the 'half-cannons' installed, and they look OK - a whole lot better than just painting a black square and drilling a small hole to stick the half-barrels in as the kit suggested. Decals were provided for the lion heads for the open gun ports, and the ones I make with 3-D gold painted lion heads will be a definite improvement ... but I might glue the lids open against the hull. I'm trying to imagine the trouble of trying to fashion hinges that will be covered-up anyway, since almost all will be open. Plenty of guns, yeah, I'm all for that ... maybe its a 'guy' thing to build a warship bristling with cannon (a compensation or wishful thinking?) Here's a close-up of the guns, and they have a natural patina from just sitting around for so long. I know I have a great 'head start' (after a long hiatus) to build on what I have and end-up with a pretty good model. I'm NOT aiming for 'perfection' - 'good enough' is good enough for me. I don't want to put sails on - in fact, I'm considering to build it to the restored state of the original in Stockholm that has the first sections of the masts in place and shrouds/ratlines on them. That would be like some sort of Admiralty or dockyard model - plus the lower masts instead of cut-off (or serrated) 'stubs'. Or I could just do the masts and yards complete with standing rigging. That way the sails and scads of running rigging won't be needed. The third option would be to have just the few sails set that were actually used on the disastrous 'maiden voyage' ... most of the sails were found still in storage when the ship was salvaged. Your comments/suggestions are welcome. Fair sailing! Johnny

It just 'hit' me how challenging a 1:200 scale warship can be (e.g. the small size of the deadeyes) ! Many have noted the challenges with the Mantua/Sergal 1:124 Thermopylae having a lot of tiny details, which explains the popularity of busting a 1:96 Revell kit or making one of the better wood kits of slightly larger size. I have a book obtained in 1971 (when printed) titled 'The World of Model Ships and Boats' that I'm re-reading as a valuable resource. More 'Aha' moments, since they show a contemporary model of a 'Wasa' built in 1787 (60 gun) that Billings must have seen to 'fill in some blanks' (thought not correctly e.g. the foredeck and some other details) in their ORIGINAL issue of their kit (which I have half built, and now need to do some 'surgery' on - given the happy state of correct information available today on the original ship). There is also a model of the Norwegian Lion (Norske Loewe - the model was built of ivory with silver guns and ropes in 1654, and the ship was a near contemporary of the 1628 Wasa), and that model is VERY much like how the first Wasa was built. I've made careful measurements of my 1970 issue hull, and it appears to be just about 1:105 scale - the plans do not have a scale printed on them. This inspires me to choose about that scale (say 1:100) for a future clipper build. I also have another idea for making triangular deadeyes - inspired by the post that used a triangular shaped stick where the triangles are merely 'cut off' from the end of the stick (clever). First make a triangular stick as noted (rounding the corners by sanding while it is convenient to do so), but cut off triangles that are a little bit more than 2/3 the thickness of the deadeyes desired. Then make a similar triangular (as seen from the end) stick, with the size of the triangle (end view) a little smaller than the first stick made. Cut off triangles from the smaller sized stick that are 1/3 the thickness of the deadeyes desired. (The plot thickens.) Now glue these triangles back together to make-up a new 'stick' of stock, being sure to alternate thick and thin triangles, and also use short lengths of thin metal rod to space the smaller triangles so that they are recessed equidistantly inside the larger triangles. Do this on a piece of waxed paper to prevent sticking to the work surface, be sparing on the wood glue, and pull out the bits of metal once the glue has 'tacked' sufficiently - but not cured. Once cured, drill the holes in the deadeye stock from the end a little way, then cut off a deadeye from the stock. Cutting through a thicker triangle will accomplish this because the thicker sub-triangles are slightly more than 2/3 the deadeye thickness (allowing for saw kerf). You end up with a nice triangular deadeye that has the channel for the rope or fastening wire all around nice and neat, without having to fuss with a Dremel to grind it (and holding a tiny piece to do that is tricky). OMGosh, I just realized I've simplified the above scheme. Just make the triangle stock (with sanded corners) and grind a series of spaced rope channels around the stock with a Dremel or even just use a triangular file ! One can hold on the the stick stock to do this - how easy. Then after the rope holes are drilled a little in to the end of the stock, saw the deadeyes off. 'Sorry for the length of this post, but it represents how I think things through 'on the fly'.

Years ago, I used my Dad's obsolete belt-driven (motorized with a foot controller) dental drill to make holes for putting toothpicks in model ship planking to resemble the ends of treenails. My brother has that now, so I found a cool alternative sold at Harbor Freight (a national chain?), made by 'Chicago Tool' (Taiwanese, no doubt) that has a motor that hangs from a hook put into any vertical surface - and there is a flexible shaft going from the motor to a metal cylinder (an oversized pencil holder) with a chuck in the end. There is a sensitive foot control and anything a Dremel will accept it will accept. The Dremel was always too fast and touchy to control. I really like the new tool and have used it for a number of projects - there is no noticeable run-out.

They look good enough for me. In this life you only need to be 'good enough' ... I remember the movie 'Cool Runnings' (about the Jamaica Olympic bobsled team), and the coach told them, "Winning a medal is a wonderful thing, but if you're not good enough without the medal - you won't be good enough with it." I've tried a lot of craft-related hobbies - like making a piecework quilt (my wife has made many) ... just one to show I can do it, but I might try another in future. I 'kit busted' the Ugears (laser-cut wood model company) Hurdy-Gurdy kit (which makes a 'scratchy' toy if built as-supplied). It took a lot of doing, but I ended up with a limited range mini-instrument that does play 'half-good' compared to the real thing. My ultimate kit (half-busted) was the Hubbard, English bent side spinet kit (harpsichord), that took three years, but I ended up with a keyboard instrument that not only looked like a museum piece, but it sounds beautiful ... and I've appeared occasionally in historic houses to play for special tours as a musician (yes, in costume). The book thing I was able to do after taking a couple of classes from a former bookbinder from Historic Williamsburg Virginia (he was attending William and Mary Law School at the time, and he now lives not far from me by chance), and pouring over a book on the subject I'd been hanging onto for 25 years. Life's funny that way (if you live long enough), you can actually 'get to' a lot of things you've meant to do by and by.

I can see the splitting challenge, Louie. However, I will try an experiment that I think will have a good chance of success. i have a supply of thin black walnut veneer ( .020 thick x 4.5" wide x 4' long - from Woodworkers Supply, I think a national chain) that I will cut into 4.5" squares. I'll brush on a little thinned aliphatic resin carpenters glue (or PVA glue that I use for bookbinding - yes, that's another hobby of mine. See, I wrote this book and thought, "Why not take self-publishing 'literally'," then I learned how to make book 'signatures' by splitting the text and printing them as two-sided 'booklets. Each is sewn to book cords on a home-made sewing rig, and PVA is used for the remaining steps to make the spine, attach the cord ends to hardboard, glue a leather back and add home marbled paper - yet another craft - to cover the hardboard.) , where was I ... oh yes, put glue on the top side of three pieces of veneer - making SURE to rotate each 90 degrees to alternate the way the grain runs - , then plop a fourth on top, then either clamp between two boards to cure or simply weigh them down with books - using waxed paper below and above the stack in case of 'squeeze out'. Shazaam! I will have made hardwood plywood of material (when oiled) that will resemble lignum vitae. Then I'll cut strips as wide a the triangles I want to make on my mini table saw - or just cut through with multiple X-acto cuts to save on material and prevent sawdust, mark the strips for multiples like in your picture, drill the holes using wire drills and a special mini chuck on a drill press to hold the bits, cut much of the waste away with a scroll saw, then free the triangles with a model train track cutting saw (Atlas or comparable make). I could use a variable speed Dremel (actually the Chicago Tool variable speed flex-shaft tool I got from Harbor Freight is a dream to use, since the speed is controlled by a foot pedal - leaving both hand free to use) to cut a groove around the freed triangles for the scale rope to pass around - with the corners filed or sanded to round them.

Thanks so much for the pics on making triangles ... just the thing I need for the Wasa. I have apple wood and other stock, and will try using a wire drill to do the holes. Then the strip of stock looks like a 'short timers' stick in Vietnam. One would make a stick notched all around for how many days days left in the tour, then cut off one segment each day until only the nub was left. (I wasn't there but read about it in a book written by a Vet.)

Well said advice. I've admired my Wasa hull (planked in 1973) for decades, taking it off there shelf many time over the years, and now recent research has given me the ideas needed to do more on it - at least to the stage one can see the original in Stockholm. Building tips available on this site (with just a little searching) are invaluable, and an inspiration. I'll never reach the highest levels of craftsmanship in miniaturization some have shared online, but I don't need to. Have several hobbies and 'graze' among them as the spirit moves. Self-motivation and self-satisfaction are the reasons to do anything.

I have demoed full-sized rope making using a home-made spinner of three wooden gears driven by a central cranked gear (all mounted between two boards and held by a sturdy vertical saddle makers clamp. Kids love to crank the rig (with directions) as I make sure nothing goes awry on the other end or in-between. There is a free spinning hook on a wheeled come-along as the rope produced is shorter than the initial length of the set-up, and a weighted three-groove thing-a-ma-jig travels along letting the rope make itself in the process. 'Guess a mini rope maker for inside wouldn't be too hard to devise.

One idea ... on a piece of clear plastic that fills the window opening, one might take cut pieces of fine electronics solder (I have some old Radio Shack part number 64-005 that is 60/40 lead/tin solder .033" diameter - but there must be similar products offered today that are lead free 95/5 tin antimony), then flatten the solder slightly with a planishing hammer on a flat metal surface. These would be glued onto the plastic in, say, the vertical direction (or at an angle for 'diamond' panes that were sometimes used in those days), then use short lengths of planished solder to glue in the horizontal direction.

Super! I should have thought of bead craft supplies that abound in local stores these days. They'd have fine chain, small tools and stuff. I think that seed beads would be OK for use as pulleys on a 1:150 scale clipper (an Academy plastic kit having extended yards for the studding sails). Somewhat larger ones could do for deadeyes - yet to hand tie ratlines so small may try my aging fingers, so perhaps I'll just glue them in place with CA applied with a toothpick.

I'll second that.

Perhaps the surface needs some 'tooth' prior to finishing - a careful rubbing with ultra-fine sandpaper (600 grit? there are some finer than that).

The Cutty Sark builder's specs (Willis) and the early photo support that she was built with split top sails, and modifications continued after that - with many ways to rig in the late 19th century. It's all fascinating.

I have a small hobby 'heat sealing' iron - the kind that can be used to set (or loosen) seams in wallpaper, and is also used for shrinking plastic skin over RC model airplane wings and fuselages. It has a temperature control knob, and should work for heat-softening planking wood for model ships ! I suppose a slight moistening before ironing wouldn't hurt, since the heat will drive most of it off - the wood isn't 'soaked' for any length of time. I have to confess that when I did the planking on the Wasa (quite a few years ago), the curvature of the bow was the hardest to contend with ... so I put the end of the plank in my mouth where warm saliva and the action of tongue, palate and teeth caused enough bend to make the plank cooperate for a significant bend. There was a 'knack' for telling how far to 'push' the plank and avoid breakage. I'd let the wood dry and the bend would set before I glued it in place.

Much earlier in the log is a link to an important photo of the Cutty Sark: https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entity=IE930286&mode=browse This may be one of the first modifications to her rigging after her days as a Tea Clipper (a relatively short period in her career due to the opening of the Suez Canal). I found a photograph said to be Thermopylae early in her career (in a link from the Aberdeen Museum website with photos of her in many phases of existence all the way up to a shot of her being torpedoed), when she was rigged with four large sails on each mast and no extra yards. I have doubts on this photo under sail (attribution wise) on a couple of points; There is a 'triple' dolphin striker not seen on any other Thermie picture, There is no yellow rub strake where there should be one, There is an extra white painted strake below a white painted gun wale that the Thermie didn't have. But the photo does show a common way to rig an early Clipper. Many fine ships were rigged differently in each phase of their existence (the 'Big T' was bark rigged at one point), and I suppose that its fair to model a ship as she was at any phase ... there being no single "correct" configuration.

'Looks good to me. Another option might be to use a knot we did in Scouting to tie a tent rope to a post or a tent peg- the line is passed around for an overhand half-hitch (for tents or dining flys it was spaced away from the post or peg to allow for later shortening or lengthening of the attachment, but for the end shroud it would be right against the shroud), then the line is wrapped twice underhand and snugged. For shroud application the end would stick inboard and be less visible. If time and convenience are not an issue, the end could be a little longer and lashed vertically against the shroud with find thread. I'll have to look-up a cow hitch (new to me). BTW, is there a source for the 'pear shaped' (triangular?) deadeyes? 'Seems the Wasa had them and if I'm going to finish it, I'd like to get the proper shape for the time period. Ahoy!

'I see,' said the blind man. Then he picked up his hammer and saw. 'Guess that research into whatever ship one is interested in is 'key' ... and there is so much that can be found on-line with patient gleaning (and a critical eye). I've learned more about the Wasa and the Thermopylae in the past month than I knew from all my years before - and the expertise on this forum (and the build logs) are invaluable.