Snug Harbor Johnny

'Sorry, mate - but I just couldn't let this inquiry go without further search. And it seems the 'Newport Ship' is a very near contemporary to Columbus' ships (just 3 decades earlier), so most likely represents the state of the art of ship building at the time. I noted that (based on the wood source) that construction was done in Spain, and the vessel was later being repaired in England when misfortune caused her to be abandoned (after much salvage above the water line) near the river bank - where she was found preserved by exclusion of oxygen ... an exciting find ! Having planks of radially split oak made perfect sense, in that oak for 'wet cooperage' is done the same way ... to prevent water passing through the wood. The construction was lapstrake planks from a keel, with iron headed nails driven through slightly undersized holes (to prevent splitting) - and the protruding end within the developing hull was clenched over (like door nails were) for a tight fit and permanence (the expected life of the hull) without rovings in this case - see the Oxford test and images below. (Note: the Wiki entry 'assumes' rovings were used before clenching, but the Oxford anaysis did not find evidence of rovings or imprints of rovings.) Then after so much planking, ribs were fit into place and made fast to the clinker planks with one tree nail per plank, and no tree nails into the keel. Fascinating ! This seems a valid interpretation of how to do most any size boat of that era.

I'll definitely follow along, since this is a well thought-out kit - and a good 'in between' major build projects to consider. The build seems a little easier than what I've seen on the Captain Smith shallop. When I started the old 1:100 Billings Vasa 50 years ago (and left her alone for 40 years after planking), I put somewhat oversized tree nails through the planks where they were over bulkheads ... limited by my drill size and insufficient knowledge. Indeed, there was MUCH to be discovered about the original now on display in the coming years, and the planks on the original were just nailed in with headed spikes. So I left what tree nails I'd put in the model alone, and added tiny nails (originally in the kit to plank with, interestingly enough) in between the rows of tree nails. Major surgery was done on the stern, but what I have is definitely recognizable as a representation of the Vasa ... even with some divergences, it seems attractive enough (and I've yet to finish it). My guess (with 1628 being the Vasa date) is that more than a century earlier they likely just used nails when planking a ship's boat. A guess, but perhaps as good as any other.

Even as a teen, I never thought much of plastic sails ... but if the kit instructions suggested using the plastic sails as patterns for substituting light-weight cloth for sails, I likely would have tried that ('Never thought of that myself way back then, and 'assumed' that the kit instructions were a 'bible' as far as research and authenticity were concerned ... ha!).

Was this sort of boat made with tree nails ... or metal fasteners?

Perhaps its the ammonia (among other ingredients) in the Windex that do the job.

Rob's right, since direct sunlight - and even reflected sunlight - transmit damaging UVa and UVb (high energy) radiation. Just expose your unprotected skin to the sun for an hour, and you'll get a nasty sunburn (with a chance of future skin cancer). Skin can generally heal itself, but not a model. Rigging line or sail cloth of any material will become brittle with sunlight, and will fall apart over the years. The last clipper model built by my dad (which I offered to restore for my brother, who had the model) became so fragile (it was made entirely out of natural materials) that the rigging simply disintegrated and everything fell apart - according to my bro. Sad thing, the wooden parts still could have been rebuilt and re-rigged ... but it was thrown out as a 'hot mess'. Painting every plastic surface is a great protectant, but even the paint might not fare so well under UV. The solution? House windows can have a thin film applied to the glass on the inside of the pane that will reject bot UV and infa-red (heat wave) spectrum to make them more energy efficient. There are companies that do this, and if one is handy, one can apply the film (with practice) oneself. The home interior will benefit. Modern 'efficient' windows have this feature built in. Attics are terrible places for even cased models, since high heat will in crease the aging of materials as much or mose than some UV. I suppose that UV excluding glass can be used for a case the same way fine art is protected within a frame.

I Googled 'how to remove acrylic paint', and a result was that denatured alcohol (methanol) will work better than 90% isopropanol (IPA or 'rubbing' alcohol) ... note that 70% and even 50% is also sold as the watered down version is less irritating to skin. My admirable Admiral was pulling her hair out trying to remove dry acrylic from a formed plastic mixing tray used for a project, as she was only using soap and water. I applied some hardware-store methanol on a paper towel and SHAZAAM, much of the residue came off - only the thickest and oldest blobs remained. So pouring some denatured in the pockets of the tray to let them soak (plus a little prying later with a dull 'dinner' knife), and most of that came off. I left the clean tray, soiled paper towel and the can of methanol out on the counter to give her a pleasant surprise for her later when she comes down form the sewing room. I suppose you could soak the parts in a deep tray of denatured alcohol if they don't come cleaner with IPA (the first recommendation of the Google search). It is possible that 20 year old paint may not be removable ... so in that case, you can paint over the parts where needed.

Look closely at Rob's photos, and you can see that he used 1:96 Revell blocks on Glory of the Seas (and some others), which can be had from Revell C.S., Thermie or Connie kits (and a couple others). There are still a fair number of new or partially built 1:96 kits to be found on line. The molded eyes are single & double becket single blocks, and double becket double blocks - convertible into a single becket. They are good enough representations of internally stropped blocks (one can ignore the slight side rib on them, or even file them off) - the type used on later clippers. By leaving the side rib on the Revell blocks, they can double as externally stropped.

'Saw a fairly large Bluenose 2 model where the sails had 'just started' to be raised ... lending an 'action' element to the presentation (that might have even been improved with a few scale figures). I could see plenty of rigging and construction details since they weren't blocked by fully extended sail cloth ... they were still mostly gathered.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and you've done well mate !

So not to be superfluous, the sheave could be used for the ensign - not sure where it belayed. Petersson p.27 (w/o sheave) uses a small block attched to an eye at the ehd.

You have a good approach, and I've copied your drawing for reference ... thanks ! As has been said elsewhere, the captain could have the ship rigged to his orders - and you are captain of this ship. There are often multiple ways to accomplish each task with lines and tackle. For example, I'm enamored of the two ways to combine a leech line with the outer bunt line by use of a 'bulls eye' shown on p.169 of 'Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship & Ocean Carrier' by Harold Underhill (you may have this already). When coupled with the method of controlling two buntlines on p.163 (and I'll use just 2 blocks, a & c, rather than the three pictured) - what would have been 3 separate lines needing belay points below can be combined into a single haul line ! Eliminating 2 lines on both sides of a sail (4) x at least 12 sails on a square rigged ship, and there will be 48 less lines to route through fairleads and belay. These and other reasonable simplifications will be used on a Winter project of mine (delayed by summer landscaping ... and the resulting hernia surgery I've undergone as a result of an older guy still thinking he can do what he could at a younger age). A model ship is an art form representing the tastes and judgement of the builder. Work to please yourself in your own time frame. One get find pleasure even thinking or planning what course of action to take on a project (while busy with other tasks). Your ship in dry dock will patiently wait for you without complaint until you can get back to it. Be assured, I'm not laughing (as in retirement, I'm something of a newbie myself ... and intermediate level is as far as I'm likely to achieve) - and I highly doubt that any other builder on our forum is laughing either. At worst, it may pleasantly remind them of the path they have already trod to wherever they are. I expect that there will at least two unfinished projects when I pass over the bar, and figure that someone else might just take them up sooner or later. Like someone said, "I've worried about a lot of things in life - most of which never happened. Fair sailing! Johnny

The A.L. 1:75 Bluenose II may be a good compromise - enhanced for accuracy with the Jensen book on the Bluenose II. Check out the various builds at various scales that are on MSW ... you'll get a LOT on information to help you decide ... sort of ,'look before you buy'.

I'm still learning about rigging, where every line has a purpose, and thought to defer to a more experienced MSW builder. Yet I'm intrigued by your post, and consulted 'Rigging Period Ship Models' by Lennarth Petersson - a book dealing exactly with warships of the Bounty period. I'll include somewhat out-of-focus images for 'use in a book review' , and suggest you buy yourself a copy to se ALL the fantastic details in pictorial form regarding masting, rigging and sails for your Bounty. Kit makers often simplify or modify instructions in this area for an 'out of the box' build. The # 805 image you question appears to be a confusion of the outhaul for the spanker (with an inhaul on the other side), on p.81 of the book. The spacing of the elements is not necessarily exact to provide more clarity of function. There are three purchases on the tackle, so the space between them will be slightly more than 1/3 the length of the distance the spanker is hauled out along the gaff (before hauling out), and once hauled out - the blocks will be closer together. The inner block (which will likely be closer to the yoke than as pictured) appears to be attached (not clear) to the underside of the gaff yoke, with the haul line is belayed on a cleat on the gaff. Models without sails likely omit the in and out haul tackle. The inhaul (on the other side of the gaff boom) works in a similar manner to bring the lower corner of the spanker in. The only lines attached to control the gaff boom are the topping lifts, the gaff pendants, and the sheet. While there are peak (boom) and throat (yoke) halyards for the upper boom, the lower boom is not raised, nor does it go lower than the support collar allows.

It's like you're making your own 'ship kit' ...

The Canadian government seems to have more sense on the 'penny issue' than the Yanks ... and I think some factions will oppose it based on either "tradition", or the inability to grasp a 'rounding' scheme. So my suggestion to Uncle Sam is this: Since it costs 3 cents to make a penny in the U.S., why not offer a 'bounty' of 50% for pennies turned in (with monthly limits). For every dollar of pennies surrendered, the person would receive $1.50 ! So that would REDUCE the cost of 'minting' pennies by 50%, and the monthly limit would be needed because all sorts of folks would be emptying out penny jars, shelves and drawers, looking under car seats, etc. to 'cash in' on the bonanza. Noting motivates most Americans as much as money or a bargain.

A lucky builder can use a dental drill ... it can get into tight spaces and uses fairly small bits.

Didn't Canada get rid of the Canadian penny?

We all 'pick our passions', and I had a number of different ones over the years depending on finances, fitness and circumstance. Ship modeling at my stage in life is a good outlet for my OCD tendencies, which is typical for good Pharmacy workers - I work per-diem as a Technician (formerly a manufacturing engineer for aircraft parts ... another exacting career). The idea is to continue learning and doing any way one can to extend the years of a relatively healthy mind and body.

The illustrations are awesome, Phil ! Two pictures (plus a few notes) = thousands of words. This is JUST the sort of thing I want to eventually put on my Vasa ... always wondered how they'd do it, and once again, form follows function - and according to Occam's Razor, the simplest explanation is often the most likely. Another "Ah-Hah" moment came when I saw illustrations on how the davits worked on Shackleton's Endurance - where the distance between the davits is clearly LESS than the length of the boat hung from them. When both davits pivot in the same direction inboard, the boat shifts to that side enough that one end of the boat will clear it's davit. Then that davit continues rotating in the same direction (to pull that boat end outboard) WHILE the other davit reverses rotation to let the far end of the boat 'follow along' (the boat now being somewhat diagonal pointing outboard) as the boat moves outboard until the other end clears its davit. Then only that davit continues turning until both ends of the boat are outboard (and parallel to the gunwale), then both davits pivot to re-center the boat between the davits in the fully outboard position. Before reversible motors, I suppose cranks and gears would pivot the davits as needed.

Ahoy Captain! You don't need to post any logs to enjoy and learn all about the hobby (and historic ships as well) at MSW. I dare say your Unimat should come in handy for turning small parts in brass or wood (as I have done with a 3-jaw universal chuck on mine).

'Looked over builds of both the M.S. 1:64 Bluenose I and the A.L. Bluenose II 1:75, and concluded that the A.L. kit has somewhat easier hull construction. The bulwarks are a single applied piece ... the build by Travis notes the slight bulkhead correction needed in one place, as well as the addition of a small triangular piece at the bow (later hidden by a larger piece of trim) that will better secure the bow joint of the bulwarks. This feature permits the application of correct sized stanchions along the interior of the bulwark where they need to go. I noted how Travis applied the thin fore keel during the planking process, and other helpful aspects of the build. The model is a good compromise size. The builder needs to download the instructions and there are no drawings. The M.S. kit makes a somewhat larger model (ergo larger case required later), and has planked bulwarks against extensions of the bulkheads. Many kits have it this way, and requires shaving to get the correct size of stanchions that will not stand out from added stanchions in between. The kit has better instructions and there are drawings, but the level of difficulty is somewhat higher overall. I decided to go with the A.L. kit (now in my stash) in conjunction with the Jensen book (to use as a guide - making up for the lack of information connected with the kit) for a future retirement project. There are smaller scales of Bluenose kits available that I wanted to avoid, since the 1:96 projects I have to finish get fiddly with correct sized rigging blocks, belaying pins, etc.

I've gone through the builds of the Harriet Lane available on two forums, and it has several things going for it ... an interesting transitional Coast Guard Cutter with both steam (side wheels) and sail - but not too much sail; there are guns - but not too many of them; a decent size model - but not too large; decent plans and instructions from Model Shipways - a well thought-of kit maker. The only oddity I've seen is that most builders find that the guns hit the top of the gunport (bottom of the gunwale) and tilt slightly downward. 'Not sure how this anomaly occurred, and the gun barrels have been verified as being to scale. The easiest 'fix' deals with the height of the gun carriages - and the bottoms can be sanded down (just run over sandpaper on a flat surface) before fixing the axles (with the notches for the axles deepened accordingly). That will lower the front of the gun carriages enough so that the gun barrels will point horizontally. Forewarned is forearmed, and other than this small fix, the kit look appropriate for your trajectory. Pricing and availability vary, but I attach a picture (below) of one on eBay just now. Another suggestion is Artesania Latina's Bluenose 2 1:75 (with caveat). They've simplified a number of details to make it appropriate for a fair spread of ability. The 'fix' is to get a copy of L.B.Jensen's hand drawn book "Bluenose II", which has everything needed to vastly improve the details and rigging from an 'out of the box' build, and you are capable of doing upgrades. OR, Model Shipways has a 1:64 Bluenose (original) ... slightly larger and of the original ship built in 1921. And the Jensen book has diagrams of that as well, plus the rigging is virtually identical. She's a schooner but (with the book to supplement instructions) you'll learn a lot about fore-and-aft rigging without having do deal with the well over 100+ lines of a clipper.