Snug Harbor Johnny

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.

Wow, the water door appear to be simple plates (with a pair of small hinges at the top) with a low profile that simply close against openings in the steel bulwarks. Gravity keeps them closed, or nearly so, but a slight tilt of the hull will open them a little. No scuppers are seen (or needed), and a CS modeler can imitate them by gluing a thin square of material to the outside, with a rebate on the inside (square hole in the first planking layer) to represent the opening in the bulwark that the water door covers on the outside. Thermie had wooden bulwarks, so I suppose the rebate would deeper.

Very impressive - a veritable compendium of sources ... The most recent (and more easily accessible) are still those by Anderson Petersson and Underhill.

For warships from the mid 1700s to the 1850s, check out 'Rigging Period Ship Models' by Lennarth Peterson ... first published in 2000, and reprinted in 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2018 (so is likely still in print). After the introduction, every page is a generous line drawn illustration of some aspect of rigging (labels and terms in English) from the standing rigging on out through full sail. There are other diagrams for belaying points, etc. This is the clearest, concise guide I've yet seen, and indeed - one picture is worth a thousand words. The scale of detail is varied as needed to convey pretty much 'how to do it', and I suppose that many of the elements can be applied to non-military square rigged ships of that era. I dare say that if one were allowed only ONE reference book for rigging a ship in the subject period this would be the one I'd pick ... virtually no text, but they show you in pictures - thus suitable for non-English speakers (who can likely use a translation app on their smart phone for the labels). Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) said to would-be writers, "Don't tell them, SHOW them."

Thats a cool lantern and a well built model ... Kudos!

I love the bead at the mast top ! ... something I'll copy later. Now you are embarking on the "other" half of building the model ... the rigging. Have you considered using scale rope? Several sizes and colors are easily available and can really make rigging look sharp (way less fuzz and realistic look). Some builders also run kit blocks a few seconds in a block sander to 'round' the sharp edges somewhat, as well as use a fine drill to be sure the through hole is clear for ease of rigging ... or consider Syren blocks as an upgrade.

Even more profitable (for most) was to 'mine' the prospectors by offering wildly overpriced supplies. If you shipped tools and necessities to San Fransisco during the gold rush, you could get thirty to 50 times what you paid for the stuff in the East.

'Sorry to be off topic, but there IS a tiger (and others) that one can see (perhaps for free one day of the year) in the U.S. There used to be an extensive tank collection outdoors at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland (USA), but in 2012 everything was moved to Fort Lee Virginia (temporarily) ... and ended up in the U.S. Armor and Cavalry Collection in Mort Moore Georgia - said to be largest collection of historic armored vehicles in the world. It is NOT open to the public in general (bummer), but has an open house at least once a year - the last one being September 7th this year. So its not all bad news. The Aberdeen collection was deteriorating outdoors anyway, but while still at Aberdeen I could climb inside several of the big German tanks - and a picture of one is below that I was inside ... I recognize the hit on the gun mantle. There are tanks assembled from a number of locations now under roofs, and many have been stabilized with new paint - probably the best for future viewing and reference. for a tour, see:

I love this idea ... especially because a.) CS had triple planking (ergo it is plausible if not likely that Big T had the same) and b.) the 45 degree angle will give great strength (probably why it was done). After the second planking, you can cut the square ports for the 'water doors' without endangering the stability of the bulwark planking. Then the final fore-and-aft plank layer will come up just short of the water port, which will provide the bearing surface of the water door to close against (being hinged on the top). Rob pointed out that great seas could often pour over the gunwale going around the Horn, then the weight of the water would tilt the water doors outward to permit quick discharge of the water sloshed on deck. The doors were metal, so their own weight would close them ... any wave hitting against the door would simply press it against the rebait planking behind the door without shipping water. Whatever water remaining would just run out through the scuppers. Wow, one can learn something new every day ! EDIT: Now I see that the CS doesn't have tiny scuppers (Probably because the bulwarks were steel plate), so the water doors do the entire job. The Big T had wooden bulwarks, so she might have had a few scuppers like very many wooden ships of the day. Perhaps close examination of what photos are available might be indicative. FWIW, a scupper with a 4" (100mm) opening would only be 1mm (0.0395") at 1:100, ergo on my 1:96 projects that is pretty small indeed to fool with, although a section from a 'blunt fill' injection needle (used in our hospital Pharmacy to reconstitute medications for I.V.bags) might serve.

'Must have been a 'tub' to sail in back in the day ... still cute !

Very neat ratlines, and everything's in black (including deadeye lacings) like they should be.

Come aboard, mate !

'Depends on the type of ship ... For square rigged commercial vessels, 'Masting & Rigging the Clipper Ship & Ocean Carrier' by Harold A. Underhill - 1946 (available as a pre-owned book) has a wealth of information, much of it applying to the 1850s, when patents for splitting the top sail were being adopted. The time range applies from the late 1840s through the early 20th century. For many sailing warships, 'Rigging Period Ship Models by Lennarth Petersson has material applicable from roughly 1800 through the 1850s (e.g. the rebuild of the U.S.S. Constellation). A different kettle of fish from commercial vessels. There are a couple of books on fore-and-aft type ships (e.g. schooners), but the name of them escapes me at this moment (Edit: one of them may be Underhill's 'Sailing Ship Rigs and Rigging' 1955 , that covers additional ship types). However, I find that 'The Bluenose II' by L.B. Jenson (who also documents the original Bluenose of 1921 - the rigging virtually the same) has much information that might be applicable for earlier schooners. Again, fore-and-aft rigging is a different kettle of fish from the above two classes. EDIT: R.C. Anderson '17th Century Rigging' (1952) expands the time period somewhat, and provides further insight. Anderson's 'The Rigging of Ships - In the Days of the Spritsail Topmast 1600- 1720' (1984) further stretches the time period and ship type.

Fantastic save, mate ! Just shows what one can do when working in wood.

For the lion's heads on the inside of Vasa's gun port lids, I made a master - then poured a two-part silicone resin over it. Once cured, the mold is flexible and the original popped out (the base being flat). Duplicates are done in two-part epoxy put into the mold and drawn flat against the back surface of the mold.

O M Gosh, Simon ... 'could have been far worse. The thing I like working in wood is that all kinds of repairs and modifications are possible - 'just take patience and glue. You are coming along nicely, mate !

I'm told that the problem with capacitors in general is that they do tend to go bad eventually - being not a matter of 'if', but a matter of 'when'.

Another detail I've just noticed in the dramatic artwork (as my attention was drawn elsewhere in the painting) ... The sails that have already been furled have the mouse ears clewed to the mast in 'Navy fashion' ... very interesting. Commercial ships often have the 'ears' positioned near the ends of the yards. But ships can be rigged however the Captain prefers, so this one might have been a Navy man.