Lecrenb
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Thank you very much Steve. Thanks for following along, enjoy your summer too! Regards, Bruce -
Thank you very much! I will be checking in from time to time when I get a bit more done! Regards, Bruce
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Thank you Keith! This will be our family's 18th annual fishing trip to Tobin Lake... I hope to make some more progress in between bouts of relaxation! Regards, Bruce
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St. Roch is now mounted on her display base... I still have a list of about a dozen items to make and install before the hull is complete, things from the ship's boats to the decals. Much can be done off the model and completing these items will be my goal for the rest of the summer. That's one of the things about scratch building... you have to think ahead and make up your instructions as you go along, and hope Part A fits into Assembly B before Widget X gets in the way (as it inevitably will)! I have also made some decisions as to St. Roch's display. Apart from some old Revell kits I made about 50 years ago, this is my first model sailing ship. I have decided to show her sails furled, so as to include all the running rigging while not impeding the view of the deck. New skills to learn, and I have picked up David Antscherl's Appendix on sail-making for some light bedtime reading! St. Roch has a very simple rig which I hope even a tyro such as myself can handle! I have also decided not to weather the ship, or clutter up the decks with odds and ends, as the ship is displayed today. This is a model, and my focus is to display the ship herself. Anyone who has followed this build log will have seen the warts on my hull and paint; but St. Roch is (or was) a working schooner that saw hard service, so to that end I am leaving the divots and scratches, as these were, and are today, present on the hull. Despite that she was well maintained by her crew of R.C.M.P. Constables, who took a great deal of pride in their ship, so I am leaving the hull free of rust and detritus. Keen eyes will note on the two previous pictures the zinc anodes, installed on the forged steel rudder reinforcements. Also the various inlets, discharges, and exhausts have been drilled through the hull and lined with pieces of brass rod. So now I am going fishing, then in June I'll be getting my other knee replaced, and making a pilgrimage to France in August (my Grandfather was with the 38th Bn at Vimy Ridge, and my wife Dale's father came ashore at Juno Beach), so I will be away for most of the summer but I will check in from time to time! Thanks for following along; I would appreciate hearing from others how you arrived at your decisions as to how to display your models... Regards, Bruce
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Moving right along, the stern area of St. Roch is now complete! I fabricated the rudder brake from styrene channel, shop made turnbuckle and shackles, nut and bolt details, and basswood... Taking up the turnbuckle presses the shoe against the quadrant, useful if the linkage breaks... The quadrant is limited to 40 degrees, I made the stops from basswood. The whole rudder area is protected by a wooden platform cover, which I made using offcuts from my hull build. The pictures show it being test fitted to the ship, and installed after painting... Finally, here is the same area on St. Roch today, photographed by myself during a visit about 5 years ago... Entering the home stretch as far as finishing the hull goes! Thanks for looking in, and as always comments and critiques are welcome!
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I completed the steering linkages today... I mounted the quadrant to the rudder post and fed the chains from the quadrant around the chain pulleys. Turnbuckles connect the chains to the steering cables, I used cast brass bodies from San Juan Details and made the ends from #22 copper wire. Shackles connect everything together. I made mine from fine solder with Grandt Line nut and bolt details. This layout follows sketches made by Captain Larsen in 1930 that routed the linkages along the waterways and eliminated the original block and tackle tensioning arrangement. Coming soon are the rudder stops and quadrant brake to finish this off. Enjoy!
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Very interesting description of the rigging!
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Got the rudder installed this evening... Here they are ready to be fitted to the ship, with the bearing half and the quadrant. St. Roch carried a spare rudder on deck, the service rudder could be lifted onto the deck through the rudder well using tackle rigged to the main boom. This was usually done to prevent damage from the pack ice or when the ship was frozen in for the winter. The rudder is made from Ironbark (Australian gum) which does not float, hence the safety chain. These next pictures show the rudder in place, and the bearing clamped while the glue sets. The piece of solder is preventing the chain from falling through the well while its' retaining strap is glued in place on the deck. Here is the deck view with everything set in place, and a view down through the rudder well... Tomorrow I will shackle the steering chains to the quadrant and get that fixed in place along with the chain pulleys. Then I will complete the linkages. After some final paint touch ups on the hull she'll be ready for her display base.
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Got some more work done on the quadrant this evening... the first two picturres are parts of the original ship's plans from 1928. They show the rudder bearing and quadrant, the two parts I am working on now. One picture also shows the rudder stops and brake, which I will make once the linkages are done. Here is the quadrant test fitted to the rudder head. The upper chain channel is starting to take shape! Thanks for looking in! Bruce
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Greetings everyone, and for those who sent good thoughts for my new knee, thank you very much! The Cori-Robotic surgery was very successful, the full replacement took only 90 minutes and I had a spinal anesthetic, not a general. 4 hours later the feeling came back and they got me up on my pins and taking my first steps! I was in overnight to make sure everything was ok, then I walked out using only the cane! After a week I ditched the cane and was back walking the dog, about 1000 steps per day. The improvement is ongoing, and my second knee is scheduled for June 4! I have been able to negotiate the basement stairs for about a week now so I have been back at the St. Roch, working mainly on the steering linkages. The first two pictures are the alleyways either side of the deckhouse... I added the steps up to the doors and the covers for the steering chains. There are shackles under the covers connecting the chain from the steering wheel gypsy to the steel cables running aft. I used .015 diameter black thread to simulate 3/4" wire rope. I scratch built the four cable pulleys from styrene. Next I followed the original ship's plans to make the rudder bearing, which is bolted to the hull just forward of the rudder well. The bearing halves clamp the rudder post. The two steering cables are just set out of the way using the aft cleats. I have started making the rudder quadrant, as seen in the last picture. Again, I followed the ship's plans to make an accurate shape. The quadrant is designed for chains. On the prototype there are 'Z' channels following the arc of the quadrant, the chains sit in the channels and are shackled to the holes visible on the quadrant. I tried bending styrene channel but this was unsuccessful, so I'm making the channels from individual strips. There are chain pulleys guiding them out to the sides of the ship, where turnbuckles will connect them to the cables. I should be able to have the linkages complete shortly. I think at that point I will permanently mount the ship onto its' display base. Thanks for looking in!
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Thanks Alan! Yes, it is supposed to be a smaller incision and more precise placement of the prosthetic... they do expect me to be up and moving as soon as I'm fully awake!
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George, glad you found a method that works for you! Probably find plenty more parrels at the bottom of every water hazard! Regards, Bruce
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Thanks Keith... they tell me I'll be taking first steps as soon as the anesthetic wears off! The water would freeze pretty fast in an Arctic winter, -40 highs are common. I'm thinking they likely drained it and manually flushed from a pail??
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The deck house structures are complete... here is the lobby, head, and wireless office before attaching to the ship. The unit on top of the head is marked as "sanitary service tank" on the plans, and photos confirm it is there... not sure what was in the tank. If it was water for flushing how would the crew keep it from freezing? Another conundrum to add to the list! I used glass beads from the craft store to make the aerial insulators. The aerials are only attached when the main sail is down, and when the ship is getting ready for a scheduled contact, there was no power for the radio unless the auxiliary engine was running. In the 1930s she carried a low frequency morse code (wireless telegraphy) transmitter and receiver. The original insulators had to have passed through the main deck, which made them prone to damage, and would be a shock hazard. This may be the reason the office was moved to the upper deck. There are differences in the doors, explained by the fact the wheelhouse and wireless office are new structures. Plans and photos show portholes only in the lobby and head doors. Here's what it looks like when it is all put together. I have started work on the steering linkage to the rudder, but I may re-make my pulleys as they look a bit out of scale, we'll see how they clean up... Thanks again one and all for looking in and for your comments. This will be my last posting for a while as we are visiting family, then I am getting a new knee next week! The surgeon is one of the few in Alberta to use the Cori-robotic system and I am really looking forward to the procedure! Happy Easter! Bruce
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The rear structure framing is complete... behind the lobby and head is the wireless office relocated from the lower deck. The ventilators and galley stack are installed... leaving room for the main boom that passes across the top of the deckhouse. The aft structure is painted and the roof set on to check fit. The lobby and head are original and retained the 1928 stained and varnished finish, The rest of the new deckhouse is white. Here is the ship sitting on the display base, just seeing how it looks for now. I'm making the doors and windows for the aft structure, then time for some paint touch up and a few more small parts then the hull is basically complete! Next up will be the rudder and steering gear, followed by the boat platforms and davits. Thanks for looking in! Bruce
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Well, if it was me, I know I could not replicate the scroll work with any hope of fidelity to the original. I would take a picture straight on, or manipulate one with photo shop to appear straight on, then size it to model scale. Then I would make a negative of the picture and send it to a shop that does electronic circuit boards or brass photo etching. You will end up with accurate scrollwork in copper or brass on a substrate. The substrate can be painted and become part of your head timbers. Best of luck! Regards, Bruce
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I have achieved Deckhouse! Before fastening the roof I placed the builder's plaque... made from a picture of the original. My historic photos are in black and white, and show a greyish roof. St. Roch had a limited colour palette so I mixed a bit of green into the grey, as if this surface was canvas covered and sealed like the hatch covers and companion roof. Moving right along... I started framing the structure behind the deckhouse. This is original to the ship and was not replaced when the deckhouse was enlarged in 1930. To the left is the lobby leading to the lower deck. To the right is the head. It is 2 feet lower because there is no clerestory underneath. Once this is finished there are some ventilators and gew-gaws (a nautical term for fiddly bits, eh) to put on, then I will move on to the wireless office and steering gear. I hope you like my ship so far! Bruce
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The deckhouse is getting close now... The bay window is installed... The wheelhouse roof frame is installed... Here is the roof roughed in to check the fit... While paint and glue were drying I made the rest of the fiddly bits for the poop... Once the goosenecks and ring bolts are installed there will be some paint touch up on the hull, then finally the deckhouse gets installed! I am thinking good thoughts about installing the ship on the display base at that point... but I may wait... The rudder and quadrant mechanisms can go on any time, and the structures behind the deckhouse can be built. After that the lifeboat platforms and davits can be built, the spare rudder and steering cables installed, and the masts stepped! Woot! Love it when a plan comes together! Thanks for checking in! Bruce
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