Lecrenb
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Before starting the poop deck planking I needed to determine the size and location of the deckhouse. When St. Roch returned to Vancouver from her maiden voyage the original house was leaking and badly warped after two years in the Arctic. It was to be replaced, but her captain, Henry Larsen, wanted a larger house. Besides the wheel house and captain's cabin, he wanted room to move the mate's cabin and the wireless office up from the lower deck. This larger deckhouse served St. Roch from 1930 to 1944, but no plans of it exist, and only partial photos. There is a hand drawn sketch on the original general arrangement drawing, presumably done by Larsen in 1930, outlining a larger deckhouse. It was common practice to work off sketches or on a handshake without preparing formal plans. Scaling from photographs matches the sketch on the plan, so this is what I will model. The pictures show the sketch on the original plan, note the wheel house moved forward and the larger cabin area. The lobby and head would not be changed. The pictures also show my scaled drawing applied to the poop deck. Yes, the gray paint was spilled from my airbrush cup when I painted the hold interior!
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The bulwarks sweep neatly as they transition between the deck levels. I scaled this feature off my original plans and transferred the shape to a piece of scrap wood. This jig allowed me to create accurate and repeatable sweeps.
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With the main and fore deck planking complete I moved on to setting the stanchions and planking the bulwarks. I used the same techniques as on my earlier planking. The caps between the upper and lower bulwark planks will be filled in with narrower strips, a feature found on the actual ship. I took note that the main deck bulwark lowers as you move aft. I made scarph joints to transition from the main to the fore bulwarks, and the rounded ends of the openings were scored with appropriately sized brad point bits, turned manually, then carved with my X-Acto knife.
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After the main deck was done I moved on to the foredeck, using the same techniques except I nibbed the planks into the edge plank. I left gaps for the companionway, not because they were strictly necessary, but because they allowed me to use up most of my plank off cuts! I made the companionway off the model to ensure it was built square, then attached it to the decks. The companionway sides are odd shapes, so I followed the actual ship's construction for accuracy. The top is painted canvas over the wood, so I used a basswood piece that I will later finish to look like canvas. The door will be closed...
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I resumed work by installing planking on the main deck... I worked from the centerline outboard, using dividers to check for equal spacing p & s, and reversed clothespins to ensure the new planks snugged up to those already laid. I also placed the wale up against the stanchions and waterway, the round toothpicks give me a fine adjustment of the scupper gap. The second photo shows the main deck complete. Once outboard of the hatch I started tapering the planks about 25% of their width, to allow them to fit fairly to the waterway as they moved outward. Finally I used a chisel point in my X-Acto handle to press plank edges into each run.
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Wow... another long hiatus on the model bench! My apologies once again to those who had been following my build... I actually lost my mojo for a while and put the hobbies aside. Then I needed to finish some model rr scenery to clear that off my bench. I have been working on St. Roch since August now, so I will update everyone to where I am today...
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Thanks Mark... no masking at this point as the white is also the primer... and good thought on the empty hold. Regards, Bruce
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It has been a couple of weeks since my last progress report, we have been enjoying summer and family time, and I have gotten back to work on the model railroad, which will be dividing my hobby time at least for the next few months! I have applied the first coat of white primer - sealer on the inside of St. Roch's hold, using 'AutoBorne white sealer and Createx Colours thinner. These are not cheap, but they come in 8 ounce squeeze bottles, so they compare favourably by volume with other brands. It is only necessary to thin 10% then it sprays easily through the airbrush and cleans up easily when done. Speaking of airbrushes, I thought this was a good project on which to bring my old Badger 35 out of retirement! This single action sprayer was my first air brush, bought in 1976, and I used it until upgrading to a Badger 150 some years later. It remains a good brush for area spraying, and it did not disappoint as it made short work of fogging the hold interior! I will apply a second coat, then use my long handled, coarse bristle, brush to dry brush medium gray over the white, to give a good approximation of the actual hold's colour. The colours will be visible to anyone who looks down the hatch. I am unsure whether or not to place cargo in the hold... St. Roch usually carried coal over which were lumber then other supplies as required by the RCMP Arctic detachments, however I do not want to hide the posts and beams... Once I settle this question I will begin deck planking followed by the bulwarks and completion of the hull planks. Thanks for looking in, comments and thoughts on cargo are appreciated!
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Now it is off to the drill press... remember to use a Forstner or brad point bit to avoid tearing the wood! The next photo shows the mainmast set onto the mast step, there is enough wiggle room to allow fine adjustments of the angles using wedges made from toothpicks. The procedure is repeated for the foremast... Setting the masts completes the work inside the hold... Now I can paint it, then start planking the deck and completing the bulwarks! Thanks for looking in, and your comments and critiques are appreciated!
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To set the masts into the vessel I need to set the rake angle properly. For this I consulted the original St. Roch rigging plan, drawn in 1927. (It is interesting to note some detail differences on the hull portion of the drawing, but this is the rigging plan, and it was dated prior to 1928 when most of the ship's drawings were prepared.) This drawing also details St. Roch's mainmast which was removed in 1944, and which forms part of my model. Thanks again to the Vancouver Maritime Museum archives for locating and copying this drawing for me! The drawing gives a 3 degree rake angle. I measured using my protractor and the drawing baseline, which in this case is the waterline... the next drawing shows my protractor meeting the mainmast 3 degrees aft of perpendicular. Then I transferred this onto a piece of paper. I made a 3 degree angle template on the paper, then I taped the template to a beam in my model's hold that I knew to be vertical, such that the raked line was set to the front of the mast step, previously installed in the hold. This lets me take a measurement at the deck level that will be the front edge of the hole I have to drill for the mast. I offset the measurement by half the thickness of the mast... where this meets the center of the deck beams is my hole center.
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Now I have made the masts, at least the wooden parts, the bands and other hardware are still to come! I built my masts up from surplus sticks I had laying around in my stash. I prefer this method over using dowel rods, since those can warp over time with changes in humidity. I could also have used fewer, large, sticks, but I used up the smaller unused ones I had on hand. Here is the cross section showing all the sticks. It is important to ensure the glue is spread over the entire gluing surfaces with no gaps... after gluing I wrapped the mast tightly with thread over the entire length. This ensures even pressure on the gluing surfaces while keeping everything aligned. The next photo shows the masts and laying beside the hull, the main has been rounded on the lathe. I also make the masts a few inches longer that required, for holding while turning and sanding. The next photo shows turning the tops on both the masts, the main is finished and sanded, the fore is still being finished. Next I will show you how I set the masts into the hull! Thanks for looking in, comments and critiques are always welcome!
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Merci Alain! C'est bien d'avoir le bateau reel comme reference! Frustrant aussi car mon modele ne sera pas tel qu'il est presente aujord'hui! Regards, Bruce
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Thanks Gabe! It is great having the actual ship as a reference, but it can be frustrating because I am modelling her as she was during most of her working life, not as she is displayed today. The staff at the Vancouver Maritim Museum have been wonderful in locating original plan sheets and contemporary photos! Regards, Bruce
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Thanks JacquesCousteau! It is great having the actual ship as a reference, but it can be frustrating because I am modelling her as she was during most of her working life, not as she is displayed today. The staff at the Vancouver Maritim Museum have been wonderful in locating original plan sheets and contemporary photos! Regards, Bruce
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Before I continue the upper hull and deck planking I must make the masts and accurately locate the holes where they will pass through the deck. Once that is out of the way I will start planking the deck, and finish the upper hull strakes and bulwarks...
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Hi there everyone, wherever you are I hope you all had a great Canada Day and 4th of July! I have now got the lower hull planking completed I used my miniature hobby vise and reversed clothespins to push the final strakes up against the completed part of the hull. Here is the lower hull completed, and with wood filler applied to even out any divots and other rough patches, after sanding. Most of the wood filler is in the bow area, and that will be covered by a steel shoe that was fitted to help St. Roch push through the Arctic ice. The hull will also be painted which will cover the remaining filler.
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Some progress on planking the hull... I worked one or two strakes at a time, each side, letting my Titebond III glue dry overnight before continuing... Is it perfect? No... But the actual ship has a rough looking outer hull too... her hull was given an outer sheath of Australian Gum (Ironbark) for ice protection. This was left uncaulked so the seawater would reach the inner Douglas Fir hull; this would help to prevent dry rot. I also got the rudder post and prop shaft sleeve installed, and the rudder well planked inside. Next up will be some sanding and probably a bit of filler to even out the area at the stern, which I had trouble with... and one or two divots along the hull... Must replace divots!
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Thanks very much Gary. I had written an article about the ship's history for Ships in Scale, published in their Vol. XXV, Nr. 2 (March/April 2014). If you get out to Vancouver, the ship is preserved in their maritime Museum. Regards, Bruce
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I began planking the hull by wrapping the keel, stem, and rudder post with 1/16" thick Basswood strips. This served several purposes; it hid the plywood keel edges, it built up the keel to the correct final scale size of 11.5" wide, and by following the line of the garboard planks, the Basswood served as my rabbet and I did not have to carve into the keel. The first pictures show the stern after this was done and with the garboard planks and deadwood installed. The deadwood looks irregular, but very closely matches actual photos of the deadwood on St. Roch. The section from the original 1928 plan shows the Wale as well as the stanchions and planking at the hull midships. I started by planking the Wale, which consists of two planks one above the other. The rub rail will fasten later on to the upper plank... There will be a fair bit of sanding required, which will smooth out any irregularities. When I tried to wrap the wales around the stern, I only succeeded in making a real mess due to the compound curves required, and I broke several planks, no matter how much steam I applied... Studying the ship's plans of the stern section, and my St. Roch photos, led me to conclude that her stern was made from arcs cut from solid Douglas Fir and then carved to the rounded shape of the stern. These lifts were bolted to the stern frame and resulted in a very solid and rigid assembly. If it was good enough for the shipwrights in 1928, it should be good enough for me... So I made lifts of 1/8" basswood, starting from deck level where I could trace the first lift from the ship's plans. Subsequent lifts were traced from the one previously installed. I ended up with a very strong and correctly shaped stern, needing only some final sanding as the planking goes on. The extruded lift will carry the rub rail around the stern. The picture above shows the 12 stern lifts after first sanding, and with the first four hull plank strakes installed below the Wale. The Wale and the strakes glue to bulkhead #10 and the stern lifts, which meet that bulkhead.
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Once the beams were installed into the hold, I completed the hold interior planking on each end and as far up the sides as the clamps. There was no point in installing more planking since it will not be seen through the hatch. Before starting the hull planking I needed to install the main deck waterways, since the Wale follows the sheer line of the ship and butts up to the waterway. I also used my plans to trace the curve of the foredeck; then I cut a thin sheet of basswood that will serve to support the foredeck planks and waterway. The foredeck waterways were steamed, then formed around a pine block so they would hold their curved shape once dried. While they were drying I made the hatch coaming, following the finger joints on the original plans as closely as possible.
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Now that the hull frame is assembled, it is time to add some framing details and the interior of the hold. I intend to open the hatch to show the strong beams that were designed into the ship to prevent her being crushed in the Arctic ice. First I installed the main deck framing, which outlined the hatch opening, and the planking along the floor of the hold. Holes were chiseled into the planking to take the ends of the posts that support the beams. Next I followed the ship's original plans to install the beams, clamps, and knees... followed by the posts.
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