Jim Lad

Beautiful cabinet work, Ilhan. it's a real pleasure to see it.
 
John

Delightful work, Ilhan. Nice to see her progressing.
 
John

That swirl of water around the dock looks very realistic, Greg.
 
John

That swirl of water around the dock looks very realistic, Greg.
 
John

Oops! Wrong again! I thought there was nothing more to do on the hull until the wood for the stern frame arrived. But I forgot about the bronze stem chafing plate and those wooden lining boards on the hull to protect it from anchors, pigs and such.
 

 
The stem chafing piece is shown in green. I will make it from thin brass sheet. I have several thicknesses in stock, but I think I'll use some 0.005 inch (0.127 mm) pieces in my scrap box. It is pretty easy to work with.
 
The lining boards were a problem. They are not mentioned in the blueprints, so I guess they were added later after wear was appearing on the hull planks. Fortunately I have quite a few photos of the USS Cape MSI-2 and I can see where the linings were located. There was a lot more than I originally thought. The lining planks are shown in red in the drawing above. Note: there seem to be some differences from the linings visible in USS Cove MSI-1 photos.
 
At the bow the linings extended down to the keel - this is evident in the photos Austin Cox sent of the current Cape on blocks. The anchor could bang against the hull here as it was being lowered and raised.
 
From photos of the Cape afloat I can only see the other linings extending down to the boot topping. I am guessing the linings didn't extend much lower because the hull sides curve under at these places and the pigs (floats) wouldn't go very deep. The kites and acoustic sounder could be lowered deeper but would be hanging out over the side. The entire hull did have a thin third outer planking of red oak below the water line and this would provide some protection.
 
I counted the planks in several photos, especially the bow photos, and determined them to be about 4 inches (104 mm) wide. That would be 0.085 inches (2.16 mm) at 1:48 scale. The closest commercially available wood is 3/32 inch (0.094 inch or 2.38 mm) wide. Fortunately, I just ordered 28 feet (8.5 meters) of 3/32 x 1/32 inch boxwood strips. I will need a few feet for trim on the deck house, and the rest was just to replenish stock. Looks like I will have enough for the lining planks!
 
And while looking for drawings of the chafing piece and linings I found one showing 12" x 6" x 1 1/4" (304.8 x 152.4 x 31.75 mm) zinc bars at places on the hull. I knew about the zincs on the stern frame and rudder. But there are two zincs on the "plow" for the engine and fire water intakes! A bit more detail to add.

Thank you, Eberhard. I wish I had a watch lathe and the skills to use it. I'd enjoy being able to go detail crazy.
 
 Thank you, Keith. That made me laugh.
 
 
 After viewing the photos last night I decided to scrape off the paint and Gallery Glass. It was a good idea but the Gallery Glass came out too lumpy and wasn't convincing as a glass tube. I repainted the wire, smoothed it with a wet finger, and left it at that. I'm much more pleased with the way the water level tube now looks and am ready to move forward.
 
 I think this will probably be the side presented to the viewer.

 
 This is a pretty neat view of the water level tube and the pressure gauge pigtail but once the engine and pilot house are installed this view will no longer be available. 

 
 A little more distance and less magnification.  

 
  That's it for the boiler except for plumbing the systems together including the hand pump which is the next item on the menu. My apologies for dragging you through multiple boiler posts but I was striving for something more than a little black lump.
 
 Thank you to everyone for the comments, likes, and for following along.
 
   Keith

Thanks for the encouragement, Keith.
 
John

Thanks Keith, yes, as part of this community it is easy to get addicted to the perfect fit or the exact representation...
Just a short update. Another couple of boards are filed and dry-fitted. Glue will have to wait a fair bit still.
When it is time for glue the inboard plank will be fastened first. Then I can do the final fine trim of the outboard plank against it.

"I worked all nitght, then it dawned on me" ... well not that it matter now, but I think I planked the hull with aspen instead of birch.
And how did you come to that conclusion. Well, I scrapped a veneered cupboard and used the bulk wood for planking. But when I thought of it now, it seemed pointless to use birch as bulk when the veneer was birch... so some searching the www gave me the plausible wood aspen instead. Similarly light coloured and the grain is not obvious. However, aspen is lighter and softer than birch. So, a quick comparison on the scale of similarly sized pieces gave that what I thought was birch (ie the aspen) was a fair bit lighter than actual birch.
But as I said, not that it matter now.
Will however be 100% consistent in using birch for the deck. Hence, the covering boards (or margin planks) are my 2nd attempt...
 
Thanks also for all the likes, fellows!
 

Very nice, Phil!
 
John

A very nice start to the planking!
 
John

Thanks for the encouragement, Keith.
 
John

A very nice start to the planking!
 
John

That is really beautiful work, Keith!
 
John

Hello Jeffrey, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'.
 
John

Hello John, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'.
 
John

Hello, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'.
 
John

Hello Dale, and a warm welcome to MSW from 'Down Under'.
 
John

I've been a bit slack in posting updates over the holidays, but the 'Duchess' has been quietly progressing in front of admiring holiday crowds at the museum. It always worries me that the unprotected model is very close to the public, unlike on the dedicated model makers' desk which was intentionally built wide, but I never have to worry about the kids touching the model - just (occasionally) their parents.
 
As you can see, the standing rigging is finally nearing completion (sans ratlines), with only a few more stays on the jigger and the mizzen spreaders to do. I'm now changing my focus to the sails and will hopefully play with the first sail - the flying jib - for a bit on Friday.
 
John
 

Things have been moving ahead a little faster than I expected as most of the corrections on deck have now been made, so I've been able to concentrate more on the standing rigging.  I'm now back to the main mast and currently working on the royal rigging, so almost finished there. You can also see additional coils hanging over the side indicating that the lower halliard fittings are in and ready for the yards.
 
The fore spreaders are also now fitted. I always fit the spreaders after the rigging is done, as the very slightest alteration in angle of any of the upper backstays throws the spreader alignment off, so better to fit the spreader to the actual rigging than the other way around.
 
You will also see a clothes peg hanging on the main topmast stay near the deck. This is as a result of a self-inflicted disaster when I tried to trim a loose end down near the foremast base and slipped, slicing neatly through one leg of the stay! 🥵🥵🥵 I think it will be OK but will see tomorrow when I try to complete the repair.
 
John
 

Your careful progress is certainly paying off, mate!
 
John

Your careful progress is certainly paying off, mate!
 
John

Your careful progress is certainly paying off, mate!
 
John

I've been a bit slack in posting updates over the holidays, but the 'Duchess' has been quietly progressing in front of admiring holiday crowds at the museum. It always worries me that the unprotected model is very close to the public, unlike on the dedicated model makers' desk which was intentionally built wide, but I never have to worry about the kids touching the model - just (occasionally) their parents.
 
As you can see, the standing rigging is finally nearing completion (sans ratlines), with only a few more stays on the jigger and the mizzen spreaders to do. I'm now changing my focus to the sails and will hopefully play with the first sail - the flying jib - for a bit on Friday.
 
John
 

That boiler's finished up really well, Keith.
 
By the way, your work bench looks a bit like mine!
 
John

More lovely work, Paul. That's looks a great way to make cleats, by the way.
 
John