gieb8688

The Malek Adhel has returned to the safety of it’s display case.  I plan to build a box that will raise the model approximately 6” and I will keep all of the documentation inside.  I will also have a plaque made up at some time identifying the builder, the dates, (Feb. 1938-Feb. 1940), and the hours invested.
 
I could see the light at the end of the tunnel yesterday, so I began work at 8:00 AM , took a dinner break at 7:00 PM and finished my day at 1:30 AM the next morning.  The finishing touches were made this morning.
 
It is nice to see it as I remember it from my childhood.  It seemed like every time I got something done, something else would fail, so I ended up testing every line and replacing all the seemed frail, (most of them).  
 
Another thing that I inherited was a tremor.  I am fortunate that mine hasn’t advanced much yet and I can usually keep my hands steady.  I figured that it was now or never for this job.  Thank you for the support and for not being judgmental regarding my baggage.

I wanted to add a couple pictures of the model as I received it.  The base board was warped and the edges were left plain.  The top masts and the end of the bowsprit were broken off.  Most of the rigging needed replacing.  Some belaying pins, bullseyes and deadeyes needed to be duplicated.  One of the yards was falling apart and had to be rebuilt.  Some Brass fittings had corroded as well.  
 
The last picture was taken this mornin.  Everything aft of the fore mast is done.  The refitting the bowsprit and lashing down the anchor chains is all that is left.

My father built a model of the Malek Adhel after returning from his time in the CCC.  He began it in February 1938 and completed it in February of 1940.  It took him 2,500 hours.  After retiring, he gave it to my older brother.  My brother’s wife hated it and the ship along with it’s custom made case went into the basement.  The case was destroyed, the base warped, the masts, bowsprit and rigging badly damaged.  
 
After years of neglect, my brother asked me if I wanted it, (I did not).  I ended up with it anyway.  Now that I am retired and have some time to devote to the project, I have decided that it is time to get to work on it.  I have replaced the damaged spars and I planed the original base and routed the edges, (he chose a beautiful piece of wood).  I also have an antique display case for it.
 
My father did an amazing job, especially considering that he was only 20 years old when he started building it.  He made his own little lathe and used to borrow his mother’s washing machine motor to operate it.  My grandfather hand cut the lettering from a thin sheet of gold using a jeweler’s saw. 
 
Most of the standing rigging is still solid, but the running rigging is very fragile and will need to be replaced.  I do have the original blueprints and the 1938 Popular Science articles, but I was hoping that someone might be kind enough to post some closeup pictures of similar boats and rigs.  Thank you in advance for any advice and pictures.

apparantly taken yesterday
 
NOT MY PHOTO _ FROM FACEBOOK
 
Well would ya look at that… the bottom of a dreadnought, high and drying, in the year 2022. Note the paravane skeg beneath her forefoot, where the paravane chains would pass through from the bow to keep the minesweeping cables as low in the water as possible. This FANTASTIC photo, apparently taken yesterday evening on a cell phone camera by a hired videographer hired working with the Battleship Texas Foundation, shows in brilliant detail the condition of USS Texas (BB-35) below the waterline. This peek at the bottom half of the ship is a sight not seen in 32 years. Her last day in dry dock last came in February 1990. The red anti-foul coating on her lower hull is clearly exponentially beyond its useful lifespan, and the massive anti-torpedo blisters added to the ship’s original hull form between 1925-7 are readily discernible. Ironically, while the blisters typically provided additional stability to modernized dreadnoughts during active service, they became Texas’ primary adversary in her battle against flooding during recent years. One of her bilge keels, the angled fin under the port blister, is visible as well; these were passive systems for improving ship stability by reducing roll from side-to-side. - Hopefully additional lower hull photos will be forthcoming over Texas’ months (or, rather, years) in dry dock. The bottom of ships are often relegated to the realm of modelers and shipyard workers, but there’s plenty of interesting features down there that are vital to ship functionality. Not to mention the volume of the lower hull - which figures heavily in the ship’s displacement! - Note: Photo is by Sam Rossiello, and I’m happy to remove the post if desired for IP purposes - but the image was so good that I wanted to share with the broader community and did not know who the photographer was at the time of posting  

Update
 
today I`m doing the bulwarks handrail from bendable beech stripe 1,5 x 3,5 mm flat. The aft rounding is done with a bending gig in order to bend the strip over the flat side and a pot of boiling water.....
 
Nils

the front and mid sections are easy because of the slight bend only....
 

this gig keeps the strip down flat during bending the curve... for the aft rounding
 

here the strip is inserted into the gig
 
 

for smooth bending the strip was put into hot water for a few minutes
 

out comes a smooth rounding over the flat side of the strip. I`m very pleased with the result
 
 

fixing the rounding rail to the aft bulwark. It will be shafted to the mid section bulwarks
 
 
 
 
 

Update
 
fitted a set of overworked oarlocks (thinner wire), also boat cradles, bell, and the first coat of white paint above the waterline. The bulwarks (in boat swing out area) are cut back a bit just like the real vessel. The upper handrails are still missing as well as the deck`s super structure like companionways, hatches, skylights, etc
 
Nils
 

the upper hull has a white-silk finish
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Update
 
the boats are now complete, allthough the oarlocks and a sample oar look a bit oversized
 
Nils
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Update
 
making the tubes for the anchor chain, chemical blackening of the brass anchor chain, casting the boat halves, two halves of the boat checking out the fit, and ready for glueing together, the cockpit - cover still needs to be cut out
 
Nils
 

the chain is transported over the appr. shaped chainwheel
 
 

port for the chain
 
 

this is the cast box for the silicone mold
 
 

this is the removeable heart for the boats inner shaping. The little distance chucks are only preliminary attached in order to determine the boats wallthickness
 
 

here everthing is ready for casting the two-component raisin into the waxed parts
 
 

this is the very first cast boathalf
 

the fake frame-ends (at inner bulwarks) are included within the casting
 

 
 
 

dryfit of two boathalves
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Update
 
making the boats.....
I could`nt find suitable double-ender boats in the web, so I decided to make them myself. It would be a 130 mm long double-ended and clinkered little model itself.  I used ply and easy to shape Balsa wood. This will be the model for taking the silicone form from in which I intend to raisen-cast two symetrical halves and glue these together afterwards. The clinker is simulated with double laying strips of self adhesive aluminium tape
 
Nils
 

rough shaping the boats hull half
 
 

after final shaping and  sanding over
 
 

fitting the rail ( from brass profile)
 
 

clinkering
 
 
 

Thats the look...
 
 

the boats will turn out 130 mm long in scale 1:50
 
 

 
 

Update
 
Mounting the pinrails that also take up the sleeves for the davits.
Mounting the side vertical bumper-ails for raising / lowering the boats
Mouting a short bumpkin through the upper bowpost at the bulwarks and making the bow sprit that will be fixed a bit offset to the bumpkin.
Trying out if I can possibly make the two boats. The boats are symetric front and aft, so I would only need to make one halfmodel to take a silicone matrix from that. If it works out I can cast  the raisin halves to make two boats from
Making a gig to taper the bow sprit as well as the top spars later on.
The total model length ( bow sprit to aft end of mainsail beam) will be 750 mm
 
Nils
 

 tapering
 
 

tapering simultaniously requires two machines in operatio
 
 

 
 
 
 

tapered bow sprit
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
preparing for making the (only 1 half) for the boats
 
 
 

Update
 
making the sheathing plates fom 0,1 mm thick copper foil .....
The stb. and port ones require a mirrored poncing. It takes about 25- 30 single plates per sheathing-row on the hull
 
Nils
 

 
poncing the foil stripes with a self made poncewheel
 
 
 

 
cutting the stripes off a multi panel pattern. I make about 25 -35 plates from 7 stripes at a time
 
 

 
flattening the stripes from the rear side by rolling over with a glas jar ( is simple and works well )
 

 
stripes after flattening. This will provide complete identical sheating plates 15 x 20 mm afterwards, cutting at the black lines
 

Hello,
Major milestone achieved for the restoration.  All of the yards are now on the masts!  Final running rigging for main and mizzen masts, gun ports, cannon placement and some detail work should wrap things up.
Thanks,
Mark

lan and Oldsalt, thank you for your feedback.  Yes you can only do so much to replicate what was during their prime.  I think it depends on three factors. a) How much you are ready to source, b)how much details you manage to source  and c)the ability to replicate them on the model, depending on your skill, sometimes very difficult or impossible because of the small scale.  In my opinion sometimes it is better to leave some details out than try to replicate them with a poor result.
 
I finished all the gunport lids. I had made the lids some time ago and put them away to finish some rigging before fitting them in place as I am sure I would have nocked down a few of them. Probably I will still manage to nock down a couple of them, but at least the risk is minimised. 
 
I made a jig to keep the opening angle of the lids the same as much as possible.  Here are a few images, quite crude but very useful.  It was made from scrap I had laying about.

 
I found a piece of wood, I think it was cut fro some sort of wall panelling.  It had a groove on one of the faces.  I glued two pieces of wood to it to act as guides to go up and down the upright stand and always keep the block at the same angle. 

 
 
 
Put a strip of wood in the groove.  So basically now I have the block of wood that can move up and down, depending on the height of the gunport, and the strip which can slide in and out to the required distance.

 
Jig in use.

 
Here are a few images of the finished job.





 
Robert
 
 
 

All cannons in place.   





 
Now to start installing the gunport lids.
 
Robert
 
 

A small update,
 
I fitted the side entry ports which I had prepared some time ago. 


 
Robert

Thank you Malcolm, and thank you all for the likes.  
 
Stern lanterns in place.  I was very eager to fit them and see how they look.  I left them up to now to avoid nocking any of them while doing the rigging.  But now I had to ship them as otherwise it would be very difficult to wire and solder them in place with more rigging in the way.
 
I had already prepared the brass work and wiring of the LED's inside the lanterns.   I painted the three parts, that is the base with the brass arms and led's, the cage and the top and assembled them.

 
Soldered the wirer from the open spaces I left on deck and checked that they are working fine.

 
Flag lockers in place and covering the openings I left for soldering the lanterns wiring.  I did not glue the lockers so that I can still have excess to the soldered wires if need be.  The outer transom knees kept the lockers in place.

 
Instead of gluing the knees I fitted two cut nails in their underside and pinned the knees in corresponding holes on the deck so I can easily remove them.
 
Lanterns and stern windows all lit.

 


 
Lantern on main mast top.

 
So basically now I have finished all the lights and wiring.  It did involve quite some work, and to be honest at first I was a bit hesitant if I should go for the lights or not.   But now I am glad I decided to go for it,  I think the result was worth the extra effort.
 
Robert
 
 

Proceeded with more work on the standing rigging, backstays and bowsprit.


 
Fitted the Jiboom in place and after inserting the traveller also fitted the flying jiboom with the brass rings I had prepared earlier.

To reinforce and keep in place the flying jiboom at the back end I drove a piece of brass road trough the flying jiboom and the jiboom. Later I painted black so it doesn't show much.

 
Finished the bowsprit shrouds and the Boomkin Stays.  You can also notice the Man Rope which run from a copper eyelet on the side of the bowsprit cap to an eyelet on the knighthead.


 
As I had added the travellers I had to divert quite a bit from the instruction manual for the jiboom and flying jiboom rigging.  Part of the rigging which in the manual were indicated to be secured to the jiboom end had to go to the traveller.  Also I included some more detail which was omitted in the manual.  I referred for these details in Longridge.  You can notice the still unrigged travelling guys seized to a thimble in the traveller and the guy pendant seized to the notch in the end of the jib.  They are to be rigged later as they have to go through eyelets in the spritsail, still to be shipped.

 
The jibboom horse also in place.  To give it that sagging effect I wetted the horse with diluted PVA glue and put some clips along it as weights until it dried.

Here you can see the tackle for the Jib Outhauler.  Long tackle block made by attaching two blocks together. The rope for the long tackle block is first secured to the shackle on the traveller, then passed through a hole (representing a sheave) in the jibboom and then the long tackle block seized to it.  Inner and outer martingale are also in place.  The martingale ends and some other rigging although they are tied to there respective places, they are not secured,  glued and trimmed for the moment, in case I have to loosen them for other rigging.

 

Now before I start fitting the yards and the driver gaff and driver boom on the stern I think I better carry on fitting the stern lanterns and the gunport lids as otherwise the yards will be too much in the way.
 
Robert

Graham and Ian thanks for your nice comments.
 
Ian, to be honest I was quite confused how to go about rigging the bowsprit and its traveller. Going true some builds to find some details, in Bill's log I came acrossI the correspondence between you and Bill re the bowsprit rigging.  With my Longridge, Bill's persistence to detail and your excellent hints I think now I have a good idea how to go about it.
I seized all the ropes that go to the traveller before I fit it to the Jib as I think it would be much more difficult to seize them when it is in place.  Hopefully I got it right and I will rig all the attached ropes to their respective place.

 
According to my understanding from what I gathered from Longridge, Bill and Ian here is an image of my traveller withe ropes all marked which hopefully I will rig to their right place.

Robert

Time for another update. I have continued forward on the deck with fittings and equipment. Nothing has been permanently mounted yet. I want to see everything together first, to check that the proportions looks good.
 
In this photo, we can see the top of the windlass. Nothing else of the area in front of the fore mast can be seen above the railing. I need to make an educated guess.

I have decided for something similar to the layout shown in the following photo. It is from another schooner from about the same time. It shows the windlass, a companionway and a hatch. There are also two bollards at the railing, similar to the photo above.

For the windlass, the kit contained some nicely made brass pieces.
 

However, I don't feel that the roll is accurate enough. So I decided to make my own pieces.


The result, thus far. There are still the handles, and the mechanism for turning the drum to install. Maybe I will wait with that for later, so I won't break them when working with other things.

I'm still thinking about redoing the windlass drum. It may be a bit too big. I will look at how it looks together with the rest and decide later...

While waiting for the glue to dry for the planking,  I have been working on the windlass, chain stoppers and mangers

Rob,  I really like working with dogwood, it is a hardwood with a very fine grain.  It cuts and sands well and produces very sharp edges.  It is also great for turning on a lathe.
 
I have been planking both the deck and hull.
 

The planks I am using for the upper hull are dogwood.  They started out as a 6" X 24" log cut many years ago.  I cut the logs into 1" boards with a band saw, then ran them through a planer.  Using a Byrnes table saw I cut the boards into slightly over sized planks and then ran them through a drum sander.

I started laying the deck planking under the forecastle and temporarily added the forecastle bitts.

I started to run planks around the stern and did not like the way they went on.  I removed them and made a form to shape the 1/16" thick planks, I liked the way they turned out.