captainbob

I'm using brass rod for the topmast fids, but I drilled and inserted some brass tube into the topmast heel to strengthen the fid hole.  Metal plate will be put on the bearing surface of the trestle-trees.
 
 
 
 
The caps I made were just rough outs, so I made a new set from laminated aircraft plywood and one of oak for the bowsprit.
 
 
 
 
The caps got some eyes installed, and the tops got blocks for the heads of the trys'l masts, then everything got painted.
 
 
The bowsprit started with a bit of research.  The paintings of the ship in 1856 and 1862, the earliest known photo from 1871, and the rigging documentation of the period all agreed closely enough.  I basically used "Plate 51" from Luce's Textbook of Seamanship 1891 edition along with the 1871 photo as my guide's.
   
 
The heel block for the jib-boom and the bees got things started.  The heel block is notched into the bowsprit, glued, and pinned - I think it'll stay there.  The jib-boom was notched to fit

 
The cap was banded with some of the copper tape used on the hull's bottom, and some eyes.  It also got some copper strap glued and pinned to take the notched heel of the flying jib-boom.

 
A "wythe" was made from copper and it was glued and bolted to the shouldered end of the jib-boom.  The flying jib-boom slides out through this and steps into the strap on the cap.

 
Banding for the bob-stay chains, fore-stay, and the heel strap for the jib-boom were all made with copper sheet.  The heel strap is also bolted through the heel-block.  The forestay bands are anchored with a copper nail under the bees and wrap under the bowsprit and through the bee on the other side.  The holes in the bees for the t'gallant fore-stay are sheaved with 6mm brass sheaves.
 
 
The bees were permanently attached with 4p finish nails as pins, brass nails through the t'gallant fore-stay sheaves, and glue, of course.  A set of spreaders and a dolphin-striker were made from maple, fitted with hooks, and everything was painted and stained.
 
 
 

Hello Friends,
 
Thank you all for your "likes", really appreciated.
 
A few things happened in the progress of this build in this installment.  I started the deck planking here and made my own plywood again.  I decided to use plywood instead of planks.  for a small boat it seemed logical and easier.  In real life we would use marine grade plywood but here I used my own method of making plywood.  The deck was going to be painted anyhow with non-skid paint.
I also "planked' the vertical sides of the cabin above the deck and cut the portholes in it.  I used file folder paper for the portholes and clear plastic from small food packaging trays from the supermarket.
I also finished the galley cupboards and made the doors for them as well as doors for the hanging closets in the cabin. 
I also installed the seat supports in the cockpit and drilled the hole for the helm shaft.  A tricky one because the largest collet for the flex attachment did not go up to the drill size I needed. So I had to drill the final hole by twisting the drill bit with my fingers.
 
Attached are four pictures that'll tell the story better.
 

I had to remove the table and top bunks to give me some space for the Proxxon flex extension.  I also poly urethane the cabin and galley.  The deck is partially covered and is still a little too large but over all it fits nicely.  This is my own made plywood and is about 2 mm thick.  I forgot how I clamped the side deck pieces.  In this picture you can hardly see the top bunk tracks.  The galley cupboard doors are also made and hung. I made two doors on the port side and the cupboard is also a bit larger then the starboard one.
 

A top port side view. I made a hatch opening for the forecastle/sail locker/appliance compartment.  The mast stump is only a temporary thing.  Here you can see the cockpit seat supports and the helm shaft hole.  The cabin upper sides are also made from home made plywood.  It was a fun experiment but too time consuming.  It would be better to buy 1 and 2 mm plywood in the hobby store.  That's what I have done for the O 19 sub I'm building. I have glued 2, 3 and 4 layers of 1 mm ply together to get the thickness I needed.  It's very strong and can be shaped into an airfoil when needed and won't twist or warp!.
 

Starboard top side view.  Here you can see the top bunk tracks and the galley cupboard doors. Yes, they do also have handles on them and work.  Here you can also see the hanging closet doors, they too have handles on them and work.  btw the hinges are made from file folder paper.  The stick stuck in a hole in the build board is what I have used to apply small daubs of glue, mainly for the hinges and door handles. 
 

Side view, starboard side.  Not much else to add except that the deck still needs to be trimmed.  Looking at it now I could have made the cabin just a smidgin higher but when she is in the water she seems to exude speed this way.  I thought of making the forward end bowed but that would have taken away a lot of headroom in the head and washroom.  I had to use very little wood filler on the model but only where needed to hide the plank seems when painted. I was pretty successful in achieving a nice smooth finish.
 
Cheers 

I never actually got around to posting in the Y'all log, but it turned out beautifully Bob.
I'm really intrigued by Tugs and a fire tug is even better, but a fire tug that actually lived through Pearl is an amazing choice for a build. I love the uniqueness of your builds
IIRC the Yawl was just a picture made 3d by gifted hands. As my father is ex-navy the naval aspect and significant role she played in one of life biggest human dramas really makes this quite a special build. I admire your skill and choice of such an unusual build. I'm looking forward to see your research become real. 

Thanks Popeye.   Now here’s the rest of it.
 
I did not like this boat when I started it but the more I built the more it grew on me.  I titled it the Malabar Jr.  but I modified it so much that it is no longer a Malabar Jr. it’s just a yawl, Y’all.
 
First the profile.

 
And a bow shot.

 
The foredeck

 

 
And the cockpit.

 
Bob

Hello all,
 
I am going to step away from sails for this build and build a boat I’ve wanted to build for a long time.
 
When I started modeling boats I was in an RC boat club in Indianapolis. We sailed One Meters in the summer and in the winter we ran scale RC boats in indoor swimming pools.  That’s when I saw a picture of a fire boat called “The City of Oakland”.  I wanted to build it 25” long (1:48 scale) with working water pump and monitors.  That was about ten years ago.  Since then I have been searching the web for all I could find.  And what I found changed my mind as to the build.
 
City of Oakland

 
The City of Oakland was originally the yard tug HOGA YT-146.  The keel was laid down 7/25/1940, Launch date was 12/1/1940 and it was delivered to Pearl Harbor 5/1/1941.
 
(This is from the web)  City of Oakland, ex-Hoga, is of exceptional significance in American history as the only known surviving yard craft present at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet on December 7, 1941.
 
Hoga fought fires on Battleship Row for 72 hours.  The actions of the tug's skipper and crew did not go unrecognized. On February 1942, ADM. Chester A. Nimitz, CINCPAC, commended McManus, his men, and their tug for a job well done:
 
 “For distinguished service in line of your profession as Commanding Officer of the Navy Yard Tug HOGA, and efficient action and disregard of your own personal safety during the attack.... When another ship was disabled and appeared to be out of control, with serious fires on the fore part of that ship, you moored your tug to her bow and assisted materially in extinguishing the fires.  When it was determined that the damaged ship should be beached, as there was serious danger of her sinking in the channel, you assisted in the beaching operations in an outstanding manner.  Furthermore, each member of the crew of the HOGA functioned in a most efficient manner and exhibited commendable disregard of personal danger throughout the operations.”
 
Placed on loan to the Port of Oakland, California, in 1948, it was returned to the navy after 40 years of service.  Recently it was awarded to the City of North Littlerock, AR.  to be in their museum. At present it is in a boat yard near San Francisco being prepared for transport to North Littlerock  
 
Hoga is one of about 30 of the Woban YT-138 class.  The problem in this build is that there are no line drawings of this boat.  I have many, many pictures and internal equipment drawings but no lines.  I hope to build the Hoga as it was at Pearl Harbor prior to the attack.  I got the build plans for the Billing’s kit and I will scale the bulkheads and keel to 1:96 and see where to go from there.   So wish me luck and follow along with me. 
 
Bob
 
Hoga at sea trials

 
Hoga at Paerl Harbor

 

What can I say that hasn't been said.  Have a great day and many more.
 
Bob

Yum spinach birthday cake!
Congrats on another one my friend. Have a happy birthday day.

It gets better all the time.
 
Bob

Hello all,
 
I am going to step away from sails for this build and build a boat I’ve wanted to build for a long time.
 
When I started modeling boats I was in an RC boat club in Indianapolis. We sailed One Meters in the summer and in the winter we ran scale RC boats in indoor swimming pools.  That’s when I saw a picture of a fire boat called “The City of Oakland”.  I wanted to build it 25” long (1:48 scale) with working water pump and monitors.  That was about ten years ago.  Since then I have been searching the web for all I could find.  And what I found changed my mind as to the build.
 
City of Oakland

 
The City of Oakland was originally the yard tug HOGA YT-146.  The keel was laid down 7/25/1940, Launch date was 12/1/1940 and it was delivered to Pearl Harbor 5/1/1941.
 
(This is from the web)  City of Oakland, ex-Hoga, is of exceptional significance in American history as the only known surviving yard craft present at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet on December 7, 1941.
 
Hoga fought fires on Battleship Row for 72 hours.  The actions of the tug's skipper and crew did not go unrecognized. On February 1942, ADM. Chester A. Nimitz, CINCPAC, commended McManus, his men, and their tug for a job well done:
 
 “For distinguished service in line of your profession as Commanding Officer of the Navy Yard Tug HOGA, and efficient action and disregard of your own personal safety during the attack.... When another ship was disabled and appeared to be out of control, with serious fires on the fore part of that ship, you moored your tug to her bow and assisted materially in extinguishing the fires.  When it was determined that the damaged ship should be beached, as there was serious danger of her sinking in the channel, you assisted in the beaching operations in an outstanding manner.  Furthermore, each member of the crew of the HOGA functioned in a most efficient manner and exhibited commendable disregard of personal danger throughout the operations.”
 
Placed on loan to the Port of Oakland, California, in 1948, it was returned to the navy after 40 years of service.  Recently it was awarded to the City of North Littlerock, AR.  to be in their museum. At present it is in a boat yard near San Francisco being prepared for transport to North Littlerock  
 
Hoga is one of about 30 of the Woban YT-138 class.  The problem in this build is that there are no line drawings of this boat.  I have many, many pictures and internal equipment drawings but no lines.  I hope to build the Hoga as it was at Pearl Harbor prior to the attack.  I got the build plans for the Billing’s kit and I will scale the bulkheads and keel to 1:96 and see where to go from there.   So wish me luck and follow along with me. 
 
Bob
 
Hoga at sea trials

 
Hoga at Paerl Harbor

 

I bet that's a lot neater than the original yacht, Børge.  The fenders were probably lying around in the cabin or cockpit to be tripped over!
 
John

Hello all,
 
I am going to step away from sails for this build and build a boat I’ve wanted to build for a long time.
 
When I started modeling boats I was in an RC boat club in Indianapolis. We sailed One Meters in the summer and in the winter we ran scale RC boats in indoor swimming pools.  That’s when I saw a picture of a fire boat called “The City of Oakland”.  I wanted to build it 25” long (1:48 scale) with working water pump and monitors.  That was about ten years ago.  Since then I have been searching the web for all I could find.  And what I found changed my mind as to the build.
 
City of Oakland

 
The City of Oakland was originally the yard tug HOGA YT-146.  The keel was laid down 7/25/1940, Launch date was 12/1/1940 and it was delivered to Pearl Harbor 5/1/1941.
 
(This is from the web)  City of Oakland, ex-Hoga, is of exceptional significance in American history as the only known surviving yard craft present at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet on December 7, 1941.
 
Hoga fought fires on Battleship Row for 72 hours.  The actions of the tug's skipper and crew did not go unrecognized. On February 1942, ADM. Chester A. Nimitz, CINCPAC, commended McManus, his men, and their tug for a job well done:
 
 “For distinguished service in line of your profession as Commanding Officer of the Navy Yard Tug HOGA, and efficient action and disregard of your own personal safety during the attack.... When another ship was disabled and appeared to be out of control, with serious fires on the fore part of that ship, you moored your tug to her bow and assisted materially in extinguishing the fires.  When it was determined that the damaged ship should be beached, as there was serious danger of her sinking in the channel, you assisted in the beaching operations in an outstanding manner.  Furthermore, each member of the crew of the HOGA functioned in a most efficient manner and exhibited commendable disregard of personal danger throughout the operations.”
 
Placed on loan to the Port of Oakland, California, in 1948, it was returned to the navy after 40 years of service.  Recently it was awarded to the City of North Littlerock, AR.  to be in their museum. At present it is in a boat yard near San Francisco being prepared for transport to North Littlerock  
 
Hoga is one of about 30 of the Woban YT-138 class.  The problem in this build is that there are no line drawings of this boat.  I have many, many pictures and internal equipment drawings but no lines.  I hope to build the Hoga as it was at Pearl Harbor prior to the attack.  I got the build plans for the Billing’s kit and I will scale the bulkheads and keel to 1:96 and see where to go from there.   So wish me luck and follow along with me. 
 
Bob
 
Hoga at sea trials

 
Hoga at Paerl Harbor

 

Thanks Wayne,
 
Yes,   that is what I am comparing the kit drawings to.
 
For anyone interested the drawings at this site are squeezed end to end.  The ratio of length to beam is 4:1 that deck looks 2.5:1.  The pdf at  http://www.hnsa.org/doc/plans/index.htm  is correct.  The HNSA site also has pdf’s of many more US naval vessels from the 1940’s
 
Bob

That's just the stock servo Bob, I hadn't gotten that far along in the design for handling the heads'ls.  On my Pride of Baltimore I have two heads'ls, an overlapping fores'l, running backstays, and running main fore stays to handle - if I can figure out a way to deal with all that - every other model will be a walk in the park.
 
I've got a couple of ideas in mind that I need to mock up and test - the one I'm hoping will work will use a large cross-arm on the servo and also slack the sheet before pulling it across.  I'd rather not use a winch if I can stay away from it.
 
I haven't gotten to it yet, but the tensioning system for the braces is being changed as well; to a setup where the winch servo itself slides fore-n-aft against springs instead of the brace being pulled against a spring.

Martin, Popeye and all of you how I may have failed to name,
 
I want to thank all of you for your support and encouragement.  Without you all I could not build the models I do.
 
Thanks again    
 
Jay my next build is the HOGA YT-146. a navy yard tug from WWII.
 
Bob

Hello all,
 
I am going to step away from sails for this build and build a boat I’ve wanted to build for a long time.
 
When I started modeling boats I was in an RC boat club in Indianapolis. We sailed One Meters in the summer and in the winter we ran scale RC boats in indoor swimming pools.  That’s when I saw a picture of a fire boat called “The City of Oakland”.  I wanted to build it 25” long (1:48 scale) with working water pump and monitors.  That was about ten years ago.  Since then I have been searching the web for all I could find.  And what I found changed my mind as to the build.
 
City of Oakland

 
The City of Oakland was originally the yard tug HOGA YT-146.  The keel was laid down 7/25/1940, Launch date was 12/1/1940 and it was delivered to Pearl Harbor 5/1/1941.
 
(This is from the web)  City of Oakland, ex-Hoga, is of exceptional significance in American history as the only known surviving yard craft present at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet on December 7, 1941.
 
Hoga fought fires on Battleship Row for 72 hours.  The actions of the tug's skipper and crew did not go unrecognized. On February 1942, ADM. Chester A. Nimitz, CINCPAC, commended McManus, his men, and their tug for a job well done:
 
 “For distinguished service in line of your profession as Commanding Officer of the Navy Yard Tug HOGA, and efficient action and disregard of your own personal safety during the attack.... When another ship was disabled and appeared to be out of control, with serious fires on the fore part of that ship, you moored your tug to her bow and assisted materially in extinguishing the fires.  When it was determined that the damaged ship should be beached, as there was serious danger of her sinking in the channel, you assisted in the beaching operations in an outstanding manner.  Furthermore, each member of the crew of the HOGA functioned in a most efficient manner and exhibited commendable disregard of personal danger throughout the operations.”
 
Placed on loan to the Port of Oakland, California, in 1948, it was returned to the navy after 40 years of service.  Recently it was awarded to the City of North Littlerock, AR.  to be in their museum. At present it is in a boat yard near San Francisco being prepared for transport to North Littlerock  
 
Hoga is one of about 30 of the Woban YT-138 class.  The problem in this build is that there are no line drawings of this boat.  I have many, many pictures and internal equipment drawings but no lines.  I hope to build the Hoga as it was at Pearl Harbor prior to the attack.  I got the build plans for the Billing’s kit and I will scale the bulkheads and keel to 1:96 and see where to go from there.   So wish me luck and follow along with me. 
 
Bob
 
Hoga at sea trials

 
Hoga at Paerl Harbor

 

I wouldn't dare tell because that's what I do too.
 
Bob

Hello all,
 
I am going to step away from sails for this build and build a boat I’ve wanted to build for a long time.
 
When I started modeling boats I was in an RC boat club in Indianapolis. We sailed One Meters in the summer and in the winter we ran scale RC boats in indoor swimming pools.  That’s when I saw a picture of a fire boat called “The City of Oakland”.  I wanted to build it 25” long (1:48 scale) with working water pump and monitors.  That was about ten years ago.  Since then I have been searching the web for all I could find.  And what I found changed my mind as to the build.
 
City of Oakland

 
The City of Oakland was originally the yard tug HOGA YT-146.  The keel was laid down 7/25/1940, Launch date was 12/1/1940 and it was delivered to Pearl Harbor 5/1/1941.
 
(This is from the web)  City of Oakland, ex-Hoga, is of exceptional significance in American history as the only known surviving yard craft present at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet on December 7, 1941.
 
Hoga fought fires on Battleship Row for 72 hours.  The actions of the tug's skipper and crew did not go unrecognized. On February 1942, ADM. Chester A. Nimitz, CINCPAC, commended McManus, his men, and their tug for a job well done:
 
 “For distinguished service in line of your profession as Commanding Officer of the Navy Yard Tug HOGA, and efficient action and disregard of your own personal safety during the attack.... When another ship was disabled and appeared to be out of control, with serious fires on the fore part of that ship, you moored your tug to her bow and assisted materially in extinguishing the fires.  When it was determined that the damaged ship should be beached, as there was serious danger of her sinking in the channel, you assisted in the beaching operations in an outstanding manner.  Furthermore, each member of the crew of the HOGA functioned in a most efficient manner and exhibited commendable disregard of personal danger throughout the operations.”
 
Placed on loan to the Port of Oakland, California, in 1948, it was returned to the navy after 40 years of service.  Recently it was awarded to the City of North Littlerock, AR.  to be in their museum. At present it is in a boat yard near San Francisco being prepared for transport to North Littlerock  
 
Hoga is one of about 30 of the Woban YT-138 class.  The problem in this build is that there are no line drawings of this boat.  I have many, many pictures and internal equipment drawings but no lines.  I hope to build the Hoga as it was at Pearl Harbor prior to the attack.  I got the build plans for the Billing’s kit and I will scale the bulkheads and keel to 1:96 and see where to go from there.   So wish me luck and follow along with me. 
 
Bob
 
Hoga at sea trials

 
Hoga at Paerl Harbor

 

Martin, Popeye and all of you how I may have failed to name,
 
I want to thank all of you for your support and encouragement.  Without you all I could not build the models I do.
 
Thanks again    
 
Jay my next build is the HOGA YT-146. a navy yard tug from WWII.
 
Bob

Thanks Popeye.   Now here’s the rest of it.
 
I did not like this boat when I started it but the more I built the more it grew on me.  I titled it the Malabar Jr.  but I modified it so much that it is no longer a Malabar Jr. it’s just a yawl, Y’all.
 
First the profile.

 
And a bow shot.

 
The foredeck

 

 
And the cockpit.

 
Bob

Thanks Popeye.   Now here’s the rest of it.
 
I did not like this boat when I started it but the more I built the more it grew on me.  I titled it the Malabar Jr.  but I modified it so much that it is no longer a Malabar Jr. it’s just a yawl, Y’all.
 
First the profile.

 
And a bow shot.

 
The foredeck

 

 
And the cockpit.

 
Bob

Hi all,
 
Years ago I read "Sailing Alone Around the World" by Joshua Slocum, and in January 2012 I decided that I would build his boat, the "SPRAY", in 1/48 scale POF with bent framing. The way Slocum built it.  I started asking questions on this forum, and I want to thank all those who answerd with help.  The information on this forum is invaluable.
 
Then the research began.  In the first chapter of his book, Slocum said he was given an old "fishing smack".  So I looked for fishing smacks of 1800.  About when his was built.  Someone suggested the "Emma C Berry" for framing, so I hunted for information on that boat.  I also gathered as many plan drawings of the "Spray" as I could find.  About five.
 
Now it was time to check and redraw the plans.  The first thing I discovered was that ALL the plans had errors.  Things like, the shear and section views would agree and the shear and the plan views would agree, but the width of the plan was no where near the same as the width of the sections.  Of the drawings I had, the drawing from the appendix in the book was the closest.  So I traced that into an old copy of AutoCad and worked out the errors.
 
Checking the fishing smacks plans had shown a frame spacing of from 15" to 22" I chose 18" for framing the Spray.  I drew a section at each frame.  I offset a line .031" inside to subtract the 1.5" planking Slocum used.  The frames will be 3" X 5" so again I offset another line .062 inside the planking for the frames.  This gave me the section lines for the plug I will carve to shape the frames.
 
I am going to plank only half the deck and deck houses so I can show the insides, taken from the sketches in Slocum's book. (See below)
 
Bob
 

Clean and crisp wood work.  Beautiful job.
 
Bob

Thanks Popeye.   Now here’s the rest of it.
 
I did not like this boat when I started it but the more I built the more it grew on me.  I titled it the Malabar Jr.  but I modified it so much that it is no longer a Malabar Jr. it’s just a yawl, Y’all.
 
First the profile.

 
And a bow shot.

 
The foredeck

 

 
And the cockpit.

 
Bob

Thanks Popeye.   Now here’s the rest of it.
 
I did not like this boat when I started it but the more I built the more it grew on me.  I titled it the Malabar Jr.  but I modified it so much that it is no longer a Malabar Jr. it’s just a yawl, Y’all.
 
First the profile.

 
And a bow shot.

 
The foredeck

 

 
And the cockpit.

 
Bob

Thanks Popeye.   Now here’s the rest of it.
 
I did not like this boat when I started it but the more I built the more it grew on me.  I titled it the Malabar Jr.  but I modified it so much that it is no longer a Malabar Jr. it’s just a yawl, Y’all.
 
First the profile.

 
And a bow shot.

 
The foredeck

 

 
And the cockpit.

 
Bob