wefalck

It is always best to consult reference books on the period of the ship you are modelling. I believe the FAIR AMERICAN dates from the late 18th century, so there should be several of books on rigging ships of that period that you could consult. Some of them may be even available on-line. I believe Darcy Lever's early 19th century book is available for downloading somewhere. One has to distinguish between yards that would normaly stay put and those that would be hoisted up when setting sail. The method of keeping the yard near the mast would differ. As noted by the others before me, a rope, the 'parrel' would be slung around the mast and the yard in a particular fashion. In your period it may be in two parts which have been spliced around yard and has an eye-splice in each end; the two ends with eye-splices would be taken around the mast and lashed together. On the hoisting yards you may find also wooden cleats with a half-round hole; a rope- or iron parrel with hinges would secure such yard to the mast. Sometimes parrels could also be loosened or tightened from deck level; this may be necessary when bracing-up hard the yards. The best model solution is always the one closest to the prototype, irrespective of scale. Due to the limits of material dimensions (and your dexterity) you may have to simplify things. However, I would dare say that the parrel-arrangement as discussed above could be even reproduced in a 1:200 scale and believe there are examples for it on the Web (look for miniaturist, such as McCaffery). Your ambition is the limit ...

I have been using an undercoat of Prince-August (a French packaging of Vallejo it seems) 'bois' (='wood') acrylic underpaint and then a thin layer of acrylic 'wood stain' from a DIY. This then was 'weathered' using thin washes of acrylic 'burnt umber'. The colours in the photograph below are sligthly distorted due to the mixed-temperature lighting, but comes close to what teak might look like (though the intention was actually tarred, weathered oak, hence also the weathering with white pastel):

Yes, Plexiglas is a nice material to machine. I have been making small deck-houses etc. with this method since the late 1970s. My late father worked for a sister company to that manufactured Plexiglas (Röhm GmbH) and we had easy access to it in all sizes and shapes. Röhm GmbH also produced a comprehensive technical manual for working with Plexiglas, of which I have a copy - very useful.

One day I would like to build a model of a yacht like this as well … what scale did you say is it ?

Engine-room skylight The frame of the engine room skylight consists of a an etched brass part, folded up and soldered together. On the inside, grooves have been etched that will serve to locate the protective bars to made from thin copper wire. The lower frame was constructed from Pertinax. The ‘wooden’ gratings on both sides of the lower frame are again etched parts. Unglazed framework for the engine-room skylight Once this structure was complete, a square block of the size of the footprint of the skylight was milled from a piece of Plexiglas. Squaring up a Plexiglas block for the skylight In the next step the roof-shaped faces were milled on. To this end, a small insert vice was set to the appropriate angle of 40° in a larger vice bolted to the mill table. The fixed jaw of the insert vice pointed upward and the side of the block to be milled rested against it. This ensured that all four inclined faces would have the same angle and would start from the same height with respect to the reference (bottom) face of the block. Milling the sloping faces Polishing the sloping faces A very smooth surface with little tool marks can be achieved on Plexiglas. The final polishing of the surfaces was done using CRATEX-type drum polishers followed by a felt drum loaded with polishing paste. All in the same vice setting to ensure a flat surface. I was lucky the Plexiglas 'house' fitted like a plug into the skylight frame. Finished Plexiglas 'glazing' block Glazed engine room skylight To be continued ...

Drawplates for wire and drawplates for dowels are different animals. The one for wires do not cut, but reshape it, by forcing it through a conical opening. One can probably abuse the ones for wire to make dowels by drawing the wood the wrong way through. However, it is important that there is sharp cutting edge. When drawing wire, one needs to anneal the wire between each pass, as it may work-harden. Drawing is normally done on a sturdy drawing-bench that allows to pass the wire straight through the drawing plate or die and to apply a steady force. The wire is pulled with a special pair of pliers, the closing force of which is proportional to the pulling force.

You are certainly correct concerning the shape of the planks, they were irregular, economising the available wood. I think, however, the original question concerned the third dimension, that is the thickness. Reconstructing the original thickness is quite problematic, as the wood shrinks in different ways, depending on the species of wood and how it was cut from the tree. I am inclined to think that the surface was quite even, no steps between planks. Otherwise, it would have been rather difficult to caulk the hull and the deck. Steps would also be very exposed to erosion and weathering, increase the drag of the hull and constitute a tripping hazard. These were factors people even 400 years ago were aware off (to some degree). The absence of pointed pieces has good reason: it is almost impossible to caulk such parts permanently. The part would always bend and move.

Shouldn't be too difficult to turn them on a lathe or even a power-drill with some files and a template ...

My guess would be that the shipwrights then would have been quite capable of producing a smooth hull and deck all over. It is a question of strategy and method. The photograph below shows how this is done with an adze (then and today the main tool for this purpose) at the beaches of Sansibar: One should also consider that a model probably needs to look a tad neater than the prototype, or these intended unevenesses are likely to be mistaken for shoddy workmanship.

Thanks ************* Skylights, Companionways etc. I have used two basic techniques for the construction of skylights, companioways etc., depending of the type and purpose. Skylights particularly were constructed around small blocks of Plexiglas milled to shape. Other types were constructed from strips of Pertinax. More intricate parts were etched from brass. For some of the skylights a combination of the techniques were used. Etched parts for skylights Boiler-room skylight The prototype construction of the boiler-room skylight is not completely clear from the drawings I had, so that I had to 'fudge' it a bit. First the central piece that supports the chimney was shaped from a piece of Plexiglas. The PROXXON drilling machine was abused as a milling machine to this end: a diamond-cut milling bit was taken up into a collet and the height of the machine set so that the bit reached just below the table. Now the Plexiglas part was passed free-hand along the mill. The form to be cut out was printed on a piece of paper that was stuck to the Plexiglas. It was tested against the shape of the etched grilles in order ensure a snug fit. The box around the skylight was constructed again from Pertinax. Shaping a Plexiglas-core for the boiler-room skylight The assembled boiler-room skylight To be continued ...

Chain-stoppers One pair of chain stoppers is located immediately behind the hawse pipes as usual. A second pair is placed above the chain locker, which is located immediately in from of the armoured barbette. The bodies of the stoppers are rather complex castings, calling for some complex machining operations in model reproduction. The same basic technique as for the bollards was used. Given the complex shape, however, machining is not possible in one set-up. For certain operations the axis of the spigot has to be perpendicular to the milling machine, while for others, such as drilling it has to be parallel. For the latter and for milling the various slots, I choose to transfer the dividing head to the lathe. This has the advantage that its centre line is at the centre of the lathe spindle. Milling the profile of the fore chain stoppers Milling operations using a dividing head in the lathe The slots were milled using a micro-tool made from a broken carbide drill, the end of which was ground flat. This results in a non-ideal clearance of 0º, while the cutting angle and side rake are that of the original drill bit. However, not much metal is removed so that this doesn't really matter here. Home-made milling bits made from broken carbide drills ground flat One set of stoppers was milled from brass, while for the other one I used PMMA (PLEXIGLAS®, PERSPEX), the main reason being that I ran out of brass stock. However, genuine PLEXIGLAS®, is pleasant material to machine and easy on the tools. It holds sharp edges and it easier to see what you are doing than on the shiny brass. Acrylic paints seem to key-in well - basically it is the same molecule, of course. On the downside one may note that small and thin parts are rather brittle. Using diamond-cut carbide tools gives a nice smooth finish, but normal CV- or HSS-tools can also be used. Milling in an upright collet-holder on the milling machine While for the bollards and the front pair of stoppers the spigot could be on the geometric centre of the part, making it easy to measure while machining, for the after stoppers I had to place the spigot to the centre of the pipe down to the locker, so that the concentric rounded edges could be milled. The pictures show this operation. Round-milling the body of the after chain-stopper using the rotary table of the milling machine The stoppers have now completed with etched brass releasing levers, etc. The fore stoppers were also soldered to surface etched base plates. The completed chain-stoppers (right column, the grid of the cutting mat is 10 mm x 10 mm) To be continued ...

Muntz-metal is a kind of brass, i.e. an alloy of copper and zinc. Zinc sheathing uses … zinc.

This surface would not look metallic at all. It just looks a dull grey.

Working close to the collet improves precision due to less run-out and side-play, which are minimal on a watchmaker's lathe already ... ******* Completing the capstan Again the guiding rollers are a simple turning job. The shapes were produced with a free-turning graver and by rotary milling in the dividing head. Using a worm-driven dividing head to round-mill the head of the chain-rollers Using a worm-driven dividing head to round-mill the head of the chain-rollers In the meantime various etched parts had been produced, including the base plate made up of two different superimposed parts and minuscule pawls. Also a chain separator from 0.3 mm copper wire rolled flat was produced. The various parts were soldered together. The etched parts for the spills The completed capstan (lower left corner, the grid of the cutting mat is 10 mm x 10 mm) To be continued ...

Yes, the squares on the cutting mat are 10 x 10 mm ... ******* Anchor capstan One component that always has puzzled me somewhat as to their manufacture in a model has been the sprocket on capstans. While the geometry on horizontal windlasses is quite simple, with suitable depressions for the chain links around the circumference, the sprocket on a capstan is a complex affair. In any case the capstan head cannot be manufactured in one piece. So I broke it down into three pieces: the spill head, the sprocket and the base drum with the pawls. The whole capstan has more pieces including four guiding rollers and a finger to pull the chain off the sprocket. The cast base on the prototype will be reproduced as a surface-etched part. Milling the sprocket, 1st step Milling the sprocket, 2nd step The sprocket started out as a 2.5 mm brass rod taken into the dividing head and five notches were milled to produce something like a five-pointed star (these sprockets typically have five or six arms). The notches for the horizontal links were cut on the lathe with a forming tool. The sprocket then was faced and drilled to fit onto the capstan stem. The next step is cutting it off. This produces some burrs that need to be taken off. Luckily I have collected over the years almost every type of work-holding device that was ever made for the watchmakers lathe. Here the insert jewel chucks came handy to hold the 2.2 mm by 0.6 mm sprocket for facing-off. Cutting with a forming tool Facing-off the sprocket in a jewel chuck The capstan head is a simple turning job. The curved surfaces are pre-cut with appropriate lathe tools and then finished with very fine files. Incidentally, the implement shown on the appropriate picture is a rare miniature micrometer, also coming from the watchmakers toolbox and very handy for measuring narrow recesses and the likes. They came in sets of three, the other two are a depth-micrometer and one for measuring the width of notches respectively. Finally, the three parts are soft-soldered together. Assembled capstan head To be continued ...

Zinc was indeed used in the mid-19th century as a cheaper (though less lasting) alternative to copper. It seems to have been particularly popular in the Baltic and for ships that did not venture out into the tropics, but only to southern European coasts. Zinc is toxic to certain species. Zinc in seawater would attain a dull, powdery grey colour relatively quickly, owing to its relative inertness. This intentional corrossion would make it dfficult for 'fouling' to take a hold on the surface. One had to take care that no less inert parts of the ship (such as propellers, rudder hinges etc. made from bronze) would come in contact with the seawater or otherwise the zinc would electro-corrode away. This is one reason why zinc was given up again soon as anti-fouling sheathing.

The base for the double bollards were intended to be a surface-etched parts, but I was not happy with the results I produced in my simple home-etching arrangement. So I decided to make them from solid brass. Solid brass was easier to handle for machining than brass sheet. Nevertheless the envisaged machining operations prompted me to make a couple of gadgets, fixtures, for the mill and the lathe. Drilling of the bollard-bases in the work-holding block Milling around the edges or on top of flat material always presents work-holding problems. Worse, if several identical parts have to be produced. Hence I divined a work-holding block with several clamps and stops running in a T-slot. Milling a bevel to the bollard-bases Similarly holding small parts for cutting off on the circular saw is tricky and best done on the lathe with a special saw table clamped to the top-slide. This saw table allows parts to be safely clamped down for cutting. Cutting-off individual bollard-bases The three parts for each bollard (apologies for the poor picture) The three parts of each bollards were soft-soldered together. Work-holding for soldering The finished bollards on the top-left (the other parts will be discussed later) To be continued ...

Deck Fittings The hull taking shape, at least in its rough outline, I turned my attention to some pieces of deck fittings. I know, many modellers more or less complete the hulls etc. including the paintwork first, but as many pieces may require repeated handling and fitting on the hull, I leave these finishing touches to the end. Bollards The ships were fitted with four pairs of bollards of square cross section; two at the rear and two on the raised quarterdeck. Luckily a good, rather close-up photograph of the real specimen is available. Rear deck with emergency steering stand and other pieces of deck fittings The bollards are milled from round brass stock. Round stock was chosen as a starting point rather than e.g. flat stock, because it can be held easily in the lathe for turning on a spigot, by which the part can be held for further machining. Otherwise it would be difficult to mount such a small part on the miller for machining on five sides. The spigot is a convenient reference for machining and for fastening the part on the model eventually. Indexing head on the milling machine Before the milling operations From the lathe the raw part is transferred to an indexing head mounted on the milling machine. After each pass with the cutting tool, the part is turned by 90º or 180º depending on requirements. Thus a square and symmetric part is produced. Milling nearly completed For a final machining step, the part is transferred back to the lathe and the dome shaped head formed using a very fine file on a roller-filing rest. The nearly finished bollard with the roller-filing rest in the foreground The job is completed by rounding off the corners using a not-too-hard rubber-bonded abrasive wheel (CRATEX) in the mini-drill. Remaining machining burrs are removed by offering the part to wire brush wheel. The bollards on part of the working drawing To be continued with the bases for the bollards ...

And finally ... all the little bits and pieces have found their place and the scenery has been populated. Below some impressions of the completed model. More pictures can be found here: http://www.wefalck.eu/mm/maritime/models/botter/botter.html This is the end of my Noord-Holland nostalgia project.

The Barbette for the 30.5 cm Gun The barbette mainly consists of a semi-circular breastwork armour, backed by hardwood and by an open space covered with thin plate. The latter presumably to retain splintering wood in case of an impact. Since no tube of suitable dimensions for the breastwork was to hand, I made a short, laminated one from Bristol board layers glued together with white glue. The edges were soaked in thinned white glue before being trimmed down on the lathe. The tube then was varnished with wood-filler before the edges were sanded. Finally the tube was cut into half on the fret-saw. More wood-filler was applied before final sanding. The other inside wall of the barbette were lined with Pertinax to provide a smooth surface. Trimming the laminated tube on the lathe The fore-deck has been covered in a sheet of thin Bristol board and the camber of the wooden decking built up with an additional piece of board and putty (I am using fast drying bodywork putty from car repair suppliers). The anchor pockets have also been lined with thin Bristol board, but Pertinax would have been better for this. Tube for the barbette armour made from laminated Bristol board All surfaces that would have been iron plating, will be covered in thin sheets of Pertinax. The necessary holes for portholes and other opening will be drilled or cut before the sheets are fixed. In between, I had also improvised a disc-sander from a PROXXON router. In think in the meantime this manufacturer offers a small disc-sander. Smoothing the hull on the newly constructed disc sander To be continued ...

@Tadheus, thank you very much for your efforts ! However, could you please check on my Web-site first, before posting a link, whether the picture you found has not been already published there. These pictures are all well-known to me and I may want to use them later to illustrate specific points. ******* And off we go with the actual model construction ... Materials I had been contemplating a variety of materials for the hull; for instance Plexiglas® layers with bulwarks made from brass foil. In the end, I choose MDF (medium-density fibre) board, which is available in thicknesses down to 1 mm from architectural model supply houses. Other parts will be constructed from or covered with Bristol board, which is also available in various thicknesses (or rather weights per square metre). The bulwarks etc.. will be made from Pertinax® (phenolic resin impregnated paper, FR-2), which is available in thicknesses down to 0.1 mm. Bristol board and Pertinax® are easily cut with a scalpel, a razor blade or scissors and will not crease or dent as metal foil might. I currently have no facilities for photo-etching large parts, but if I had, perhaps I would have made the bulwarks from brass still. The other advantage is that Bristol board can be readily and permanently glued using white glue. Bonds between large areas of metal foil and Plexiglas® might become detached. Pertinax® can be glued using cyano-acrylate or epoxy-resins. While I have been shying away from thermoplastics, such as polystyrene, on account of it being suspicious to be not ‘permanent’, practical experience shows that my plastic models built over 40 years ago are still intact. So I may reconsider my position in this respect. Polystyrene, of course, has several advantageous properties. One has to be sure, however, that it is properly painted to exclude the deteriorating UV-radiation. The hull and superstructures The basic bread-and-butter construction of the hull is shown in the pictures below. Cutting out layers for the hull Using the drill press as a makeshift disc sander (I have since constructed one) Using the drill press as an improvised miniature drum sander The layers of the hull with the barbette and the anchor-pockets cut out Milling a recess into which later the rubbing strake will be inserted To be continued ...

Jan, you are right, didn't read the text. As noted in my introduction, their main task was a forward defense (against a French attack/invasion) in the Wadden Sea off Wilhelmshaven (the main naval port in the North Sea) and perhaps the entrances to the rivers Weser and Elbe. The other front would be the erstwhile long German coastline stretching from Åbenrå (then Apenrade) to Kaliningrad (then Königsberg) against Russia mainly. Consequently, about half them were stationed in Wilhelmshaven and the other half in the Baltic naval port of Kiel.

Incidentally, the second picture from the top in the article above is not showing a WESPE-Class boat, but one of the two units of the later (and bigger) BRUMMER-Class.

@tadheus, thanks for copying the photograph from my Web-site to me The Russian drawing is completely out of proportion and the colour scheme is completely wrong. What is the date of the article in 'Modellbau heute' ? It is seem to have been copied in part from Wolfgang Bohlayer's plan. Actually the data on the respective page of my Web-site probably represent the current state of knowledge on the WESPE-Class. If there are any other photographs and other original drawings, I would be more than glad to hear about them.

Looking at my records, I realised that I started the project already in 2006, after doing some 10 or more years of research on it. I also began to report on the project in MSW 1.0, but this building report sank together with it and the project then stalled due to my move to Paris. Now, with my Noord-Holland nostalgia Botter-project all but completed, I am turning my attention to the WESPE again. Looking over its storage box, I realised that I had made quite a few bits and pieces already, on which I will report here by and by. @tadheus: thanks for the picture. This wellknown picture shows some of the boats towards the end of their active service life in one of the entrance locks to Wilhelmshaven harbour. While I will be depicting the boats in a state some 20 years earlier, this photograph is very useful, because it is one of the few close-up images showing a lot of detail. As to the scale: I chose the 1:160 scale really for three reasons: i) I don't have the space to keep large models and I don't like to give my models away, once completed; ii) I like the challenge of working at a small scale, trying to pack-in us much detail as others may do at twice the size; iii) this is the model-railway N-scale, so you can crew water-line models easily. There is also a German Wikipedia-page on these boats: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Wespe_(1876) and a generic page on 'flat-iron' gunboats, as they were also called: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat-iron_gunboat. Both pages, however, have to be taken with a pinch of salt, as they contain some imprecisions.