bhermann

I've had quite a bit of extra time at the museum of late, filling in for one of the model makers who has a few health issues.  As a result I've managed to get quite a bit of work done on the 'Pritt'.
 
The treenailing of the hull is now complete and the low kick rail has been fitted and treenailed.
 
The photos show the hull treenailed and rough sanded.
 
The next steps will be to finish sanding the hull; thin down the kick rail stiffeners to a more scale like dimension and then fit the rubbing strake.  After that I'll give the hull a coat of finish to protect it and then get on with the capping rail and the deck.
 
In the fourth photo below you'll see that the stern is quite open above the deck.  This was quite usual for the T.I. pearlers - the capping rail is supported on three knees across the stern.  This configuration allowed for very quick and easy cleaning of the deck after sorting and cleaning pearl shell by simply hosing and sweeping all the rubbish over the stern.
 
John
 

 

 

 

and a closeup of the brick work.  All wood.  Yeah - it was fun! 
 

 
 
 

Spent this last week on the try works. I was really stuck on the brick facing. I figured I could just use some HO or N scale brick wall, but nope - wrong look and feel. Wrong scale. I decided to make bricks with 1/32" square pieces. Slow going, but a really nice turn out.   Here's the construction series below,
~john
 









 
 

A few pictures of where I am up to
I have installed the knees on the port side, they still need some painting. And I have installed the pieces inside the gunports that join the inside to the outside.

And here is some shots looking from the opposite gunport across the deck

I still have to do the knees for the starboard side, and finish the cannons and pumps. Also the smaller beams for the top deck.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 111 – Main Deck
 
For a change of pace from the cabin deck paneling, I started work on the main deck.  In the first picture, the external, cabin deck forward bulkhead has been constructed followed by the coaming and decking inside the cabin deck entry structure.
 

 
To proceed with the central decking and the hatchway coamings, the mast partners had to be first roughed in.  The next picture shows the partners for the main mast being fit.
 

 
The mast is a dummy – a ½" dowel fitted with a tenon on the mast step in the hold.  The rake is being set with the rule at rail height based on marks made along the top strake of bulwark planking.  This will all be refined later when the final masts are fitted with chocks and mast coats.
 
In the next picture, the main hatch coaming is being assembled forward of the main partners.
 

 
The cross-deck head ledges hold the fore and aft coamings down and together with angled dovetails.  The excess ends will be sanded off after the coaming is glued together.  It will then be permanently fixed to the deck framing.  The term coaming has two meanings: the overall assembly and the fore and aft pieces.
 
In the next picture, the two bilge pump suction pipes have been connected to their lower parts and framed in place aft of the main mast partners.
 

 
The next picture shows central planking being installed starting at the mizzenmast.
 

 
The next picture – from the opposite (port) side - shows planking completed forward to the main hatch.
 

 
The mast openings will be enlarged later.  There is a scuttle in the deck aft of the pipes to permit access to the main water tank manway below.
 
Forward of the main hatch is the large deck cabin.  Its coaming is shown fitted and pinned into place in the last picture.
 

 
The foremast partners and then the chain pipe openings are just forward of the cabin.  All deck structures were based on coamings similar to the hatch coamings.  These could be effectively caulked and sealed to keep water out of the cargo decks below.  The main deck cabin housed the crew and the galley.
 
Ed

Another small update;
 
I have been working on the beams for the top deck and the knees for the gun deck.
 
There sure is a lot of knees, this is only some of them.
I work out there shape in illustrator (it is good for keeping measurements consistent)
I print these and stick them to 2 pieces of lime wood that I have edge joined (I do not have correct size wood so I have to compromise) 
I then sand these with dremel sanding drum in shaper table, and finish with files and knife.
 

 
I find it easier, but much more time consuming to paint things before they are fitted then just touching up as necessary.
 
 
 
 
Here is a picture of the top deck, just sitting there for the photo. It does fit in but is a tight fit past the ribs.
I still need to fit the smaller beams and some horizontal knees.
 

 
 
After I have all the knees fitted and wall painted white I will need to finish the pumps and cannons before I can fit the top deck.
I still want to look into the riding bitt and get that to look more original.
It is very close to the pumps so clearance may be an issue, but I think I will be able to come up with something that will look suitable.

The rabbbet is easy...just make sure to align it in the center of the spine.  I had to wait for more timber for the keel and stem parts.  I bought three 5/16 (rough finish) pieces of box wood from Lumberyard.  It has a lot of grain, a few knots and was bowed and warped.  Nothing like the quality I was used to from Hobby Mill.  I stacked and weighted the pieces and after ten days, they flattened out a lot. 
The stem pieces and keel were thicknessed to 7/32" (.219"), cut on the scroll saw and finished with the oscillating sander, disk sander and sanding sticks.  A lot of trial and error when you cut them like this.  Since the stem and keel are .22" vs the .24" of the spine, I used a piece of card stock (manilla folder material) under the pieces while gluing to the spine.  Clamped while setting.  I'll take off the patterns, finish with wipe-on poly and be ready to set the bulkheads.
Maury

Here's the finished tryworks sitting but not cemented to the deck.
The chicken coop is a bit clunky, but overall I'm fairly pleased.

The small cutter is a fill-in project when I can't work on the Echo Section or now Chuck's Cheerful.  Every once in a while I'll add another strake of planking.  The dip in the last strake will disappear when the next plank goes on. The next few planks will be critical.
Maury

About 280 hammocks later . . .
 
It was tedious work, but worth it in the long run. In a way it also makes more sense to have the hammocks on the rail rather than down below. It would not look right to have the ship under way with sails raised and all the gun ports/lids open if this did not mean a battle or exercise
 
The next step is to add the davits and whale boats. Oh, yea, the boat in these pictures is awful and will be replaced sometime. I mentioned before that I screwed up with the inside and took a short-cut. And, yes, it still is pointing in the wrong direction

One more thing I forgot to include in my last up-date. Here is the most useful modeling tool I have been using lately.
 

 
My old snow blower of 25 years died just before the blizzard last month and I was fortunate to find this one in Home Depot the next day. It has been the most useful modeling tool because it has gotten me back to modeling in half the time of the old snow blower.
 
I actually had to snow blow a path around the house yesterday so the oil delivery guy could get to the filler tube. First time I ever had to do that.
 

Yeah, George, my kit is only a few years old. I am not sure when they started adding the replacement parts.
 
After the pintles and gudgeons, I made the chain iron. I used a piece of brass tubing that I soldered two eye bolts in one end. I bent the eye bolts so they both fit side by side before soldering them. I cleaned up the excess solder then cut the tube to length and filed the end flat. I bent the same brass strip as I used for the P&Gs and then soldered it to the brass tube. Since this piece goes on the black part of the rudder, I cleaned it up a bit then put it into some Brass Black to see what would happen. The silver solder blackened nicely, as did the brass, so I was very happy.
 

 
It was then time to get back to the copper sheathing, since all the paint had been applied, including the area around the rudder hole. I first marked out the top edge of the of the final line of plates using masking tape, which I made sure was absolutely straight. It showed that I had some areas that were more than 3 rows wide to complete. So, I took off the trimmed plates from the last two rows of plates in the previous section and left the full width plates. I left the plates at the back of the rows up so that I could slip the new plates under them. I then marked down from the final edge for each row of the dressing belt plates, which showed the gore line at the top edge of the previous belt. I filled in the rows with whole and partial plates to the new gore line.
 

 

 
I then completed the three dressing belt rows. I did start the bottom dressing belt at the stern post, instead of near the turn of the stern that the plans show, so I trimmed off some plates from the previous belt there. I also used smaller plates around the sharp turn at the stern to make the curve look better. As I added the plates in the final row, I matched them up with the edge of the masking tape, and pulled back the tape as I went along, to make sure no plates were over the edge of the tape and to check the edge for straightness. I was really pleased with how straight the edge came out.
 

 

 

 
I have since transferred the top edge of the plates to the starboard side and marked it with masking tape, but have not started removing and adding plates yet.

I have put the walls in on the gun deck and also put the ledges in that hold up the top deck beams.
The gun ports are started but still need to extend them to their top extremity. I also made them a little smaller than the plans called for, the supplied port lids will fit better if they are 10mm instead of 11mm.
 

 
Next I will prepare the deck beams and install the knees for this deck.

 
 
I also have to finish the cannons and pumps these will need to be fitted before I can fit the top deck, theses I cannot fit from the side after the deck is fitted.
 

Thanks for the suggestions for the copper plating Steve & Jay.
The copper plates are still a long way off adding to the model, I will finish the interior first, then plank the outside of the hull starting at the top. This way I can get the details around the gangway lined up.
I have just been playing around with what is possible till then.
 
I have started to plank the gun deck.
The raised section has the pumps and the front part without pumps will be the stair landing.
It was caulked with white paper, tree nailed with 24 thou ramin dowel and scraped to a fine finish, varnished with minwax poly.
 


 
Next is to finish the deck, and start cladding the walls around the gunports and working out a method for lining the gunports.then more knees that are more complicated than the lower ones, as they have to go around the gunports.

Update on build:
 
I've now got most of the 03/04/05 Levels on the superstructure (fwd) complete and assembled. Next week the addition of the conning tower will complete the main structure. Paint, railing touchups and addition of whip antennae will get this part of the build well in hand:
 
I will then turn my attention to the lower fwd. hull corrections - I've got styrene strips in place with white putty to enlarge the "bulb" at the fwd. extreme bow and hope to correct the misshaped kit hull
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 110 – Cabin Deck
 
Anything to avoid metal sheathing.  Actually, not much can proceed on the main deck until the framing of the poop and forecastle has at least begun, so this week I have been working on the cabin deck facilities.  The poop beams cannot be installed until all of that work is finished.  In the first picture the poop deck beams have been made, cut to length and pinned in place.
 

 
The cabin deck partitions have to be cut out around these beams so having them pinned in place is a prerequisite for the partition work. 
 
The next picture shows the first steps on the partitions.
 

 
The breast beam has been glued in with pillars on either side of what will be the "grand entrance" to the cabin deck level. The central section of this beam will later be cut out so people don't have to crawl into the cabin deck.  The beginning of the paneled partition shown is the forward bulkhead of the captain's day cabin with his bookcase cabinet pre-installed – but paneled doors not yet carved.
 
We do not know what all these facilities looked like on Young America, so this is all creative design on my part – but typical of the period and the class.  Some of these ships were very elegant in décor, because the few passengers carried were probably quite wealthy.  I am using black walnut to simulate old mahogany for all the paneling and furnishings.  Otherwise it is all going to be fairly Spartan.
 
The first semi-indulgence in elegance is the double, curved entrance staircase from the main deck.  The starting block is shown in the next picture.
 

 
The panels to the right are representative of the final paneling finish.  The next picture shows the perimeter walls of the cabin areas at the sides. 
 

 
The central "salon area" was open with tables and places to sit.  Modeling of this will be limited to preserve the view into the lower regions.
 
In the next picture the bannister of the staircase is being sanded to size after the treads, the balusters and the lower part of the rail were fitted. 
 

 
There will be a cap rail to cover the mortise holes for the balusters. 
 
The next picture shows the paneling of the fore and aft partitions in progress.
 

 
The panels are built up using thin strips on an underlying thin sheet of walnut. The port panels are incomplete in this picture. 
 
 In the next picture the capping rail on the staircase has been fitted but not yet trimmed, the paneling of the starboard wall completed and door hardware installed.
 

 
The captain's cabin was traditionally on the starboard side, close to the exit to the main deck.  In this arrangement his day cabin doorway is right outside the stairs.  The last picture shows the inside of the captain's cabins from above.
 

 
The day cabin in the center of the photo has a table, built-in bench and the book cabinet.  It is quite small.  A doorway to the left leads to his sleeping quarters.  Only his dresser is in place as yet.  In addition to the captain's palatial space, there are six other cabins for passengers and the mate.  All are quite small.  There will also be two small cubicles aft – a toilet and a storage space.
 
The crew space on these ships was a large cabin on the main deck – to be constructed much later.
 
Metal sheathing has begun, but has been held up waiting for some .002" brass.
 
Ed

Actually the name appeared in both configurations over the life of the ship.  Around the rail and on the transom are both used, so it is builders choice as to which one to use.
 
Bob

Finally a picture of my stern with the dry etch decals. The decals were a bit finicky and I had some problems with centering but finally got it done with some additional paint (recovering the decals) and reapplying them.

Finally some progress to report...I made/painted my fife rails, mast collars, hawse holes, vent stack, and name plates which required a trial run as I had never used the dry etch decals before. I think they turned out quite well.

All of the frames are stylized in a manner similar to what Harold Hahn used in his upside down framing approach.  BTW - the PH uses an upright jig for framing.  There are 9 pieces to most frames with the exception of half and cant frames.  Included in the kit are plans that show the layout of the parts on the billets.  In the first picture you can see a cherry billet placed on top of the plan.  The #13 razor saw I use for cutting the parts out is also included in the picture.
 
Each part has two tabs holding it into the billet.  Once the part is removed from the billet the two tabs need to be trimmed off.  The next two picture shows parts in a vice for trimming.  I use a #10 knife for this.  While some might hold the piece in their hands to trim the tab off, I found that placing the piece in the vise made for safer and more accurate trimming.
 
Next the parts are assembled on a copy of the frame plan from then PDF files included.  The fourth picture has the parts for the frame planed on top of the plan.  When building the frame the pieces to the top of the picture are placed on top of the actual frame pattern and end glued.  Then the pieces at the bottom of the picture are placed on top of the other pieces making a two layered frame.  Because the end glued joints are overlapped between the two sister layers the frame is very strong when the glue has dried. 
 
The last picture is of a completed frame.  The string is for a label I use to keep track of which frame is which.  Very little cleanup work has been done at this point because the next step is to bevel the frames.  As part of the beveling the frames will start to be cleaned up moving towards their final appearance.  Once all the frames, keel, stem, and stern are assembled in the jig the last step is fairing up both the inside and outside of the frames.  This is the stage in which the frames will be brought to their final state. 
 
There are close to 30 frames that need to be created.  My next post will be a few weeks out while I get that work done.  Stay tuned, more to come.

I rigged all the Shrouds to the Deadeyes. To hold the Deadeyes in place while seizing the shrouds, two wire hooks were used as seen on picture.

Currently working on Ratlines. I tried working with 0,1mm rigging line but found it is too big for my taste, so I used thin black sewing thread impregnated with beeswax.
 
 

Studding booms done!

 
 
 
One more picture:

The result was not perfect, but better. It is hard to show the shape of the jibs, but here goes.
  
 
Next comes the netting on the rails, attaching the boats and finally to raise the flags.

Just a note to say this project isn't dead.  Life just got in the way.
 
I am putting the sails and rigging on and its a slow process.
 
I also tried to use the rigging to hold the booms and gaffs in places.  This turned out badly when my hooks straightened out, imagine chaos.
 
I now drill a small hole and put a pin in the mask and in the clapper on the boom.  I used a brass pin to take the stress of tight sails and ropes and it is working much better.
 
I made some baggy wrinkles which look okay from a distance.
 
Photos in a few days.

Well, all the hull planks are finally on! While I enjoy planking, I'm really glad that this part of the build is completed and I can get on with other stuff - like drilling lots of holes and then filling them in again - otherwise known as treenailing!
 
Here are some photos of what she looks like at the moment.
 
John
 
One Plank to go!


 
No Planks to go!!


 
And a close up of the partly cleaned up stern just to see what it might look like later.