Elia

Thanks hamilton.    There is also a product called Jax Black.  I have not used either of them, so I don't know how well they work, but I have seen that others use them.  From a quick search, the Jax seems to only be available in larger sizes.
 
Thanks to all for the likes.
 
Five stages of oar making--

 
Ron

Staining the boat's gunwales, and the ship's deadeyes.
 
In the coffee cup is the Quebracho bark "tea".  In the small shallow bowl is the rusted-nails-in-vinegar solution (with bits of rust swimming in it).  The procedure is to soak the pieces to be stained in the bark tea, then paint them with the rusty nail liquid.  Here I have put the deadeyes on a paper towel after dumping them in the coffee cup and stirring them around for a minute--
 
 
I painted the bark tea on the boat gunwales with a q-tip--

 
With the deadeyes, I dumped them into the rusty nail solution, then fished them out and got a fresh bowl of solution to paint the gunwales with.  If the rusty solution gets contaminated with too much of the bark solution, it doesn't work well.
 
Here the gunwales are epoxied at the bow, and left to cure.  My plan is to incrementally epoxy them from bow to stern.  You can't seem much detail in the deadeyes, the ebony stain worked quite well--

 
Five oar blanks out of castello boxwood.  I'm wondering if I can really make some nice oars out of these--

 
I started by chucking one in a hand drill, and sanding it round, close to the diameter of the weighted part near the hand grips.  From there, I'm shaping it by hand with files and sandpaper.  I feel like this is going to snap at some point, as the diameter reduces--

 
This is going to take a while--


 
In between working on the oars, I'll be working on some other things for relief.  Probably the ship's lower masts, as they will help me in making the channels and chainplates.
 
Ron 

Modifications to the sternpost to accommodate the pintles and gudgeons--

 
Rough shaping of the rudder--

 
And after modifications for the pintles and gudgeons--

 
Silver soldering the two pintles--

 
The tiller is an iron rod with a ball shaped handle at the end.  For the ball I initially started shaping the corner of a hunk of brass--

 
Before long, I realized that maybe this was not the best way to do this.  I thought of an alternate idea of soldering a short section of brass tube at the end of the tiller brass rod--

 
It was easy then to shape it into a ball--

 
Here are the tiller, eyebolts, pintles and gudgeons, and the mast keeper, ready to be blackened--

 
The tiller--

 
Here is the rudder with all pieces attached--
 
 
And held next to the boat--

 
It can't actually be "shipped", though it is very close.  It doesn't matter, as the rudder will not be mounted, but will sit in the back of the boat, as it's lashed on deck.  I realize the pintles and gudgeons are a little over scaled, and I could do better if I scrapped them and tried again.  But I think this will have to do. 
 
Here is the boat with the thwarts, seats and bow platform glued in, as well as the eyebolts.  (Except the stern one, which went missing right when I had the epoxy mixed up-fortunately I later found it--it is there in between the rudder and mast steps.)  The mast step--type 1, round (which was miraculously also found) and type 2, square--is yet to be decided upon, and glued.  The gunwales are roughed out, they will be dyed black before installing--
 

 
Ron

 

Thanks, Ken.
 
I agree, and I have used steel wool in the past.  But I have a tin can full of old nails from various home renovation projects, which I have saved for this specific purpose!
 
The concoction is brewing--

 
Mostly preparatory work happening.  Nothing being finished, but if I can consistently spend some time, it's all progress.
Thickness sanding some stock to use for the rudder--

 
Wrapping wire around a drill bit will become eye rings to go in the boat, and wherever else needed--

 
And cutting some brass sheet for the mast "keeper" and pintle and gudgeon ironwork--

 
Onward,
Ron
 

Dave, good luck with your builds, sounds like the variety helps.
 
I was looking through W E May's book The Boats of Men of War for some general guidance, and this illustration caught my eye.  Though this is for a different sailing rig, with two masts vs. my single mast, the way the mast steps were drawn made me doubt my version of the mast step.  This was more rectangular, which makes sense as it gives an area fore and aft to fasten the step to the floor/keel.  And on the thwart, I noticed the transition curve was concave (ironically more like my first version) rather than convex--

I also thought maybe my round step was a little too fancy.  A simple square mortice might be more practical, and that's the way the ship's mast steps are as well--


I will leave it this way until time to glue.  Leaves both options open as well.  I have a weakness for delaying decisions as long as possible!
 
Here's the correction to the mast thwart--

 
And here's the beginning of the ebony stain "soup".  Some rusty nails need to sit in vinegar for a while--

 
Ron
 

The third try on the mast support thwart was acceptable--
 
 

For the first two, I glued a small piece on to the standard width thwart.  Easier to shape that way.  On version 1 the wood matched perfectly, you can't tell it's added on.   But I didn't like the shape, or the rolled edge of the thwart.  On the second, the color didn't match well, and you could see a slight joint gap because I didn't have the faces perfectly square, (light sawdust is filling the gap in in the photo).  The shape is okay, but the final straw was when I chipped a part of it trying to speed things up with a blade instead of a file.
 
On the third try, I started with a wider piece--obviously more material to remove, so a slightly more complicated process, but successful in the end.  
 
The thwarts have been shaped and cut around the frames--

 
Making another mast step--


 
Here's how Oneida's boat looks after cutting the edge profile on the thwarts and fitting them in place (not glued yet).  This time, I will not cut the mast step from it's "handle" until I'm ready to glue it!--

 
The angle and shadows of this photo do a really good job of hiding a lot of imperfections!   Believe me, they are there.
 
Next will be making the rudder, some iron work, and the oars.  I'm also starting to cook up another batch of ebony stain for the "gunnels" on this boat, and while I'm at it, the deadeyes for the ship.
 
Ron

Thanks, Russ.
 
Ed (Ebomba) and hamilton, I'm glad you are still here to follow the continuation of this model.  I now feel a strong desire to finish, so I hope it will keep moving.
 
Here's just a tidbit, hopefully I'll have more to post sometime this weekend.  Rough cuts of the thwarts, and notice I have cut back the bow piece to more closely match the layout  sketch I originally made on the plug--

I keep looking on the table, and the floor, for the AWOL mast step (It's GOT to be here SOMEwhere), but as you said Russ, It'll be quicker to just make another one.  Dang.
 
Ron

Do-overs.
 
I wasn't happy with the way I did the seats and thwarts.  I followed a mixture of sources, but after studying more examples, it seemed a mess. And I don't know where I came up with the shape of the thwart that supports the mast.  It seemed reasonable when I made it, but not so much now.
 
I made another template for the seats.  This time I will cut out the frame notches (as I will for the thwarts also).  I hoped that I could re-use the side seats, as they were wider than I liked (now with notches cut in, they would, in effect, become narrower).  The back seat will have to be a new piece.  Also, take note of the mast step sitting there in the boat, not glued yet--

 
Instead of laying the side seats on top of the back seat, as in the previous version, I wanted to make a single u-shaped bench--

 
And instead of the simple rolled edge that I had made for the seats and thwarts before, I opted for a more detailed, scraped profile edge--

 
So far so good--

 

 
Unfortunately, during the numerous test fittings, the little mast step piece went missing.  So, unless I miraculously find it, that will be another do-over.
 
Ron
 
 

Thank you Russ and Martin, nice to hear from you both.
 
Andante, thanks.  Good to know you have a record!  
 
Work continues on the cutter.   I've spent just a little time most days this week.  At least it's progress!
 
Making the seats and thwarts--
 
 
They are test fit here, not glued yet--

 
Still many parts to make.
 
Ron

Greetings, everyone.   Soon didn't turn out to be soon.  It's inconceivable to me that it has been three years since I last worked on Oneida.
 
But here is something new, work continues on the ships boat--
 
On the left is my first attempt at the bow platform--disastrous.  Then I got a little smarter and made a heavy paper template, made up of a central shape fitting within the frames, and then gluing pieces on to create the notch spacing, as I test fit it.  On the right is the new blank to be cut--
 
 
Next is the template traced on the blank--

 
And in place--

Then I carved and sanded two supports that will be used to house the boat on the ship's deck--
 


 
That's all for now
Ron

Ron,
 
So very nice. Those pin rails, the mast pads, and that aft skylight and companionway are excellent. Very crisp. I like that aft companionway addition and also the skylight configuration. I recall mulling that over for some time before picking a layout.
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

Ron,
 
That is such nice clean detailing. Well done.
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

Ron,
 
Nice little jig there.  I like the approach, the soldered ring and drilled metal sheet, and the results look good to me.  Very nice.  I think hardwood is the way to go with the deadeye material - provides strength of breaking or tear-out in the small finished detail.
 
Very nice.
 
Elia

Ron,
 
It is great to see your Oneida build again.  And through the 'magic' of a log re-build, it occurs quickly, unlike a real build (where we all have to wait for the work to occur).  Your hull planking is outstanding, as are the forest of treenails.  I just took note of your making the draw tool for the transom trim - I need to incorporate that into how I make my draw tools in single edge razor blades.   I had forgotten that you had framed and planked the lower deck, with gratings no less.  So very very nice.
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

Ron,
 
It is great to see you rebuilding your Oneida log. She looks great - very nice rework of the wale there. Looking forward to more.
 
All the best,
 
Elia

Hi Tim,
I would highly recommend it, but of course I love fishing schooners 🙂
The plans and instructions by Erik Ronnberg are very detailed, as expected, and again I have the good fortune to see his model at the Cape Ann Essex museum http://www.capeannmuseum.org/collections/objects/schooner-benjamin-w-latham/
Plus the scale of the model makes it easier to work on details.
Stephan

Hi all,
here are some pictures of the work in progress. As you can see, I'm not too good at taking pictures..
Standing rigging is near complete (still need to do the ratlines, and pin racks). I finished the running rigging for the main mast and started eh fore mast. Still a lot to do, touch up paint on blocks, more details etc..
And I'm still exploring ways to remove the fuzz on my lines..
Stephan

I can't believe my last post was April last year. Anyway I finally  found some time to resume the construction. With great help from my significant other, the main sail was roped, and seized to the hoops, then laced to the boom and gaffe. It is now ready to be installed with a temporary furling (I'll  complete the furling when the rigging is done).
Next, rigging the main mast; with a bit of luck,  I'll be done this Summer given the pace...
 

Hello Tim,
Thank you for your comment . the build  is not completed yet, as I am finishing up the rigging. I'll post a few pictures of the work in progress shortly.
Stephan
 

I was going through my pictures of the Bluenose II when she came to New England some years back, and the Pride of Baltimore when she came to Boston in 2009. Maybe not the best pictures, but on the Bluenose, you can clearly see one end of the  Boom Tackle (and great details of the Main sheet & Crotch tackle which are the same on the Benjamin Latham), and the whole Boom Tackle on the Pride of Baltimore boom.
 
I should look at my pictures more often to verify details, especially rigging. We are fortunate in Boston to see schooners replicas come to visit regularly..

Stephan,
 
Very nice deck furniture and painting. I really like the look and colors. Those radiused waterways areas look great.
 
Elia

Stephan,
 
The deck planking looks very good - nice work there!
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

Just received my first order from Syren and am stunned by the quality of these products. I ordered a selection of ropes and blocks in several different sizes/configurations with no particular project in mind, although several are on the bench. The service was great, and the website is very user friendly - highly recommended.

I have used Modelspan which is the same thing, excellent stuff particularly at smaller scales, also good for flags and ensigns.
I used it on my 1:150 French Seventy-0four build.
 
B.E.

Thanks Tasmanian! When I decided to build a Swan Class sloop I also decided to make realistic set sails and...convincing H2o.
HMS Swan is now berthed in my dining room, having chased a few Yankee privateers away from the Maine coast.
 
This a kit model, extensively modified; the basic POB lines of the skeleton (keelformer, bulkheads) were excellent. Ditto all of the plans (17 sheets I recall). The kit is the HMS Pegasus from Victory Models (Amati's "high end"). It comes with extensive photo etch components including tiered decorations. I initially thought I was going to paint all the frieze work (along the bulwarks), but later decided that it looked better to turn the P/E elements into "carved wood" in order to match the stern and stem. All hull planking and much of the scratched top hamper is Swiss Pear that replaced the kit's wood.
 
This photo you can see how I started the water base in the background below (layered 1" solid insulation foam, carved "swells")