Elia

Thanks again Grant, Allan, Bug, David, Guy and Alex - your comments are very welcome .
 
Allan and David - I'm intending to fully mast and rig the ship (if I live that long ).
 
Entry Steps 
 
There are six Entry Steps per side - I'm only fitting the Port side.
 
To avoid making yet another Molding Scraper (which would have been very difficult to use around the ends of the steps in any case) I've made each step in two pieces using English Box. I used a previously made scraper to shape the lower portions, along with needle files and Xacto knife.
 

 

 

 
The two steps on the black Wales have been stained with Ebony wood stain - real Ebony didn't like my scraper very much, too much chipping out happened when I tried it on a sample piece :
 

 

 
Each step needed a varying degree of bevel sanded into it's inboard face to match the shape of the hull at that point.
 
  Danny

Fenders
 
The Fenders assist in loading the ship, especially from a boat. Barrels could be more easily loaded as the fenders make a smooth run over the rails below :
 

 

 
Unlike the Chesstrees I fitted earlier, the fenders don't play any part of the rigging so I'm only fitting them to the Port side.
 
  Danny

Thanks for the comments on the jigs Remco, Mark, dragzz, Doris, John and Pat. I'd toyed with the idea of using the Mill, but after cutting the first swivel mount in a couple of minutes I figured the jig would work quicker .
 
I've now temporarily glued all the Port side mounts in place and sanded the Sheer into them. Now I'll fit the Starboard ones and sand them horizontally athwartships.
 

 

 
  Danny

Several hours later I've made all the swivel gun mounts to this stage. Next comes some rather tricky ironwork.
 

 
  Danny

And thank you shihawk, Geoff, Christian, Rafael, Spyglass and John .
 
Swivel Gun Mounts
 
There are six Swivel Gun Mounts on the Forecastle and ten on the Quarterdeck. They are octagon shaped on the upper portion, and square on the lower. I used a jig with a "V" cut into it to sand the octagon shapes in :
 

 
A small decorative shoulder was cut into the transitions using an Xacto blade :
 

 
The bottom is quarter-rounded. I used the Byrnes Disc Sander for this :
 

 
The forecastle mounts are all the same length, so I've made all six. The quarterdeck ones are of varying lengths, so I'll make up two at a time.
 

 

 
At this stage I have left the tops of the mounts a little bit long, as they will need to be trimmed to follow the Sheer line longitudinally and are horizontal athwartships.
 
  Danny

Thanks for the compliments Eamonn, Janos, John, Popeye, Maury and Maurino.
 
Janos - yes the darker wood for the handrails is Swiss Pear
 
Maury, I've used the 7 - 10 method for other octagons, but the jig makes it a lot easier as I don't have to keep a careful eye on the lines .
 
Back to work - the Swivel Gun Mounts have a re-enforcing strap to hold the base of the swivel mounts. These are bolted through the timber mounts on the real ship, but I've omitted this detail as the bolt heads would be almost too tiny to see on the model. There is supposed to be an octagonal band around the top as well, but once again I'm not fitting that - I had several attempts at making them using various methods, but none looked satisfactory.
 

 

 
All the Mounts are now permanently fitted. The Swivel Guns themselves won't be fitted until almost at the end of the build.
 

 

 
  Danny

Thanks for the very kind comments.
 
I started working on the sail room, a lot of preparation went into making a jig to cut the mortises for the loovers. After that was set up it was pretty straightforward (I thought, but making the different stanchions with the mortices on the right sides took more than one try....)
 

 

 
The sail room will be made off the model, it's a big 3D jigsaw and I foresee trouble ahead to get the last side in place. But we'll see.
 

 
I also got some fabric to make a couple of sails. I'm wondering if their shouldn't be racks of some sort to store the sails. 
 

 
Remco

Hi all,
 
The hull is finished.  When they rebuilt Lettie, which is what the drawings were taken from, the fore deck was raised to match the poop deck.  That’s why the deck measurement is longer.  They also extended the monkey rail all the way to the bow.  In trying to restore Lettie to original condition I installed the monkey rail around the stern, only up to the step in the deck.
 
I’m going to do something different this time.  I’m going to paint the hull and then install the deck.  On the one hand I won’t have to mask the deck; on the other it will be harder to sand the deck.  Well that’s how we learn.
 
Bob
 

 

 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 46 –Inboard structural members continued
 
Work on the starboard side, inside of the hull, continued.  The iron strapping on that side is complete, except for a bit of repair work.  The first picture shows the use of an Incra rule taped to the paper cutter to assist in cutting the straps to accurate widths.
 

 
The sheet is first squared up on the cutter and then advanced 1/16” after each cut.  The indexing holes on the rule could be used, but I found this unnecessary and rely on my eye.
 
Below is a picture of strips after slitting on the cutter.
 

 
Fortunately, these straighten out easily and quickly when held in a vise and pulled with pliers.  After that they are blackened with LOS before installing.  They are held in place with copper “riveted bolts” made from 22-gauge copper wire.  These are more like nails, being pushed into a tight hole, then clipped off, then peened over with a small hammer – as shown below.
 

 
Once the strapping was finished, the deck clamps on this side could be installed back to the stern.  The next picture shows a scarph joint being marked on the next piece. 
 
 

 
Initially I fitted the next of these joints on the bench, but identifying them and keeping track became more trouble than doing it in situ – with equivalent results.
 
The next picture shows the right angle Dremel drill boring holes for the through bolts.
 

 
I don’t use this tool much.  It is large and has a good kick when starting, but it is indispensable for drilling “normal” bolt holes down in the hull.  I use it with a Foredom foot pedal speed control, plus the speed contol on the tool to keep the speeds low and to avoid it jumping out of the center-mark.
 

 
The 22-gauge copper wire used for the bolts is a sliding fit in the holes.  An end is dipped in epoxy and pushed through the holes.  The outside is then touched with epoxy and the wire pulled back in.  These bolts are never coming out.  They will be sanded off flush and those that are visible will be blackened later.  Many on this side will be covered with planking.
 
Fastening the deck clamps is pretty easy work, but the 8 x 8 ceiling members at the turn of the bilge are another matter.  The curve of the hull where they are placed can be seen in the next picture.
 

 
These require some serious clamping and long waits for the glue to set.  I usually bolt them in place with the epoxy wherever possible before removing the clamps.
 
I am being extra cautious – as well as authentic – in the bolting through every frame because of the copper plates between the frames and the inboard members.  I don’t trust the glue alone on these joints.  The hull is now becoming extremely rigid.
 
The last picture shows a strake of bilge ceiling being attached toward the stern – intersecting with the lower deck clamp.
 

 
This picture also shows the strapping toward the stern.  Not too much of it is damaged.  I straighten our any problems as each wood member is added.  Most of the strapping on this side will only be visible from outside the hull – through the frames.
 
And so it goes…
 
 Ed

It has been a few weeks since the last update.  Not that much has been accomplished because of that four letter word...work.  I have all of the carlings temporarily installed, as well as the ledges between the carlings.  I am still adjusting the height of the last two deck beams.  The transom knee was made overly thick and now the top of the beams is lower than the top of the knee.  The knee will be sanded down once I am happy with the fair run of the deck. Beam set 16 is completed.  Only six more beams to go!  The bracing across the outer counter timbers has been removed for the pictures.  I decided not to build any more structures that stand proud of the deck until the deck is completed and sanded fair.  The main mast partner kept getting bumped when I was truing the middle part of the deck.  This should make sanding easier.
 

 

 

 

Hi,
 
here is a dry test for checking how it look and fit. I think to show the doors half open, as seen in second image.
 

 

 
next to do are handles and hinges.
 
Alex

This is my "fishing schooner" , built on plans found online ( lettie g. howard ) . We work for a few months...
Mauro

Okay, after reworking the top of the deck slats they are now looking more like slightly weathered teak and as mentioned above, the Admiral likes it very much.  Soooohhhh, I continued cementing the rest of the slats to finish the aft deck.  There is still need for a few touch-ups here and there but overall it doesn't look half bad.
I invite all yuns to give me your thoughts on it, and don't be polite     I can always rip them off and go the boxwood route.
 
Here are the pics I took at 17:00 hours when I punched out of the dockyard for a much needed libation, a cool glass of belgian ale   
 

 

 
Cheers,

Yesterday I have started with guns and I tried to make the first carriage using wood and card. The barrel is casted from metal but I am thinking about making my own from card.










 
Best regards
Doris

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 45 –Inboard members continued, Stern fairing and half-frame bolting continued.
 
American Clipper Historical Note: In 19th Century America, forest resources were plentiful, in fact they seemed limitless.  For these reasons, and due to the immaturity of the American iron industry, ships with wood structures continued to be built throughout the century and into the 20th.  Several domestic species found their way into American-built ships.  White oak, very similar in species to English oak was the primary material used for structural components.  However, the less plentiful but superior species, live oak from forests in the southeastern states, was often specified for critical components.  It was almost 50% stronger than white oak and the shape of the growth lent itself to knees and curved members.  Joshua Humphreys specified live oak for the original American 44-gun frigates and crews from the northern shipyards went south to harvest the requirements.  Another southern species that was widely used in American ships was hard pine, also known as longleaf pine.  This plentiful timber had 90% of the strength of white oak and was roughly the same weight.  Hard pine was used for beams, planking and knees.  White pine, the species most associated with the term “pine,” was lighter, softer and less strong – only about 50% in strength compared to white oak.  It was often used in planking weather decks.  Other species of pine – pitch pine, yellow pine, red pine – were also used.  Another important species was black locust.  Its hardness, straightness and strength – 35% stronger than white oak  - found wide use for treenails and often for pillars.  Various other structural woods were used, but these were the primary species.
 
Young America’s structure was largely white oak – most frames, central sections of the keel and keelson, stem, stern posts, hanging knees.  But it is very probable that a significant number of important members were of live oak – parts of keel and keelson, keelson riders, hooks, some frame timbers.  Hard pine was used for beams, inboard and outboard planking, waterways, deck clamps, binding strakes, lower deck  planking and deadwood.  Lodging knees would have been pitch pine.  Exposed decks were white pine.  Pillars and treenails were locust.  Other decorative works were of other species and will be described later.
 
For the model, I an using Swiss pear wherever oak – white or live – was used.  Hard and pitch pine members will be Castelo.  Weather decks may be holly – not decided.  Most of the work covered so far has been in pear, but Castelo has been evident in the last few posts in the bilge ceiling and deck clamp construction.
 
 
Work described in the last part continued.  In the first picture the deadwood near the sternpost is being smoothed with a #0 cut Grobet riffler after paring with gouges. 
 

 
When the fairing of the aft part of the lower hull was finished, the bolts securing the aft half and cant frames were installed.  The next picture shows this in progress.
 

 
Holes were drilled deep into the keelson/deadwood.  Copper wire dipped in epoxy was then inserted and moved in and out to distribute the glue internally.  The wire was then clipped off as shown.  The stains on the wood in the picture are  from isopropanol used to wash off excess epoxy and has not yet dried.  The heads of the bolts will be sanded off flush and blackened just before the final wood finish is applied.  They were iron.
 
The next picture shows the lower hull after this bolting.  Bolts will be much more visible when black.
 

 
Finish sanding and polishing of these areas will be done later.  The next picture shows the stern framing from directly aft.
 

 
Work inside the hull on the strapping, deck clamps and bilge ceiling continued.  In the next picture a strake is being glued on the upper side of the band.  Strapping below the bilge ceiling has been added.
 

 
One of the lower strakes is being glued in the next picture. 
 

 
After the glue has dried, all of these strakes are bolted through every frame with epoxy at both ends of each bolt.  These bolts, also iron, will be blackened later.
 
This internal work is going to take some time.  I switch between iron strapping and ceiling planks when I can - to battle the tedium of repetitive work – not my strong suit.
 
 
 Ed

Worked on main mast a bit this afternoon.  I understand that the practicum I bought would produce a nice model, but I have been bitten by the "real detailed real metal" bug.  As such, I started working on the main mast band for the futtock shrouds.
 
First, I used the mast to form the loose metal, then I soldered it up and finally added some elongated rings.  I'm not sure how accurate historically this is.
 
I think once painted it will be great.  The instructions say either white or galvanized.  I'm thiking galvanized or black. 
 
If all else fails, I'm creating a story where the ship's blacksmith had kidney stones the day these were made and an apprentice was pressed into service.
 

 
BTW, Two thoughts,
 
1) I notice this isn't the normal way to make rings.  I hope it works out.
2) Am I supposed to clean my work area before making photos?

As indicated, I am painting my metal fixtures with a sem-gloss enamel.  This is because #1, I have had very poor luck with chemicals I have tried, and #2 I think that the semigloss with give them a nice look on the finsihed model.
 
Here are a few straps drying before installation.  After they dry it will be easy to touch up.
 

 
Woody examines the foot ropes on the bow sprint.  I suspect he would like to be sure they are VERY secure.
 

Thanks for the information.  The advantage of what I have now, of course, is that I have it.  I really don't know the difference between "silver solder" and what I am using.  I have noticed I have to get this stuff really hot to work- sometimes if I'm not careful, I end up melting the brass.
 
Anyway, I had a chance to play with the ship a bit more today.
 
First, I tried re-painting my barrel boxes and I added ropes.  I think it looks better and I will probably leave it on the boat.
 

 
Second I continued rigging the bow sprint.  You will notice how my idea of painting everything black really destroys the detail.  As an aside, the dowell for the bow sprint supplied was poplar- a nice straight grained wood, but green in color.  I thought it looked ugly so I painted it black.  Looking back, I would recommend just buying another dowel and leaving it natural color.  That way the details would look better.
 



 
 
I also shaped the base of the mast so they will fit.
 
 

More progress tonight. Now that the deck is planked, the next thing will be the deadeyes and chainplates. My first pass at these was ... bad. Really bad. So, I decided to reengineer the chainplates a bit. Hopefully, this attempt will be better.
 
The important issue is scale. The lower deadeyes and chainplates will all be painted white, but they need to appear in scale. That means everything has to be smaller than what I am used to working with. The chainplate is a simple strap with a loop soldered into its top end. However, there needs to be at least two fastenings for the strap into the hull. At this size and scale, that is a problem. The brass nails I have in stock are too large. So, I have made the strap with its loop and then drilled two holes in the strap into which two pieces of brass wire were soldered. The outer edges of each wire was trimmed and left just proud of the strap to appear like bolt heads. The wires go into the holes in the side of the hull. I will probably add a dab of CA to secure them. Even without glue, they are snug in their holes, but the CA should give some strength as well. 
 
Here are some pics. I still need to clean up the shape of the strap, but it should look okay once the hull is painted. There will be a wooden cap over the edge of the rail hiding that tear out along the edge of the rail. The strap is about 1/32" wide and the holes for the wires are .018" diameter.
 
Questions and comments welcomed.
 
Russ
 

Interesting discussion, unfortunately my NMM plans don't show the position of the lanterns.
 
Meanwhile I've made some storage space for the galley, I wasn't pleased with MKI
 

 
so I build MKII with thinner hinges and a working drawer. Behind it I'll make an open cupboard.
 

 

 
Remco
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 44 –Inboard members continued, Stern fairing and half-frame bolting.
 
Work continued on the iron strapping with some breaks to work on other things.  Other things included installing wood members over the strapped areas.  In the first picture a portion of the lower deck clamp is being glued to the frames.
 

 
The forward section of the upper deck clamp has been installed at the top of the strapped area.  As soon as the clamps are removed when the glue has dried, these members are immediately bolted through the frames with copper wire bolts epoxied all the way through the hole, making an extremely strong connection.
 
In the next picture a section of bilge ceiling is being installed.  These heavy members will fill the area up to the lower deck clamp.
 

 
There will also be a few strakes of bilge ceiling below the installed strakes.  The iron strapping will also be extended down to the floor heads.  The next picture shows one of these extensions.  The break in these straps will occur behind frames and will not be visible.
 
The next picture shows additional deck clamp sections installed, including forward sections of the middle deck clamp.
 

 
All these members are epoxy bolted as described above. 
 
Before progressing much further aft with the iron strapping, I wanted to get the aft half-frames bolted securely.  They have been held in place since installation only by the end-grain glue joints.  I did not want to risk breaking these with the hammering of the strap rivets.  Before installing bolts on these frames they needed to be faired.  This is easier before the copper bolts are in place.
 
In the next picture 80-grit sandpaper is being used on the feet of the cant frames to bring them flush with the deadwood.
 

 
In the next picture all of the cant and half frames have been faired at their feet. The cant frames, in their scores, end right at the bearding line line.  However, the half-frames are not installed in scores but bolted directly to the deadwood.  These were not faired to a feather edge at the line but were cut back to about a 3” thickness above the line.  The triangular gap was covered with planking.  It acted as a limber, or drainage channel, for water that would otherwise accumulate between frames and in the joints between the frames and the deadwood.  This feature was evidently not included at the feet of the cant frames. 
 
The next picture shows the feet of the half-frames being squared off above the bearding line.
 

 
There will be more to say later about the path of this water to the pumps.
 
With the model inverted it was a good time to fair the deadwood back to the rabbets in the keel and sternpost.  The next picture shows a shallow gouge being used to rough out the shape above the keel rabbet.
 

 
This can be risky if not done carefully.  In the picture the curl of shaving shows that the gouge is moving parallel to the keel using the pressure of my thumb.  I find that cuts go easier at an angle to the edge, slicing the wood -  and it is never a good idea to cut toward the rabbet.  The gouge is moving in the same direction in the next picture – held as in the last picture with the left hand, in this case pulled gently with the right – always with very light cuts.  Do not attempt this with a dull tool.
 

 
In the next picture a #0 cut riffler is being used to smooth out the gouge marks.  This was followed by 120 then 220-grit paper.
 

 
The last picture shows the feet of the half and cant frames after the sanding.
 
 
 
With the final lines of the frame bottoms established the bolt holes were laid out and drilled.  These are now ready for the bolts.
 
There is a lot more sanding to be done on the lower hull, but this much was sufficient to get the bolts in.  Now for the other side.
 
 Ed

After studying the photos, I decided I didn't have the barrels right.  So I did some rework and came up with this:
 

 
 
On the ship it looks a bit large scale wise.  I'm trying to decide if it adds to the ship or should be 'chucked.' 

 
I also worked on the bow sprint, but ended up with a limp guy (wire).  I cut if off and started over.  In the process I accidently cut the ring I had soldered shut at the cut water, so the new one will not be soldered.  I'm also beginning to regret my decision to paint all of the metal black.  It just doesn't show as much as I'd like for all the work that it is.
 

Thank you Druxey, Alex, Max.
 
More doors, more bulkheads make up the carpenters store room and the carpenters cabin. 
 

 

 

 
There's also one between the bitts creating a small workspace for the cook. Let's see what I can do with that, I think a big cupboard makes sense.
 

 

 

 
Remco
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 43 – Bilge Ceiling, Iron Strapping
 
Historical Clipper Note: A number of different structures were installed inside clipper ship hulls to increase strength and help defeat hogging, the most serious structural threat to wooden ships apart from rot.  Hogging is the tendency of hulls to droop at the ends.  It resulted from the reduced buoyancy at the ends of ships as the flotation area of the hull got smaller.  It was further aggravated by localized stresses as waves passed under the hull.  This was a particular problem in clipper hulls that were very long and had very fine lines fore and aft.
 
In addition to large keelsons, weight reductions at the ends, moving foremasts aft and some features discussed in earlier posts, additional structural members inside the hull were also used.  These varied from builder to builder.  These included massive additional keelsons in the area of the floor heads, various forms of heavy ceiling timbers, long diagonal wood “pointers” and ironwork.  From what we know of William Webb’s designs, he seemed to favor thick “bilge ceilings” – bands of heavy planking from below the lower futtock heads up to the lower deck clamps - rather than bilge keelsons or pointers.
 
An 8” to 7” thick bilge ceiling and iron strapping were the most likely combination used in Young America and that will be the configuration I will use on the model
 
After some deliberation – discussed in earlier posts – I finally decided to install the strapping on the inside of the frames.  Although this is not known to be the original configuration, it is most likely based on some references and Webb’ practice on other ships.
 
The strapping was installed on the frames under the ceiling planking.  Because installing the strapping requires some hammering on the frames to rivet the straps in place, I wanted to get a couple of ceiling strakes in place to make the frame structure stronger before beginning the strapping.
 
The first picture shows the first strake of the bilge ceiling being installed.  These are 8” x 8” members bolted through the frames from a few feet above the floor  heads decreasing in thickness to 7” up to the lower deck clamp
 

 
The strake being installed is at the heads of the lower futtocks.  This strake and the others in the band, follow the curve of these futtock head joints.  Fore and aft they converge under the lower deck clamp to form a sort of truss to resist bending of the hull.  This was definitely the configuration when bilge keelsons were used and it is likely the bilge ceilings followed this practice.  Once this line is set by the first strake the others above and below it will be installed.
 
The next picture shows a closer view of the bolting and one of the joint scarphs.
 

 
Copper wire bolts have been epoxied through the frames.  The dark area is isopropanol used to wash off the epoxy – not yet dry.  Epoxy will help assure that the wire will act as true through bolts.  In practice these were iron, so they will be blackened before final finishing.  The second bolt at each frame pair will be modeled using black monofilament.
 
The next picture shows the copper bolts coming through the frames outside.
 

 
These will be clipped off and sanded flush as part of the external fairing process.  It can be seen that the bolts come through the lower futtocks just below the heads.  I am considering leaving a few view ports on the exposed framing side of the hull.  The bottom of these open areas would be at the floor heads, so the bolted inside members should provide plenty of strength around the openings. The tops of these openings will probably be at the middle deck clamps.
 
With a stretch of ceiling in place I was anxious to try out some iron strapping. The first picture shows the installation of a test area.
 

 
I decided I wanted no part of recessing all these into the frames.  For the most part they will be covered with inboard planking and will only be visible between frames on the outside, through the view ports if installed, and down through unplanked deck areas.
 
The next picture shows a closer view of the straps and their fasteners.
 

 
I used .005” copper for the straps, cutting them to size with a paper cutter, and then stretching to straighten them.  I considered using .010” strips but these would require recesses.  The thinner material should not affect the planking glue joints.  Planks will also be bolted so should be quite secure.  The difference in thickness is virtually undetectable visually.  The actual thickness would probably be somewhere between the two sizes.
 
The straps are held in place by copper rivets - 22 gauge copper wire – some through and some partially through as “blunts”.  Like the real bolts, the heads are peened over to secure the strips.  I initially tried to get all of the intersections on frames for bolting, hence some uneven spacing in this first area.  I will not describe all the steps in detail – or the journey up the learning curve to get acceptable-looking straps.
 
These must of course be blackened before being planked over – to avoid glue spots that would interfere with the etching.
 
The next picture from outside the hull shows some strapping blackened using liver of sulfur solution.  This will be the predominant viewpoint for this feature.
 

 
This picture shows some inevitable crossing of straps between frames.  I doubt that I will try to rivet these intersections as was done in practice, except where they fall over a frame.  A few strapping rivet heads can be seen on the outside of the frames.
 
The strapping will be installed over the full length of the hull up to the upper deck clamps.  The next picture shows some correctly sized clamp material – for the lower and upper decks - temporarily held in place,
 

 
This shows the convergence of the ceiling and the lower deck clamp mentioned above.  The 7 to 8” bilge ceiling would fill the area below the lower deck plank and continue for a few more strakes below those installed in this picture.
 
The straps will be cut off above the upper deck clamp.  The strapping is fully extended forward in this picture.  The middle deck clamp will fall midway between the two shown.
 
I now foresee a considerable amount of strapping work, punctuated with some bilge ceiling and perhaps deck clamp installation.  Should be interesting.
 
 Ed

Thanks all.
 
Yuk Grant
 
Sure Daniel, the joints are tinted with graphite to enhance the joints. Otherwise the joints are almost invisible and the bulkhead will look like its made from one piece.
 


 
Time to make some lanterns, the mullions were completely prepared on the table saw assembling was quite simple, once complete they were sanded down to the appropriate thickness
 

 

 

 

 
Here they are temporary in place, I still need to add a vent but I'm not sure how long to make it, TFFM describes it should clear the deck head. Should it face away from the bulkhead or go up to the upper deck, some advice would be appreciated how I need to interpret this.
 
Remco