Bob Legge

The forecastle is completed apart from some lodging knees, I have also cut the skid beams ready for cambering, brodie stove finally hidden under the beams after all this time


Foremast partner is in the process of being test fitted, I also added some chocks on either side of the fore bitts as seemed very weak area, the two iron knees can just be seen in the photos
Regards
Paul

First hanging knees attached, an iron curved knee will go around the gunport

So back to the Sirius as promised, very productive day in the shipyard, forecastle and quarterdeck beams cut, cambered and foremast partner beams started


The red light is a laser level that I'm using to make sure everything is centred properly

Deck planking all completed, seven coats of sanding sealer sanded with finer paper inbetween each coat finishing with 0000 steel wool

 

I have added the bolts ln the corners of all the grating coamings and now finishing the rear part of the waterway
I promised the wife when I had finished the deck I will go back to working on the Sirius so this could be the last post about the cheerful for a while
 

After one coat of sanding sealer

I cut the pearwood both ways with the grain and as this one across, from a strength point of view I should be using the other piece but the grain on this looks awesome and as I'm not going to be doing rigging on the model should be strong enough, I'm going to cut the edge off and file in the rebates for the chains
Regards
Paul

Decided it was time to start the channels as I am working around the ship, cutting the rebate into the waist rail in situ as I hadn't done them when building the Hull as a bit perilious but going slowly I managed

Fore channel being shaped from a piece of pear
 

And having the edge scraped

Regards
Paul
 

Ed wrote:
 
I went back to my sources and found that I had incorrectly placed the forward lift band.  My design  for the topping lifts is based on the William Crothers drawing for Young America.  This drawing is my backup when primary sources are not sufficiently definitive.  I believe that his design for the lift - and many other things - was based on meticulous examination of the photographs of the ship as well as other primary sources.  So I went back to the photos to determine if there was a basis for his boom lift design.  There was.  These photos, taken in the 1870's show a shorter boom than the original sail plan, but the forward lift band is clearly visible, as are the lift tackles.  Proportionally, the forward band is well aft and the tackles angle toward a midpoint consistent with the placement of the lift bands on the Crothers drawing - and now on my drawing as well.  So, your comments and the Niagara replica pictures notwithstanding, I am comfortable with my current configuration.  
 
Ed, you certainly must have far more information on Young America than I will ever have, and, as clippers go, there's a fair amount of documentation on her. What caught my eye was simply the incorrectness of the topping lift rigging, specifically the angle of the forward end of the bridle which, as a matter of physics, has to be in line with, if not preferably forward of the vector of the pendant. If it isn't, the bridle really does nothing mechanically useful. This isn't to say that she might not have actually had the forward end of the bridle attached to that forward band, but unlike yourself, I don't have immediate access to any contemporary photos or drawings which would illustrate that. It was a puzzlement to me that any rigger would rig a topping lift like that, but your comment that her boom was shortened answered the question.
 
Early contemporary illustrations clearly show that her spanker boom had considerable overhang. Your model depicts her original boom length with a footrope to access the overhang.  That boom length is evident in early contemporary illustrations.
 

 


I think it's safe to assume there are no photographs of Young America early in her life. Photography wasn't widely in common use at that time. However, when we look at later photographs of Young America, notably those taken at North Point wharf in San Francisco in 1873, we see that her spanker boom had been "bobbed," with the previous considerable overhang removed.  
 

This photograph (you can enlarge it considerably with your browser's "tools" feature) clearly shows the shortened boom with a boom band slightly ahead of the end of the boom where the spanker sheets are attached and another boom band slightly forward of the wheelbox. It does not appear, from the resolution of the on-line photograph at least, that there is any bridle or lift attached to the aftermost boom band at all. The boom band immediately forward may have a topping lift attached to it, but there is no indication in the picture of any topping lift bridle on the shortened boom and it does not appear to be in the same place as either of the forward two boom bands that you have on your model depicting the original longer boom. Granted, the photo is not razor sharp on my screen and the photo, most likely from a glass plate negative in the J.Porter Shaw collection of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, would probably be much sharper.
 
Additionally, looking at the photo taken at North Point wharf, if my eyes don't deceive me, it appears that the taper of the boom indicates that the boom in the photo is the original boom cut shorter at its aft end, as the thickest part of the boom appears to be aft of the center of the boom's length.  I suggest for your consideration that what in fact occurred was that when the boom was shortened, doing away with the aftermost mast band to which the after end of the topping lift bridles were attached, the riggers simply did away with the bridles entirely and connected the topping lifts to the single band shown in the photo.  The bridle would have been intended to spread the lifting tension to two points on the boom and prevent the long boom from bending at its narrow end when being lifted. With a shorter boom, a band at the thicker portion of the shortened boom would have been sufficient to lift the boom without unduly straining it.
 
If a bridle was retained after bobbing the boom, the after end of the bridle would have been attached to the spanker boom sheet band, thereby moving that point of attachment forward, and, correspondingly, the attachment of the forward bridle end would have had to have been moved forward as well in order to provide for its being angled forward of the vector of the pendant in order to do any work.
 
We have to recognize, of course, that the photo shows the vessel with all sails sent down (probably sent to Simpson and Fisher, the sail loft nearby at the time, for repairs after a long voyage around the Horn or across the Pacific) and there's no knowing what running rigging they might have sent down for repairs as well at the time the photo was taken. There does not seem to be any boom gallows rigged and her spanker sheets are taken up tightly amidships, so it would appear the topping lift, attached to the forward boom band is doing its job of holding the boom up off the deck.
 
As for Crothers, I don't have his plans for Young America, but he says in his book, The American-Built Clipper Ship, speaking generally of the spanker boom topping lifts on American clippers:
 
"The topping lift, which went double, flat against each side of the sail, was made up of a span (bridle,) a pendant, and falls. The span was set up with one point approaching the midpoint of the boom, giving support to its considerable slender length; the other end was set up to the after stop of the boom after the span had been rove through a block which had the pendant turned in. ... Each topping lift was a complete assembly port and starboard, and together they controlled the height at which the boom hung. (See Figure 30.2)" [Op.cit.: p.484]
 
Figure 30.2, on pages 480 and 481, shows the running rigging of a "representative" clipper ship. That drawing shows a boom with considerable overhang, though not as much as in contemporary illustrations of Young America, with the forward end of the bridle, or span, as Crother's calls it, attached slightly after of the middle of the boom's length and angling forward of the vector of the pendant.
 
In summary, I entirely agree with Crothers description and drawing of the running rigging of a "representative" clipper ship and would feel safe in assuming such was the arrangement on Young America as she was built, but I would find reliance upon photographs of the vessel when she was long past her prime and cut down for employment in less glamorous enterprises than originally intended suspect authority for rigging details present when she was originally built. Is it possible that your perceived error in the placement of the band you moved aft discovered when examining photographs taken later in her life wasn't an error at all, but rather simply confusion created by the fact that the plans depicted the placement of the band as built and the photo depicted the placement of a band installed in a different place on the boom after her spanker boom was shortened?  One would expect that the original band would have been moved forward because the shortening of the boom caused the point of attachment of the after end of the bridle to have been moved forward significantly.  Logically, the forward band would have to had been moved forward on the boom about the same distance as the after bridle attachment was moved forward if it were originally attached to the boom end that was cut off. That would have been absolutely necessary to get the bridle angles correct in relation to the pendant's angle. I presume you are modeling her as built, given her original full length boom. In that case, I'd say you'd be safer to rely on Crothers' description in his book than photos taken long after she was built and when her rig had been cut down and place the forward band ahead of where you originally had it so that the forward end of the bridle angled forward of the vector of the pendant when attached to it. 
 
Unfortunately Crothers is apparently no longer with us, so we don't have the luxury of asking him about his plans.  If Crothers' rigging plan for Young America does indeed have the forward end of the bridle angled aft of the pendant vector, contradicting his own commentary in his book (not to mention the physics of the arrangement,) there's also always the possibility that he erred in drawing it the way he did. It's certainly not the first time that's happened in published model plans. I hope that possibility doesn't make you too crazy!
 
 

Another pictures:

Work keeps me quite busy, so only a little update today.
 
Finished the deck planking of the aft castle:

 
I've finished the second planking above the wales and glued the futtock riders. Not easy to make. I made them from swiss pear and remade it more than once. After staining, i'am quite pleased with the result:

That's it for today.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hello and thank you for your comments!
 
some news from Sphynx
have finished inboard planking on Quarterdeck.

Manufakturing of Planksheer:



Regards
 
Alex

Hello and thank you for your comments!
 
the decks are now treenailed and sanded
 



Regards
 
Alex

Hi Pat,
 
It's a good question. The answer is really that I can't say for sure. I'm not aware of any archaeological evidence, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Might be in a museum somewhere. Mostly, all I have to go by are modern models and some old paintings. The paintings don't show this level of detail, and I don't know where the knowledge of the model builders comes from. I've seen nothing written about the subject, but my access to the information is extremely limited.
 
As far as I'm aware, there is nothing for the oars to come "loose" from. The ropes serve to keep the oars in place and double as full-time "retainers".
 
Note that on sculling oars that appear later on, boats do not use any form of rope retainer. The oar has a small hole that fits over a ro-gui, which is a rounded metal knob. The only rope is one that holds the handle of the oar in a proper position for sculling.
 
You can see such a rope on the model below. If used correctly, it would also serve to keep the oar from getting away, should it become dislodged and fall overboard.
 

 
This is a model of a water taxi, called a chokibune. A similar boat is detailed in Douglas Brooks' book Japanese Wooden Boatbuilding.
 
 
 

Thanks everyone for your concern and good wishes!
 
All is well. My insurance company took good care of me and paid out for the car. I feel sorry for the guy who rear-ended me, as he damaged his own truck as well as my car and my insurance company is going to be wanting to recover their money. Turns out he did have an insurance company, but he didn't have the truck he was driving on his policy. Don't know if it was an error on his part or what.
 
I lost a reliable, tough little car, and had to go through the process of getting a new one – and it's a process I HATE. But, the insurance company paid out very quickly. Only now, I have car payments. But, I like the car. So, all is well.
 
Work-wise, I've just been a bit too busy, so decided to try to slow down a bit and to try to make some modeling progress. Took some time out today, as I'm feeling really worn out. But, made a little progress on the trade boat and other things.
 
 
You may recall that this boat has one large sail. I don't know if I will mount a sail on it or not. I find it rather interesting how the lowered mast is stowed. I think I have a method for creating the sail, which was made from rice-straw matting, not cloth. But, I will have other opportunities to make that, and it would probably be simpler and more realistic at a larger scale.
 
In any case, I also have the full set of oars I made. I've decided that even though the museum models I've seen show the boat equipped for sculling, that my interpretation of early scroll paintings suggest they were rowed and not sculled. Also, I started to thinking about the side-to-side motion involved in sculling, and I see only rope bindings on these oars in all cases (museum models).
 

 
I can't see how rope bindings would be able to take the amount of side-to-side pressure without loosing very quickly. If rowed, the binding would simply be to hold the oar and keep it from slipping. All the force of propulsion from the oars are taken by the beam extensions of the ship. 
 
So the next issue was how these would tie into place. Nothing too special there, except that you can't simply tie it the oar to the beam, as you'd have a hard time moving it. You need to tie a rope securely around the oar and then that rope needs to be tied to the beam. Does this difference make sense? There needs to be some freedom of movement for the oar, so the rope itself becomes something of a pivot.
 
So, I started by tying a length of line around each rope at the pivot point. I used pencil marks for measurement. I didn't feel this needed to be exact. There is an extra pencil mark, as I realized I wanted the pivot point just a little higher up on the handle. Thread cutter and pencil included for size reference.
 

 
After I tied all of the oars like this, I realized I needed more of a lashing, so I wrapped the thread around the oar and tied a second knot.
 

 
Tying the rope then onto the model, I kept the knot-side against the beam. I can't quite explain the final wrapping, as I kind of figured it out as I went. Something like wrapping both ends under the beam, over the top a couple times, making sure to stay on the opposite sides of the oar, then tying a final knot around the rope in between the oar and the beam. This turned out to be as challenging as rigging blocks on a square rigger.
 

 
Another difference between my model and modern museum models and their sculling oars is that sculling oars have a handle near the end of the oar and a line tied down to the rail or beam wraps over that to help hold the oar in place while sculling. Such lines seemed to have no purpose with this type of oar, so I didn't include them.
 

 
In this side view you can see how the oars look once they're all on the model, though I still have to add them onto the other side. I made the base just a tad too short, causing the aft-most oar to hang down just a little too much.
 

Thanks friends! Fortunately, I was uninjured, but my car was totaled and the other person was effectively uninsured, so it took a while to resolve. Then, after having to work more hours, dealing with the car rentals, getting paid, finding a new car, dealing with new payments, etc., it took my remaining free time.
 
I still am working more hours, so it has affected my ship modeling time, but at least the other issues are behind me. Mostly...
 
Clare

Fine work mark,  reminds me of my Agostini Vic build on here before the site problem  - this was my ships barge I had built.
 
OC.

Thank you very much.

Thanks for your welcome comments and for your likes, I finished the first phase of frames assembly, now I start to cut and put the chocks. A greeting

Also started working ln the carronades for the upper decks

 

Started working on the waterways for the forecastle another nice curved hook scarph

Unfortunately no work in the Sirius this weekend as had orders from above to make handles for the wife's sewing machine screwdriver and her unpicker thingymagig, First try at turning with the screwdriver and then went mad with some glued together strips for the unpicker, the small one in the middle is a piece of naturally two coloured ebony



The machine is a 1932 Jones in beautiful condition so I thought I had better put some effort into the handles to match the workmanship on the machine, she chose three so that means I get to keep the bottom right for one of my xacto saws bargain!!
 

Skid beams being test fitted
and a couple of holly planks being used to check the flatness of the forecastle deck

Hi everyone, thanks Nils, finally I've come to the end, now I'll start with the nailing.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Un Saluto.

Ciao e grazie a tutti, altre foto.
 
Hello and thanks to everyone, more photos.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Un Saluto

Hi, another pictures