Bob Legge

One thing I want to point out about clippers, is that they were build far and above what was normal practice.  From their Massive keel and framing construction to their iron lattice cross bracing and the extensive use of iron and brass frame securing pins.  So well built was the clipper design, with their long slender hulls, that new and improved methods were invented to prevent the dreaded *Hogging* effect that plagued long, narrow hulled ships.  Not to mention the enormous spread of canvas and towering masts required to sustain them...because the goal was speed and the ship was required to sustainably wisthand the driving of their captains, who were rewarded with substantial bonuses if they *drove* their vessels and crews to near destruction.  No other vessel design could meet this grueling requirement.
The true simplicity in their overall lack of ornate embellishment was, in one regard, what made them so attractive and said to be the finest creation man could produce that sailed the seas, not to mention the most beautiful Model ever designed.  Ed's exemplary reproduction is a marvel in of itself...but more so, demonstrates to us all the attention to strength the builders of these wooden Greyhounds designed into their creations to make their *Clippers* strong against the elements bent on tearing them apart.  Not to mention their captains who pushed them to near destruction.
Young America is an supreme example of all the elements of construction and design beautifully coming together to produce the best in naval architecture that endured for decades.
Ed...I applaud you , not only for your mastery in building such a fine representation of this renowned  model, but in demonstrating the same attention to detail that the original builders must have used to produce them.
 
Rob

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 287 –Mast Caps and Parral Yokes
 
As was mentioned in the last post, making all the upper masts allowed the bores for both the caps and parral yokes to be made and fitted efficiently using one basic milling machine set up.  Holes were bored using the rotary table with the milling bit offset to produce each required bore diameter to fit its appropriate mast.
 
The first step was to create the necessary blanks of proper thickness for each required piece.  The first picture shows the collection of blanks for all the remaining caps and parrals.
 

 
To make these efficiently, a list of thicknesses was tabulated from the drawings.  Long (12") wood blanks were then reduced to size on the thickness sender starting with the thickest, then cutting off a roughly 3" blank, then reducing the thickness, cutting off the next blank, and so on. 
 
The next step on each of these was to cut it to the required width.  The next picture shows a correct-width blank for a cap with its center being marked using a center point in the mill chuck that has been precisely centered on the rotary table.
 

 
This mark – on the center of the bore - permitted a center line to be drawn on the piece that will later be used to mark out the shape of the cap and the square mortise for the masthead tenon.  This line was only needed on cap pieces.  The four-jaw centering chuck is a convenient way to hold these pieces, but a check should be made to determine which pair of jaws centers the work most precisely. 
 
The next picture shows a centerline being drawn with a compass.
 

 
To set the bore, the actual mast diameter was used, although this differed from the drawing diameter by at most a few thousandths of an inch. 
 

 
I did not leave an allowance for a simulated leather lining on either the caps or the parrals, but this could be done by increasing the offset by the thickness of the expected lining.  The milling bit diameter – smaller than the final bore - was subtracted from the mast diameter measurement and the remainder divided by 2 to determine the radial offset of the bit.  The table is rotated to make the hole.   The next picture shows the offset bit boring a hole in a cap piece.
 

 
These blanks were made long enough to produce at least two final pieces as insurance against later finishing errors.  Also, each setup was checked for fit after initial boring – usually on a scrap piece – so any necessary offset adjustments could be made before making the final bores.  The next picture shows a cap piece after boring and fitting to the mast.
 

 
This piece will later be marked out for final length, shape, and cutting of the square mortise.  After boring each cap hole, the same mill setup and offset was used to bore the parral yoke for the yard above.
 
Each parral blank was first ripped to double width based on measurements taken from the drawings as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The calipers were used to measure the parral width, which was then doubled to set the blank width for boring.  This method is accurate enough for the purpose.  After boring, the piece was ripped to the width measured above leaving a half-circle.  No centerlines were not needed on the parral pieces.  The next picture shows the main upper topsail parral piece being checked on the mast.
 

 
The parrals will be cut to length and shaped later when the yards are made. 
 
The last picture shows all the basic bored pieces – masts, caps and parrals - with some duplicates, ready for the next steps.
 

 
The mizzen topmast was included here since it has not yet been permanently installed.
 
This process worked well and saved a lot of machine setup time vs. making these parts one at a time as needed, although re-centering of the milling chuck was required a few times.  With the smaller bores, offsets were adjusted based on the previous bore then checked by trial and error, rather than returning to center each time.  Scrap pieces were used for trial and error fitting of the bored holes.
 
It took about four hours to make all these cap and parral pieces – pre-work thinking time not included.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 286 – Upper Masts
 
I decided to make the six upper masts at one go.  This will allow me to use one basic set up of the milling machine to bore the holes in each of the six remaining caps and for the yard parral yokes.  It will also permit the actual finished mast diameters to be used to set the bore diameters.  This should ensure a tight but smooth fit on the caps.
 
The six masts include the three topgallant masts and the three single-stick royal/skysail/pole masts.  The topgallants were made by the process described in the last post.  In making the combined masts I started with the upper pole sections first and worked down.  The first picture shows one of the very slender poles being rounded.
 

 
After rounding the pole one of the skysails sections has been stepped is being tapered in the next picture.
 

 
Each section was converted to an octagon as shown in the next picture.
 

 
On these small pieces the octagons are too small to be marked as was done on the lower masts, sothey were formed by eye with frequent measurement checks.  The next picture shows one of the small poles being sanded to its final size.
 
 
 
 
The pole and royal sections on one of these are shown completed in the next picture.
 
 

 
In the next picture the fillet at the foot of a royal section has been filed and work on the octagon is in progress.
 

 
Finally, the six completed masts.
 

 
Trucks need to be added to the tops of the poles, the fid openings need to be squared, and all the sheave openings need to be formed.  The next step will be to make the caps and parral yokes based on these finished pieces.
 
Ed

Good morning.

Hi
 
 
 
 

fantastic job.
One question: how do you finish the knots of the cabuyeria? With cyanoacrylate? no stain or color change is seen.
a greeting cabrapente

Hi Christos,
 
upon your special request......., here comes the crew of the "Eagle of Algier"..., enjoy...
The ship is now nearly complete, there are also some banners, and flag attached.
On the stb. side I will be fitting 9 sweeps through the oarports
 
Nils
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

if my Google translator (into Arabien letters) worked correct, that should read "Eagle of Algier"
 

 
 

the old flag of Algier Port
 

 
 

the "blue pirate" is always a bit of a hot head
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

the helmsman still requires a compass and perhaps a small binacle cabinet
 

cleaning with seawater

Little update :
 
added the fore sail with all reeflines....., the upper reeflines for the main sail still have to be rigged..
The mizzen lateen sails is next and last.... The model is now 91 cm long and 71 cm high (incl. standplate)
 
Nils
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

Update :
 
just a couple of days ago I had a big fright, when the chebec slipped off the desc and fell down to the floor, bow sprit downwards. Due to the horrible cracking noise it made I was expecting worse, when I bent down to pick it up for inspecting the dammage. The sprit cracked in two and broke off as well as the the complete bow rail construction. Luckily the masts and yards were not effected by the fall.
Now, after mending everything again it would`nt be visible to anyone that does`nt know what happend, except for a short brass tube that was used for shafting the bow sprit. Now the finalization of the sails can be done after all......
 
Nils
 

this was before the fall from the desc....
 

 
 

 
 

still have to clean up and coil some line runner ends....
 

 
 

after repair
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 284 – Last Post on Ratlines
 
While there is still some further ratline work ahead, that will await further mast erection.  For now, I have reached a stopping point after a few weeks work on this.  Other work has been progressing and I will describe that in later posts.  For now, I will just show the present status of the ratlines – and the overall model.  The first picture shows the ratlines completed to this stage.
 

 
Some minor replacement/rework is still needed – revealed in part on some of these pictures, but what is shown here is essentially finished.  The next picture shows work below the foretop that I should have done much earlier to avoid having to tie ratlines in the congested rigging shown.
 

 
The next picture shows the same work around the main top – much easier.
 

 
The topmast ratlines extend across the topmast backstays under the crosstrees as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The futtock ratlines here will be installed later.  Finally, another view from above.
 
 
 
 
The way is now open to work on the main topsail yards and other things.
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 285 – Mizzen Topmast
 
At this stage in the model I am feeling like most of the modeling methods are well developed, with kinks worked out and reduced to standard practice.  With a lot of repetitive work ahead, I believe efficiency and time saving will benefit by "mass producing" or at least grouping similar work.  So far, work has been mostly sequential – to avoid tedium as well as "systemic" process problems affecting a lot of parts.. 
 
Making all the remaining masts – the mizzen topmast, the topgallants, and the royal/skysail/pole integral masts are described in this and the next part.  Having these all made will allow me to reduce repeated setup time on the mill for boring matched, sized holes for the caps and the parral trusses.  This work will be described later.  This part describes the mizzen topmast, a repeat of earlier spar-making descriptions with some additional detail and at least one process improvement.
 
In the first picture the sized square of the "first trim" is held in the vise to file the square of the mast head.
 

 
The remaining square was then tapered - again by filing - using the fixture described in an earlier post to grip the tapered sides.
 

 
Tapering these smaller spars uses more filing and less of the planing and scraping that was used on the larger pieces.  Breadth of the spar was checked at each quarter frequently throughout all this shaping to conform to the specified dimensions.
 
The next steps create a regular octagonal shape over most of the spar.  Each surface is first marked with the lines of the apices of the octagonal shape.  The next picture shows two tools used for this marking.
 

 
The tool on the left – and its use - was described earlier.  It consists of a scriber point located 7/24 of the distance between the insides of two guide pins.  The tool marks a line at this proportional distance on tapered spars by holding the guides against the sides while marking.  The newer tool to the right has the same configuration, but substitutes a sharp drafting lead for the scriber.  This has the advantage of being easier to use, especially on small spars, but the disadvantage of having to frequently replace the lead.  It is also important that the point on the lead be sharpened on center.  The next picture shows this tool being used to mark lines on a small spar.
 

 
These lines serve for initial roughing out of the octagonal shape.  Final dimensions along the spar are refined by trial and error measurement with digital calipers.
 
The next picture shows the fillets being filed out at the square-to-round transition at the base of the mast.
 

 
This is done as the first step in creating the octagonal shape.  The next picture shows the octagon being filed on to the spar.
 

 
As described in an earlier post, the v-groove fixture is used to hold the piece for this work.  After completing and final dimension checking, the spar is rounded as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The last picture shows the finished topmast spar.
 

 
Note that the hounds area is left octagonal and that the fid opening at the base has been squared and sized.  The lower mast cap shown in the picture has the hole for this mast sized to fit the actual final diameter of the mast.  More on that later.
 
 
Ed

Good morning.

Almost completed:

 

Thank you very much for your comments and likes.

Hi

Update :
first sail rigged to the main yard, look and size is OK ( still without the running rigging, as I just ran out of suitable blocks...)
 
Nils
 

 
 

 
 

Hi 

Hello, I put the model on a temporary basis to take it to a show with friends.

Build Log. Restoration of Full Rigged Sailing Ship Model
Posting #8  1 May 2018
 
Completing the fore and aft sails entailed making some “hanks” to attach the sail to the spanker gaff.  These were contrived with copper wire bent as shown and capable of opening to fit onto the gaff without having to remove fixed fittings.
 


 
A piece I meant to include in the last blog is this photo showing the holding of the sails in tension while stitching on the bolt-ropes. Then shows the set of square sails all with bolt ropes, aft’ side upwards! The bolt ropes are actually on the forward side.


For a change of task the anchor rigging was made up – the lower purchase block fitted with a hook for attachment to the anchor shackle.  Than two anchors were supplied from Cornwall Model Boats UK, www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/ and are as near to scale as available.  The cat heads are the original ones.

 
Bending on the square sails was fairly easy with the sheets, clew and bunt lines with “shackles” for attaching already in place. Shown here is the main royal sail bent on.

 
Then came my 80th birthday celebrations, when all our extended family were present.  It seemed an excellent opportunity to included a “Basin Trial” of the ship, albeit with only fore and aft sails plus the main square sails bent on.


 
Very little else has been done since September, except to complete the bending on of the full suit of sails and making a start on the awkward task of properly belaying all the approximately 200 lines to their respective pins.  By Christmas I had replaced the broken starboard poop fiferail and made a new one for the port side as well.  For convenience both are a fraction longer than originally.  So here she is as she will look, more or less, at full completion. 

 

And here I have finally created the sculpture of the Queen Catherine. I used her portraits and other sources of suitable information to achieve this appearance.
https://www.google.cz/search?biw=1366&bih=662&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=WbrlWunRM4ymsgH53b2gCQ&q=queen+catherine+of+braganza&oq=queen+catherine+of+braganza+&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0i30k1.7973.7973.0.9707.1.1.0.0.0.0.113.113.0j1.1.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.1.113....0.0GmofsBz4WU
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Braganza
 
The clothing is in an ancient style similar to the Vale's painting.
https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=177&t=110763&start=420#p2108444
https://www.modelforum.cz/download/file.php?id=1399865
 


 
 
In the last two photos there is a statue after some minor improvements.
 

 

Hello,
 
blowing the dust here and show some progres on my decks
Treenailing...





Regards
 
Alex

Many thanks for warm words!
 
 
Oh yes Greg, treenailing! I'm not sure how to process with. The Quarter deck and Forecastle have less dimensioned beams and the distance between is less that on the Gundeck. If I use the usualy treenail schema with two nails on each beam then, I suppose, it will be too much. I will play with photoshop to see how this will looks:

 
Alex

Hello Albert,
Thank you for your interest.
 
And here follows the continuation of the report:
Here you can see how the bolts for the double blocks are made step by step. At the top of the fork-like shape comes a hole with 0.3 mm for the joint axis.

For the attachment of the double blocks on the channels, I have the following
solution found. I think that this could be historically correct.
This design is similar to that of attaching eyebolts for breeching ropes on french sailing warships.
The method of producing this detail I have seen in a Russian model building forum.

Hi, and tank you, aviaamator
 
anothers pictures:
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 283 – More on Ratlines
 
There have been some questions on splicing and lashing ratlines at this scale, so the process I use is outlined below in more detail than I usually put in these posts.
 
There are perhaps about 500 individual ratlines on the model.  For the past ten days or so, I have been working diligently to get caught up with these.  It is fairly easy, dull work but it can be a nightmare in the presence of other rigging - as I have learned while installing some on the fore mast after much of the surrounding rigging was in place.  Not a good idea.  At this stage I have settled on a process for this work that is described below.
 
The ratlines are 1½" rope, about .007" diameter at 1:72 scale.  I used No. 80 crocheting cotton for these, dyed with dilute India ink and de-fuzzed by passing twice through the flame of an alcohol burner.  The ends of each ratline have eye splices that are lashed to the outer shrouds, with clove hitches on the intermediate shrouds.  I used No. 100 mercerized cotton polyester thread for the lashings. 
 
One of the eye splices is put on each ratline at the workbench in batches of about 15 lines.  The first step is shown below.
 

 
A needle is passed through the ratline, then threaded and pulled through to form a loop.  This is then placed over a pin on the splicing fixture, pulled taut and touched with slightly dilute, darkened wood glue as shown in the next picture.
 

 
Both ends are held taut by pressing on two-faced carpet tape on the fixture.  When the glue has completely dried, the short end is cut off as shown below.
 

 
Small, sharp scissors seem to be best for this, cutting off the loose end and part of the hardened glue to simulate the shape of a splice.   Finished splices are shown in the next picture from an earlier post.
 

 
The spliced end is lashed to the outer shroud as shown in the next pictures.
 

 
The lashing is passed through the eye and around the shroud twice, then secured with an overhand knot.  When pulled tight the height may be adjusted by eye to set the correct uniform spacing.  Clove hitches are then used on the intermediate shrouds.
 
The next picture shows ratlines on the port lower mizzen shrouds.  The left lashing has been secured and the center clove hitch tied.  The remaining pictures show the method for forming and lashing the second eye splice.
 

 
In this picture the first of two passes of lashing thread is being looped over the ratline and around the right hand shroud.  An overhand knot is then tied, positioned and the ratline pulled through as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The ratline is then threaded on a needle that is passed through the ratline just inside the shroud as shown next.
 

 
The last picture shows the formed eye and the lashing being pulled tight.
 

 
The knots are wetted with dilute glue to keep them from loosening. The ends are clipped off short to avoid entanglements with following work.  When the glue has dried these ends are clipped off as close to the knot as possible.
 
Ed