druxey

Now,that was fun!
 
You might be interested to know about the 'stone boats' that were used by settlers on the Canadian prairies. These were actually wooden sleds to move stones and rocks away as the pioneers cleared the land. When I first came to Canada and heard that expression, my mental image was exactly that of your stone frigate!

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 20 – Keelson/Forward Deadwood
 
 
American Clipper Note:  In the last part I mentioned Flying Cloud’s record on her 6 passages around Cape Horn from New York to San Francisco before she was retired from that service.  These averaged 116 days - 102 days if the last 185 day trip, during which she was dismasted, is discounted.  In her long career Young America made the passage 20 times from New York, three times from Liverpool and once from Antwerp, with an average of 118 days per trip – her best from New York being 102 days – her worst, 142 days from Antwerp against persistent headwinds.  Her best from Liverpool was 99 days.  This was a stunning 30 year performance.
 
So, back to the model.
 
The remaining frames forward consist of half-frames and cant frames that bolt through the keelson and deadwood.  Since the keelson is bolted atop the square frames, they must be installed first.  So, with all of the forward square frames installed, the forward part of the keelson and the forward deadwood can be constructed.
 
In the last part I showed a picture with two strips representing the two tiers of the keelson.  The forward section of the lower tier – the keelson proper – houses the forward model mounting bolt.  In the first picture a 4-40 nut has been filed down to fit a mortise in the keelson and is being epoxied in place.
 

 
The next picture shows the mounting bolt screwed up through the keel, filler and into the nut in the keelson.  It is protected from screwing in further by of the larger diameter shoulder butting against the bottom of the keel.
 

 
The above picture was taken after installing the first section of the keelson.  Before that could be done it had to be fitted to the apron at its forward end.  At its aft end there is a large scarph joint with the next segment.  Both halves of this joint were made before setting the forward segment.  The joint is shown below.
 

 
In all keel and keelson joints the face of the joint slanted downward in the aft direction.  This is one good reason for installing the keelson from fore to aft.
 
The next picture shows the lower keelson being glued over the filler and the forward square frames.  The picture shows the joint with the second lower segment, but that piece is still loose in the picture.  The wet spots are from washing off excess glue.
 

 
The installed piece was then “bolted” down into the keel with copper wire bolts.  That process is described below.  The bolts have been filed off flush in the next picture.
 

 
The next picture shows the first section of the forward deadwood being fitted.  The pattern is still attached.  The keelson and the deadwood is sided the same as the keel – 16”.
 

 
The last picture shows the insertion of the copper bolts to secure the piece of deadwood.
 

 
This piece has already been glued in, but the process being used for the bolts will also add strength to the model joint.  First holes are drilled at a size that will allow a slip fit for the 22-gauge wire being used.  This wire is pre-stretched to stress harden it.  The holes in this case are about 1” deep, so the bolts are about a scale 6 feet long.  The bolts are dipped in 5-minute epoxy and pushed into the hole.  They are then moved in and out, removed and dipped in epoxy again, reinserted and again moved in and out.  This distributes epoxy throughout the hole.  These bolts will not come out.  When the epoxy hardens the bolts are clipped and filed off flush.
 
As additional members are added, they are bolted in a similar way with bolts as long as my drill bits permit.  Later, additional bolts will be driven like this, through the forward part of the stem into the apron and deadwood.  The keelson bolts are installed in like manner.
 
In the next part, the forward upper tier of the keelson and the remaining forward deadwood will be constructed.
 
Ed

If it's British naval armament history and extreme detail you want, and have deep pockets, the two volumes by Adrian Caruana are the ultimate in this field.

If it's British naval armament history and extreme detail you want, and have deep pockets, the two volumes by Adrian Caruana are the ultimate in this field.

How often do we spend a handsome sum on either a great new or out-of-print second-hand shipbuilding book?  I’m sure many of us have a nice collection of shipbuilding references on our shelves; however, how many of us know about protecting our book’s dust jackets (often called dust wrappers in the UK and elsewhere)?
 
You may be asking, “Why would I want to go to the bother and expense of putting a cover over my book dust jackets?”  It’s a good and fair question to ask!  Good Mylar covers, with archival paper inserts, are wonderful for protecting your book’s dust jackets when they are either on or off your books or when you're taking your books off or putting them back onto your book shelves.
 
In addition to protecting your book dust jackets, the condition of a book’s dust jacket has a direct bearing on a book’s resale value, which is known to most book dealers but not most folks—this is something I learned along the way as a long-time collector (and reader) of literary first editions.  If your dust jackets are covered, you can count on getting better prices from book dealers if you choose to sell your books.  I won’t go into the ins and outs of book or dust jacket grading, but the protection does help add to or maintain a collectible book’s value.
 
Because model shipbuilding is a relatively small, niche market good books often go out-of-print.  If you’re serious into obtaining a good shipbuilding reference library, you’ve probably learned that many of the classic, must have books, are out-of-print. Likewise, some current, excellent in-print references will also likely go out-of-print in time.  In either case, these out-of-print classics are often difficult to find and are expensive.  Therefore, Mylar covers are excellent choices for protecting your investment.
 
Additionally, in most cases, our books will long outlive us.  Thus protecting these classic work’s dust jackets is one way to ensure that these classics are in good condition when they are passed on to future hands.
 
Lastly, in my opinion, a book just simply looks good when it's protected with a Mylar cover!
 
Before I go on further, I want to mention here that it’s also a very good idea to document someplace in your personal papers which books of yours are valuable.  Why?  It’s so that your next-of-kin can know the value of your collection and hopefully not give your references away or sell them for a song because they think these obscure books aren’t worth much (for example, if you have Sim Comfort’s edition of Steel’s Naval Architecture…do you really want it going onto eBay for $1.00?). 
 
Back to Mylar covers:  these are relatively inexpensive.  Although you can buy specific cover sizes to fit your books, it’s much more economical to buy Mylar covering by the roll (Amazon).  I also suggest you get a large size because you can always fold larger sizes down to fit smaller dust jackets.  While they’re not essential, I also recommend purchasing a “bone knife” (Amazon).  These are used for creasing a cover’s folds and make that task much easier.  The knife doesn’t actually have to be made from bone—it just has to be able to slide easily along a cover and create a good, sharp fold or make a new fold if you’ve made an error with sizing the cover over a dust jacket.
 
As you can see in the photos I’ve included, putting Mylar covers over dust jackets is straightforward if you’ve never used them before.  However, there is one caveat.  Jackets often will tend to move away from the bottom of a cover at the cover’s outer right and left ends. 
 
To deal with this, fold over, but don’t yet crease down the fold, at either a cover's right or left side.  Then push the jacket back down to seat it at the bottom of the cover on that side (lift the bottom cover edge up on that side to make sure the jacket is seated) and then make about a 2” (~5cm) crease with a bone knife along the temporary fold you've made on that side of the cover.  Then weight down that side of the cover with a book to hold the dust jacket and partially creased cover in place.  Then seat the dust jacket on the other side.  You can now crease the entire edge of the fold.  If you didn’t quite get it right, just redo it—with a bone knife, re-doing creases is generally easy and the new creases will generally come out well.
 
Note:  When covering dust jackets, it's usually done with the cover facing down and in between the Mylar and the archival paper like you see in the 3rd photo below.
 

 
You can see here how the right and left edges of a dust jacket tend to not seat against the bottom of a cover:
 

 
Here's what a bone knife looks like:
 

 
The dust jacket is now fully seated in the cover:
 

 
The finished cover:
 

 
Cheers,
Jay
 

Hello,
this carronades are smaller than most people think it ...
 
Look for yourself ...
 
 
 
 

Hello,
the straightening rod from the carronade was secured with a chain.
For this I used a ready-made micro chain of copper wire 0.20 mm.
The ring bolts are made ​​from brass wire 0.25 mm.
Here are some pictures that show these chains.

 

 

Hello,
 
many thanks for the nice comments.
 
Today I will show how the target device of the carronade is made.
The pictures illustrate the process.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Andy , John, the sun is shining again this morning.
 
Just a teaser shot I ran out of battery, more to follow later.
 

 
My trip to the town yielded nothing, so a bit of head scratching and I came up with this, and yes it actually works. these parts are just resting on each other I need to finish the fabrication including glass.
 
Michael

Truly inspiring quality work, Karl.

Jeronimo,
 
I saw your log and the photos of the finished boat - fantastic work. I hope mine is somewhere near as good (although I have my doubts… we'll see).
 
Aykutansin,
 
Thanks for the encouragement - do you have a build log of your own?
 
Here are some more photos of progress to date. I've set the keelson in its recess in the mould and started adding the frames. The instructions suggest pinning through the frames. I decided to use push-pins. A big benefit is that they can be removed more easily once the frames are finished (you don't want to miss a pin after adding the planking - removing the shell from the mould would be a bit difficult…). Another advantage is that lifting a pin slightly allows the frame to be adjusted laterally until its position is perfect.
 
 
 
I'm using apple for the frames as well as the keelson. Slicing it up into 2 x 2 mm pieces results in incredibly smooth faces straight from the saw. I give them a rub-down with 400 grit wet and dry used dry then soak them overnight. The first picture above shows all the pieces cut up: there are 30 of them, corresponding to 30 frames, each strip is 300 mm long. The second picture shows a set of timbers for a typical frame - a long piece for the floor and two shorter pieces for the futtocks.
 
The following pictures show steps in adding the frames to the mould with the keelson in place. Interestingly nothing is glued yet. The keelson is intended to remain loose until the hull is removed from the mould, at which time it will be pinned and glued in place. Initially I soaked the wood in hot water, but I found I broke quite a few pieces trying to bend them round the sharp curve between the floor and the sides, so I added some household ammonia to the water. I am now having more success, but this may be because a] I'm getting better at forming the bends or b] I've left the wood to soak for longer or c] I tried microwaving the container with the ammonia solution before taking the wood out. Anyway it seems to be going OK!
 
     
 
In the first three images the floors are being added; in the last three I am starting to add the futtocks. The darker pieces have been added later and are still wet.
 
 
Rob

Hi friends,
construction and installation of the pumps.
Karl
 
 
 
T e i l  3 8

Sherry, thanks for your kind words.
 
John, thanks yes I think I will get a round tuit.
 
I had to rearrange the workshop again today, I was bumping the build table every time I used the mill, and I was walking round it too much to do any other work. so basically I have just swapped the build and work tables positions and kept them lengthwise in the shop.
 

 

 
This arrangement will work better I think.
 
Today I thought for a change of pace I would try a cleat the model one is 1 inch long which equates to an 8 inch cleat in scale. I modeled it roughly on the one in the background.
 

 
Thinking about the complexity of the shape and realizing that the most complicated area to make is the underside I tackled it while it was still part of the 1 inch bar
 

 
First the lower sections were cut off with the jewelers saw,then the bottom sides were filed with a couple of needle files  then the wings were tapered with a flat file and given a wire wheel treatment. which makes it look a bit like a casting.
 

 
Next the top curve was cut with the jewelers saw to remove the cleat from the stock.
 

 
Then a couple of .011" counter bores down .050 and then drilled through with a .067" drill some # 1 round headed wood screws were reworked on the lathe to make them a facsimile of a domed cheese head screw. and the cleat cleaned up with files and emery first 220 then 320 then 600 a final polishing with a bit of steel wool.
 

 
Mounted it on the deck, and cleated the tackle for the bob stay. then coiled the rope without any glue or other means, one of the beauties of working rigging.
 

 

 
Michael
 
 
 
 
 

John, if you do eventually get here, there are some great views in the Rockies not too far from here just three hours away. and we do have a spare room.
 
Joe thanks for the kind words.
 
well the bowsprit shrouds were a bit more fiddly than I thought they would be, Had to make a few more thimbles and shackles
 
I decided on the dark rope for the shrouds and a light rope for the tackle.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I need to make some cleats now so that I can tie ropes and lines off better, just need to sort out where to put them and what type to make, they will probably be brass.
 
Michael

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 18 – Framing Continued
 
 
American Clipper Note:  Flying Cloud was launched from Donald McKay’s yard at East Boston a month before Challenge.  She was of comparable size, and like Challenge, bound for California from New York on her maiden voyage.  Inevitably she was drawn into the great “challenge” surrounding the ship Challenge.  She left New York in early June 1851 under command of Josiah Cressy. Three days later she lost her main and mizzen topgallant masts, but reached the line (equator) in 21 days.  She arrived in San Francisco in 89 days 21 hours, beating the previous record of 97 days, set by Sea Witch the year before – and 18 days under the Challenge’s ill-fated maiden voyage performance.
 
After the last post, there was a question about the dark glue that I use to highlight structural joint lines.  The 8 oz. bottle I mixed up for Naiad was just about empty, so when replacing it I took some pictures to help answer the question.
 
The first picture shows the starting point, plus two bottles of ready made dark Titebond glue.  The new bottle to the right is the currently available dark Titebond II.  I find it a bit light for pear.  The old – quite old actually – bottle in the center is the old Titebond dark glue – just about the right shade but no longer available.  T the left is an 8 oz. bottle of the standard yellow.  (The first thing I do with a new bottle of Titebond is pull off and toss the sliding top, cut off the closing nib and insert a length of plastic rod that is easy to remove and replace and does not clog up.)
 

 
At the front right is a jar of raw umber artist grade pigment that will be used to darken the glue.  This bottle is several lifetimes’ supply.
 
 
In the next picture, about a teaspoon of dry pigment was added to about a tablespoon of water and is being thoroughly mixed with the pestle-like Teflon rod until there is no sign of powder or lumps.
 

 
The entire 8 oz. of glue is then added a bit at a time and mixed in.  The next picture showsthe final appearance.
 

 
In the next picture the empty bottle has been thoroughly washed out with hot water and is being refilled with the darkened glue.
 

 
I expect this will be enough to finish the model.
 
The next picture shows the last of the full forward square frames.  The rail stanchios are about to be installed.
 

 
The frame is now ready for beveling.  In the next picture the forward face of the pair is being trimmed back to the forward profile line on the disk sander.
 
 

 
The aft outer profile was previously trimmed back.  The disk is kept away from that line in this step.  This leaves a hump or ridge between the two profiles.  The next picture shows this being removed by hand with a flat Rasp.
 

 
The last picture shows the resulting bevel.
 

 
The insides are only roughly beveled – mostly using a spindle sander.  They could be hand finished as well, but I intend to do that after the hull is assembled.
 
The final bevel will be refined when the hull is finished sanded.  Beveling these pairs before assembly saves tedious sanding work later, makes frame erection easier and yields a more accurate hull profile.
 
There is still some work to do on these frames before erection.
 
Ed
 
 
 

The sixth beam set is relatively straight forward.  The aft bulkhead for the boatswain's cabin was temporarily removed to make installation easier.  The pillar is supposed to go through the hatch coaming.  I cheated and it is simply glued to the surface of the coaming.  There is a tenon on the superior aspect of the pillar with a mortise on the under surface of the beam.
 

 

 

 

My next project is the Chaloupe Armee en Guerre or Longboat Armed for War. This will be a scratch-built model at a scale of 1:36, from the plans available here: http://www.ancre.fr/vaisso25.htm.
 
I ordered my copy of the monograph and plans direct from ANCRE and they came speedily and at a very reasonable rate of postage. This is the first publication from ANCRE that I have seen, and I must say I'm impressed. The six sheets of plans are drawn beautifully and the accompanying booklet, which describes the boat and the construction process, is very well laid out. There are many illustrations of the construction process, as well as detail photos of a 1:18 version of the same boat. I should note that the original text was in French and has been translated into English by David H Roberts, who has done an excellent job.
 
 
 
Whilst finishing my Agamemnon (http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/1115-hms-agamemnon-by-decoyman-caldercraft/) I have been collecting pieces of wood I thought might be useful when scratch-building. I discovered The Toolpost (http://www.toolpost.co.uk), a treasure trove of woodworking equipment, in Didcot, about 15 minutes drive from where I live. They have a good selection of hardwoods and fruitwoods, mostly in turning blanks, as well as a selection of pieces of boxwood of varying sizes. They were also happy to cut every piece I bought into 1" slices on their bandsaw. This means I can now machine them to exact dimensions on my Byrnes table saw, which is a pleasure to use! I haven't finally decided which woods to use where, but I'm starting with apple for the keelson and ribs and will probably use cherry for the planking. I acquired a box full of odd pieces of wood, including a large amount of ebony, from eBay for a very reasonable sum: I might try turning one of the ebony pieces to make the large bow-mounted cannon.
 

 
The picture above shows (from the top) ebony, apple, box and cherry.
 
Before I could get going on the good stuff I needed to make a mould, over which the basic hull will be constructed. The instructions say to make this from 5 mm ply, which actually measures nearer to 4.5 mm thick. Unfortunately French plywood is not available in England; here we have 3 mm and 6 mm, which isn't much use. In fact the nearest thing I could find was 4 mm MDF, available on the internet in packets of ten 400 x 300 mm sheets at a reasonable price. This is still not thick enough. The mould is made from layers cut to the shape of the waterlines, if the layers are too thin then the whole boat will end up compressed vertically.
 

 
My solution was to interleave the MDF with layers of 0.5 mm cherry veneer, which I happened to have around, so that each layer was 4.5 mm in total. There were some benefits to this method: I could glue photocopies of the plans to each piece of veneer and then cut out each layer accurately using a scalpel. Once that was done I coloured the edges with a black permanent marker. This was so when I sanded the mould to its finished profile I knew that when I reached the black I was nearly there.
 
    
 
The next step was to glue the veneers to the MDF and remove the photocopies. I left them to dry overnight, interleaved with cling film and weighted down, and then cut each MDF layer out with a fret saw, slightly larger than the veneer stuck to the top. Each layer was drilled on the centreline at stations 5F and 5A and then stacked up and glued in order with dowels in the holes to provide alignment. I used dowels instead of the drill bits because I could sand the dowels along with the MDF.
 
    
 
There was a lot of arm-aching sanding to bring the mould to its final form. I used a Surform for quick removal and then coarse sandpaper on a block for accuracy. The end result was pretty accurate but not perfect.
 

 
To check the profiles while sanding I glued copies of the frame profiles to 1.2 mm card, as well as the keel. I used these to check I was getting the shape right, but I also cut them so they would slot together. Once the mould fitted all the card frames and the keel I was just about done!
 
  
 
In the last of the photos above you can see marking out for the recesses to take the keelson and the knee of the stern. To ensure the keelson recess was the right size I made a start on this piece. It's cut from a piece of 2.3 x 6 mm apple on the table saw, which I also used to cut the rebates for the frames. It curves up towards the stern so I soaked it in hot water for a while, then taped it to the mould.
 
   
 
Once the keelson had the correct profile I used it to adjust the recess in the mould. The last thing to finish the mould were two coats of varnish and a polish. The purpose of this is to protect the markings showing the frames and the wales and to try to stop the glue sticking the frames to the mould. We'll see how we get on with this in due course.
 

 
In the meantime the next task is to bend the frames round the mould.
 
More soon!
 
Rob

Beautiful neat work, Johann! Your log is a pleasure to look at.

I’ve assembled the two other rows for the shell room, glued the cannonballs in place
and set all three rows in place. I then added the top beams just like the bottom beams.
 

 
Here you see the plans for the mortar pit beams and planking as well as the beams cut
out as per the plans.
 

 

 
The mortar pit beams have been cut and test fit into place on top of the shell room. The
bottom of each beam is notched to fit over the top beams of the room.
 

 
Here you see the notches cut into the tops of the mortar pit beam and ready to accept
the mortar pit boundary timber.
 

 

 
Thanks for stopping by!  

With all due respect, I doubt that the rudder was painted white. In the William Smyth painting that you cite, I think it more likely the effect of light makes the rudder appear to be white.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 17 – Framing Continued
 
 
American Clipper Note:  Webb’s 1851 clipper, Challenge, was one of the most extreme of designs, with a dead rise of 20 degrees at midship, plus the usual narrow entry and run.  Her owners wanted no expense spared to make her the fastest and finest of merchant ships.  The legendary Robert Waterman was to be her captain and came on early to supervise construction.  Typical of most sea captains given the opportunity, he fitted her with too large a rig of spars and sails that, if anything, detracted from her performance until later replaced.  Expectations ran high for her first run to California, with $10,000 offered to Waterman to do it under 90 days.  It was a disappointing passage.  Waterman, a hard case in a profession of hard cases, had crew problems almost immediately.  Off Rio, the mate was stabbed and mutinous members of the crew flogged.  Later three men were blown off the mizzen topsail yard and a further four died of dysentery.  Upon reaching San Francisco in 108 days, the crew and press provoked sensational riots against Waterman.  He was later cleared of wrongdoing but Challenge went to a new commander.  Her troubles continued.
 
 
Framing is moving ahead at a faster clip than I anticipated.  I have moved up the learning curve and learned the little secrets that make the new pin-indexed assembly process work.  You will recall that the bolt/pin holes are indexed to identical positions on both frames in the CAD lofting process.  After cutting and trimming the parts, only about 30 minutes are required to complete the assembly of a frame pair.  This does not include beveling, milling the sidings or bolting – and I am not pushing the pace.
 
The next few pictures illustrate some frame assembly steps.  The first shows how the pins are used to place the frame timbers – pattern side down - on the assembly pattern.  Pin holes were drilled using the pattern marks on the underside of these pieces.
 

 
Accurate timber end trimming and vertical drill centering are key.  Although the outer frame profiles are sanded back to the pattern line, only the pins are used for alignment. 
 
The next picture shows a lower futtock being glued into place – again relying entirely on the pinhole locations.
 
 

 
After slipping the pins through the timber they are pushed into the holes in the lower pieces before gluing.  Dark glue is then applied as shown and the upper part pushed down and “nailed” into place with the pins and wood block buffers.
 
The next picture shows the amount of offset in the fore and aft timbers of the beveled pairs.  This offset increases going forward.
 

 
 I am not cleaning off excess glue because I do not want to damage the patterns with water.  There are patterns on both sides of the frame pair and they are needed for beveling.  The inboard side will be beveled back to the red line on top of the pair.  The glue will come off when beveling.
 
I described the beveling, siding and bolting process earlier.  The next few pictures show progress in erecting the frames.
 

 
In this picture the first 14 pairs have been installed.  This picture shows a characteristic feature of clipper hull shape.  The deadrise of the timbers is increasing going forward, narrowing the lower part of the hull.  The top timbers, however remain at almost full breadth to provide adequate floor space on the forecastle for crew activity.
 
 

 
Eventually the forward shape will flare out at the top over the very sharp entry below.  This is a very different hull shape from Naiad.
 
All these pictures show temporary pine spacing chocks being glued between the frames above the lower futtocks.  This provides strength and helps maintain alignment.  Later when all frames are in place, these will be replaced with temporary ribbands – probably at the height of the planksheer.  These will bring the toptimbers and rail stanchions into a final fair line and hold them in place until permanent rails are installed.
 
 

 
The last picture shows the 15th frame (O) being positioned for drilling of the pin/bolt hole into the keel.
 

 
Time to start cutting out more frame timbers.
 
 
Ed

HOISTING TERROR’S COLOURS
 
HMS Terror’s paint scheme is considered to be well known. Richard Cyriax, who produced the most authoritative work on Franklin’s last expedition, states: “Both ships were flush-decked, and had black hulls, white masts, and yellow weather works...” (Cyriax 1997:39).  This passage has long been interpreted by subsequent researchers to mean that the ships had a yellow stripe along their outside hull (e.g. Parks Canada, Canadian Geographic, and published work too numerous to list here).  Cyriax based this description not on a primary source, but on a popular work by his friend, Rupert T. Gould (1928:112); unfortunately Gould appears to have misinterpreted the primary source material.
 
Gould’s information came from a remarkable parliamentary record, which documents an Admiralty investigation into two ships spotted trapped in an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland in 1851 (Inglis 1852). The investigation focused on comparing the eyewitness testimony about the iceberg ships to the firsthand knowledge of the shipwrights who worked on Erebus and Terror. While the Admiralty determined that the iceberg ships could not be Franklin’s vessels (the size difference between the ships was too large and they were not barque-rigged ), the report contains critical primary information on the paint scheme of the Erebus and Terror from Oliver Lang, the master shipwright responsible for the 1845 refit of the vessels.  
 
The correspondence between Lang and the Admiralty is worth quoting here in its entirety (Inglis 1852:18):
 
 
Admiralty, 17 April 1852.
Sir,
I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to desire
you to call upon the officers of the yard under your superintendence to
report how Sir John Franklin's ships, the " Erebus" and " Terror," were
painted when they sailed.
 
 
I am &c.
(signed) J. H. Hay,
pro Secretary.
 
Commodore Superintendent Eden,
Woolwich.
  
 
Woolwich Yard, 17 April 1852.
 
Sir,
With reference to their Lordships' letter of this day's date, we beg to
acquaint you, that Sir John Franklin's ships, the " Erebus " and " Terror,"
were painted when they sailed, black on the outside, and weather works
inside yellow.
 
 
                                    We are, &c.
(signed)                         O. Lang,
Master Shipwright
 
 
 
Further information about the colour of the masts was also requested from Lang and appears below (Inglis 1852:35).
 
 
Admiralty, 2 June 1852.
 
Commodore Superintendent at Woolwich,
Referring to your communication of the 17th April last, upon the subject
of painting the " Erebus" and "'Terror," my Lords desire that you will state
for their information how their lower masts were painted.
 
By command of their Lordships.
(signed) W. A. B. Hamilton.
                                                                                   
Woolwich Yard, 2 June 1852.
 
Sir,
Agreeably to your minute on Captain Hamilton's letter of yesterday,
we have to acquaint you that the lower masts of the "Erebus" and "Terror"
were painted white when they left this port.
 
We are, &c.
(signed)                       O. Lang,
Master Shipwright..
 
 
 
H. Chatfteld, Assistant ditto.'
(Mr. Peake sick.)
The Commodore Superintendent.
Submitted for the information of their Lordships.
Henry Eden, Commodore Superintendent.
The Secretary of the Admiralty
 
Lang’s choice of words in the first correspondence appears to be the source of the enduring discrepancy regarding the ships’ paint schemes. It seems Gould, followed by Cyriax, and then myriad others, interpreted the phrase “weather works inside yellow” to mean a band of yellow on the outside hull of the vessel. Indeed, the “weather works”, or upper works of a ship, are those areas of the vessel above the waterline exposed to the weather, including the upper hull and bulwarks both inside towards the deck and outside on the hull. However, Lang specifically states that the “weather works inside “ were yellow, meaning that the inside bulwarks were painted yellow. He makes no mention of a stripe on the outside hull, although a solid paint scheme without a stripe would have been unusual for a Royal Navy vessel of the era.
 
Thankfully, a watercolour painting by Owen Stanley, who accompanied the ships across the North Atlantic to Greenland in 1845, provides important primary evidence which dispels much ambiguity (see below). The painting shows conclusively that the Terror and Erebus had black hulls with a white stripe along the outside weather works. The painting indicates that the white stripe was contiguous with the chock channel and that it ascended the outside stern frame of the Erebus at an angle. Another watercolour, which may also be the work of Stanley (it is clearly based on his 1845 drawing), confirms these characteristics, and also shows the yellow painting on the inside bulwarks (note also the very rusted condition of the iron bow plating). This image also suggests that the white stripe extended forward around the knee of the ship.
 
 
The presence of a single stripe along the hull, which extended around the knee of the ship and up the exterior stern frames, appears to be confirmed in other contemporary sketches by Stanley, Gore (also here), and Fitzjames, as well as by the Illustrated London News (which also confirms the white stripe on the outside stern frame, see below). 
 


 
 
A white stripe painted on the exterior weather works is entirely consistent with Royal Navy standards of the mid-19th century. Yellow and black striping, or the “Nelson Checker”, was common in the Royal Navy vessels up to about 1815. However, after ca. 1815, Royal Navy vessels began to adopt the black on white pattern first established by the American Navy around the turn of the 19th century. In fact, black hulls with white stripes remained the standard paint scheme of Royal Navy vessels well into the steam era (see Konstam 2010 for good summary).  It therefore seems obvious, given all of the available data, that Erebus and Terror were painted with the standard white on black scheme of the era, which may explain why Lang didn’t deem it necessary to mention this standard attribute to the Admiralty.
 
Most Royal Navy ships placed the white stripe over the gun ports above the waterline; when opened, the ports/lids created the “checker board” pattern. However, all contemporary images of the Franklin ships show that the white band corresponded with the solid chock channels grafted on to the ships. It is important to note that this paint scheme is different than that utilized during the 1839 Ross voyage, where the ships appear to have had two bands of white on the outside weather works. This watercolor of HMS Terror by Davis shows that one of the white stripes was contiguous with the chock channels, as in the 1845 expedition, while the other white stripe was a little lower, perhaps contiguous with the band of copper sheathing that extended below the chock channels for most of the ships' length at this time.
 
The colour of the top, horizontal, surface of the channel is less certain, as the Stanley watercolours provide little detail in these areas. One of Stanley’s sketches (see here) seems to indicate that the tops of the channels were black, while another suggests they were potentially white (see here). However, the famous image from the Illustrated London News clearly shows that that the top of the channels were painted white (see image above). An image of the Terror beached on the Irish Coast in 1837 by Owen Stanley (see here) also shows that the tops of the channels may have been painted white (or at least a lighter colour), though how consistently the ships were painted on subsequent voyages is unknown. Since the paint scheme is ambiguous, I intend to try both versions on the model and choose whichever seems to fit better with the overall colour scheme of the ship.
 
 
Similarly, contradictory information exists about the paint scheme on the rudder and transom of the ships. The 1845 watercolour by Owen Stanley seems to show that the transom and rudder were painted black, although the lighting effects on the painting suggest that those areas of the ships may simply be in shadow. Other contemporary sketches by Stanley and  Graham Gore (also here) suggest that a lighter colour was painted on the stern window frames and on the entire transom of the ship, while the rudder remained black (perhaps with white trim?).  The Illustrated London News image is slightly different (see above), showing a thinner arch of white surrounding the windows of the ship and a darkly painted rudder.
 
Colour paintings of the Erebus and Terror produced for the Antarctic expedition by Davis (see also here) show that the entire transom was painted white and the rudder was black, again perhaps with white trim (although lighting might play a factor here as well). Interestingly, the Davis paintings also show detail of an arch-shaped feature surrounding the windows.  Similarly, a sketch of the Terror from 1837, by Owen Stanley, indicates that the transom was painted completely white (Back 1838:400, see below).  A water colour of the Terror on the same voyage by William Smyth also shows an all white transom, this time with a white rudder.
 
 

HMS Erebus and Terror under sail . Note lighter colour of transom (Ross 1847a).
 
On balance, the available sketches and paintings suggest that the transom was painted completely white, and that the window frames were as well. The rudder is more ambiguous, but again, the weight of evidence seems to indicate that it was painted black, perhaps with white trim (the Terror did have several separate trim pieces grafted to the aft margin of the rudder).    
I assume the black hull paint extended to the keel, as we know that HMS Terror and Erebus were not coppered below the waterline, as noted in The Times on 26th April, 1845:
 
 
“The decks of the Erebus and Terror are constructed on the diagonal principle,
and about twenty feet on each side of the bows has been cased with strong sheet
iron. There is not any copper sheathing on either of the vessels, as no danger is
to be apprehended from the attacks of shellfish or barnacles, the ice soon clearing
them from encumbrances of that description.”
 
                                                     (The Times, London, 26 April 1845)
 
This is in contrast with the Illustrated London News image of the ships which appears to show a copper plated hull, which must be an error.
 
One of the things I enjoy about ship modeling is that it is woodworking – often with very fine hardwoods. Like many ship modelers, I don’t want to cover beautiful wood with paint; instead, I intend to present the Terror’s historic paint scheme using minimally treated natural or dyed/stained wood finishes. My plan is to use dyed or stained Swiss pear for the keel, stem and stern timbers, and hull planking; holly for the transom, chock, and deck planking; and yellowheart for the inside bulwarks. I’ve order the material from Hobby Mill, all planed to exact scale thicknesses, which I will discuss in future posts.  My wood arrives in early December; until then, I will keep cutting stations!
 
 
References Cited:
 
Gould, Rupert T.
1928    Oddities. Frederick A. Stokes Company, London .
 
Inglis, R.H.
1852 Vessels in the North Atlantic. House of Common Parliamentary Papers, London.
 
Konstam, A.
2010 Naval Miscellany. Osprey Publishing, Oxford.
 
 
As always, for better images please see my blog!

John, Jay, Carlos, and Bob  thanks for you continued support it means a lot.
 
Popeye the snow is likely going to stick around the temp is dropping to -16c tonight.
 
Today I worked on the grating and chose some dark coloured Cedar for the frame.
 

 
Using the same mill to also create the correct spacing for the short slats.
 

 
reassembled with the correct spacing in both directions now.
 

 
The top surface sanded down with some 220 then 600
 

 
oiled with some teak oil.
 
Michael

Buck: what a beautiful set up, a nicely crafted tool you have there and I like the design. I will have to make myself one of those, thanks for sharing.
 
I also have this little tool that I use sometimes
 

 
It also uses a 1/4 x 20 thread and as the handle turns it indexes over the fence by a .25 mm
I used this to make micro adjustments to the width of sheets of styrene and acrylic when I was doing Architectural Models.
 
It just sits on top of the table and there is a stop to prevent it from moving forward I rough set the main fence then use some carpet tape to hold down a piece if 1/8th white faced MDF bring the blade up for zero tolerance then make the micro adjustments to get the right width.
 
These pics are using my cheap $100 table saw that I use out and about the house for doing rough building work, this was while I was building the house and my Unisaw was in pieces in storage (it was in pieces because it was too heavy to lift up the stairs out of the basement of my old house).
 

 

 
 
 
Michael

For cutting wood here are a few shots of how I cut it



This is one of the plywood blades that I use on my 10 inch tablesaw.





The blade has no set to the teeth.





A test cut to set the thickness.





This slice is .027"





Use a push stick to feed the wood through the saw.





This is the thinnest cut I was able to make with this wood and blade combination.





You can see that this wood has been darkened by the blade because it is dull and needs to be sharpened.





Using a scraper to clean up the wood in this case the wood is Maple.









The scaper is pulled towards me in single smooth strokes.





When the scraper is sharp the wood shaves off in fine curls.





Here
you can see the transition from the burned surface to the scraped one
and the small clamp holding the wood to a smooth surface. Make sure that
the support surface stays clear of dust and shavings this is because
the wood this thin has a tendency to curl up allowing dust to stick to
the underside of the slice being scraped and the support because of
static. This would create problems getting an even thickness.





The amount of wood removed with the scraper is about .002"





The finished slice that is .75" wide and .012" thick.





The slice easily bends cold and dry around a 1/2 inch radius former.

   
Michael