druxey

This installment covers the completion of the mast installation and standing rigging.This work began with the installation of the topmasts and their pendants, shrouds, ratlines,stays and backstays .It continued with  the jibboom with it's horses, thimbles and traveler and also the bowsprit horses and netting. It finished with the topgallant masts and their shrouds, stays and backstays. As with the lower masts, the work proceeded from the mizzen forward.  The last photo shows the model with the masting and standing rigging complete.
 
Bob

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 133 – Upper Deck continued
Posted 5/7/12
 
 
First, thanks to all for your continued generous comments.
 
It has been a lot of small “baby steps” lately. The sequence is complicated by various access problems. The decking in the captain’s cabins cannot be done until the half beams are installed and they must await the rigging of the tiller. That cannot be done until the wheel is mounted, and that in turn awaits the installation of quite a few deck beams. I had to install the decking under all of the beams to that point because once the beams are installed the decks cannot be treenailed – but the area in the captain’s cabins cannot be decked yet. The solution was to end the port side upper deck planking at the forward partition of the captain’s cabin then install the rest later. This unauthentic break in the planks will be covered by the cants that anchor the bottom of the partition and thus not visible. The first picture shows the planking being installed and the break at the ledge just aft of the tiller rope sheaves.
 
 

 
The ropes run down from the wheel to these sheaves and thus pass right in front of the partition. In the next picture this planking has been treenailed.
 
 

 
There are still some damp spots from washing the treenail glue off and the nail heads have not been leveled off. This is the full extent of the planking to be installed in this area forward of the future partition, except for one or two center planks just forward of the rope sheaves. In the next picture the decking has been filed and sanded flush and smooth.
 
 

 
The deck ring bolts for the three gun ports in this picture have also been installed. I have to be sure and remember the shot racks before installing overhead beams. The next picture shows two more beams added.
 
 
 

 
More iron knees of various shapes to avoid the ports and the riders. There is one not visible behind the top rider to the left. The last beam is still loose and the knees for the two ahead of it still have to be bolted – interesting drilling problem. The last picture shows the current state.
 
 

 
There will be two iron pillars under the aftermost quarterdeck beam beam in this picture. These will also support bearings for the aft end of the third set of pump cranks. A ladderway interferes with the starboard set of these cranks and would also interfere with the capstan bars, so it must have been removable to allow clearance for these when needed.
 
Cheers all,
 
Ed

The kit would have had me simply tie the lines to the ends of the boom/gaffs.  I dug out some 'leftover' ringbolts and modified the ends of the boom/gaffs to better reflect the 'real thing.'


 
The Gaffs with Vangs attached.


 
Attaching blocks to the Stays for the Fore and Aft Running Rigging.




 
And at this point I have 'caught up' to myself.  Soon after these photos were taken I suffered a slipped disc with accompanying sciatica and I am still recovering from that.  Thus I have not been able to continue rigging as I cannot sit for extended periods and to accomplish rigging requires just that.  This might have been more frustrating but the Great Crash gave me a focus to divert my creative need to rebuilding the Build Log.  Now that the Log has been restored I can focus on not going crazy waiting to continue the rigging.  

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 132 – Pump Cranks
Posted 5/1/12
 
A lot of things have been getting between me and the shipyard in the past two weeks, but some progress has been made. In the picture below two self-standing stanchions have been fabricated from sheet copper and installed at the forward end of the main hatch.
 
 

 
Long straight rods the same diameter as the final crankshafts were used to maintain a straight line through all the bearings. In the next picture the stanchions have been blackened and the fabricated crank parts are being test fit.
 

 
The collars at the ends of the crank were made by drilling a hole into the side of a piece of tubing, which had been filed square on the outside. The ends of the cranks were then silver soldered into these holes. The tubing segment was then re-bored to fit the shaft material. Below, both cranks over the hatch have been blackened and installed.
 

 
This picture shows a few additional beams installed aft of the pump area. The next picture shows two of the iron knees on these beams before bolting and blackening.
 

 
These beams needed to be installed concurrently with the iron stanchions that support them and also support bearings for the after end of the pump cranks. Two of these stanchions are shown in the next picture.
 
 

 
There will be two more of these under the beam that will support the forward end of the quarterdeck capstan step. These were removable to clear the capstan bars when in use on the upper deck capstan head. The next picture shows the extant of the quarterdeck beams installed so far.
 

 
Finally, I realized that almost all the pictures for some time have been interior close ups, so I included two pictures showing the full model at this stage.
 
 

 
This was a rare moment when the workspace was clear of the usual litter. This shows the partially planked starboard side. The last picture shows the port side, which will be left unplanked.
 

 
If the lighting and coloring in these pictures seem a bit inconsistent, it is because I am switching over to a new camera and undergoing some startup learning.
 
Cheers,
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 131 – Capstan 2
Posted 4/17/12
 
Continuing the work on the capstan, I decided to make the three heads next – the drumhead at the top, the trundle head on the upper deck and the pall head at the base, just above the lower step. In the first picture a block of European Boxwood has been set up in the independent 4-jaw chuck.
 
 

 
The piece is rough centered for this by adjusting each of the four jaws until the four corners of the square work piece just touch the bit when rotated. A dead center is being used in the tailstock to make a center mark on the piece. This will be used for measurements and any boring. The wood block is a roughly ¾” cube and is set up with the grain direction perpendicular to the lathe centerline.
 
In the next picture the square has been turned to a round and the face has been squared off. It was then flipped end for end and re-chucked – this time in the 3-jaw centering chuck.
 
 

 
This chuck switch is made so the piece can be removed and still be on center when re-chucked – and also because my indexing head can take the 3-jaw chuck. The square end was then turned to a round, center-marked and the end faced off square. Sorry if I am belaboring this, but there were some questions last time on centering, so I hope this is useful. This piece will become the drumhead.
 
In the next picture the piece with the 3-jaw chuck has been set up in the milling machine on the 48-tooth indexing head.
 
 

 
The 12 square holes for the arms are being cut to half depth. The process is the same as was used for the steering wheel so I won’t repeat all the steps. After this the end that will become the top was parted off in the lathe. The remaining piece was then returned to the mill and similar cuts made. These scored faces were then glued together with their grain crossed for final turning as shown in the next picture.
 

 
Before joining the two parts - the chucked lower part only - was bored on center. This hole will either be converted to a square mortise or simply mounted on a turned stub on the top of the barrel. In the next picture the drumhead turning is just about finished.
 
 

 
There are iron reinforcing rings let into the top and bottom just inside the perimeter. A circular score has been cut for the top ring. The turning has been polished with steel wool. The head will now be parted off at its final thickness – 11”.
 
The next picture shows the drumhead with its iron (copper) ring set in the top score.
 
 

 
The picture also shows the pall head, which was a lot simpler to make– one disk only. It is reinforced with a ring like the one on the drumhead, but also an iron band around the outside. The top and bottom rings were photo-etched. The band on the outside of the pall ring is just a strip. At this stage the rings on the pall head have been glued on with medium CA and also bolted with 12 small diameter (22 gauge) stretched copper wire nails each.
 
The last picture shows the pall head placed over the upper deck step. It fits just inside the pall ring. It still needs its four palls to be made and fitted.
 
 

In this picture the ironwork on the pall head has been blackened. In preparation for this the copper was polished and the assembly cleaned thoroughly with acetone and a Q-tip to remove any traces of excess CA. The copper was then brushed with liver of sulfur and washed with water. Although there is a hole in this piece I have not decided how these will be attached to the barrel yet. The trundlehead will have to be cut to fit over the 12-sided barrel, but the other two heads could simply be fit over a turned end, since the joints will not show.
 
 
Ed

Thanks for looking in again John, Druxey, Adeline, Ben, Allan and Pat.
 
 
Right on the waterline Ben. The way it's been drawn in TFFM leads me to believe it's rebated, though it isn't mentioned in the text.
 
Hi all,
 
There are three Bands around the upper section of the rudder to strengthen it. These were hammered on hot on the real ship and not bolted, although I don't know how they would have done that with the lower one - the rudder is thinner in section at that point than it is at the top. I silver soldered the two top ones and just epoxied the lower one.
 
All the pintles, bands and spectacle plate have been epoxied in place - they will also be "bolted". The epoxy makes a bit of a mess, especially when you make a slip with the toothpick. It's easily cut off after 15 minutes drying time - a lot better than trying to wipe it off when wet ... that makes an even bigger mess   .
 
The hole for the Tiller has also been cut in - this hole tapers from 9" square to 7" square at the aft end - quite a trick to get right. I made the taper on the tiller as well to ensure it will fit later on.
 





 
  Danny

Hello .
Changing the anchor lines nodes,
according suggestion for improvement by Gerard Delacroix. 
Karl
 

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 130 – Capstan 1
Posted 4/15/12
 
Although it has been a couple of weeks since the last post, work continues. As the work on the quarterdeck has been moving aft, the capstan has been looming as a major project. I spent a good bit of time examining drawings and the scantlings and then doing the 1:60 drawing for Naiad.
 
The first step was to replace my previously installed upper deck step, which did not have a pall ring. The first picture shows the machining of the inset to take the ring.
 
 

 
The inset was machined first, then the step sized around it. This was done concurrently with the machining of the ring itself, shown below, to assure a good fit.
 

 
The machined ring is shown below fitted into the step.
 
 

 
Eight palls were then silver soldered into the ring. The final ring is shown below after blackening, in the step, in position on the upper deck. The bearing cup, removed from the first step has been centered and installed in the new one.
 

 
Concurrently with this work, the barrel of the capstan was begun. In the first picture a piece of European Boxwood is being turned between centers.
 
 

 
With the piece between centers the end to the right of the picture was turned to a diameter of 24”. This is the width between flats of the 12-sided polygon shape. It will be used to set the height of the tool to machine the flats. The middle section was left larger. In the next picture the piece has been flipped and the round end held in the three-jaw chuck with the other end held on center.
 
 

 
The tailstock end was turned to an actual 5/16” diameter to fit into a makeshift centering device shown below. In the picture the round bearing area at the level of the quarterdeck step is being turned to a 22” diameter.
 
The next picture shows the piece, still held in the 3-jaw chuck, having the slots for the iron bearing strips machined with a very small spherical cutter.
 
 

 
For this and the next step, the 3-jaw chuck has been moved to the milling machine set up with an indexing head with 48 teeth without removing the work piece. The opposite end is set up and held on center by the improvised piece to the left. Two increments between passes yielded slots for 24 strips.
 
In the next picture the 12-sided shaped is being cut.
 

 
As mentioned above, the height of the cutter is set at the diameter previously turned, now at the chuck end. There are four increments between each pass in this step, yielding the twelve-sided shape.
 
The next picture shows the barrel with the 24 bearing strips installed.
 

 
These were made from the black monofilament, shaved off flat at the diameter. They may be slightly oversize, but I could manage nothing smaller. I’m hoping to show some of this bearing detail on the finished model. The barrel is still over length at this stage
 
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 129 – Y-Bitts, Forecastle Beams
Posted 4/3/12
 
 
The fore jeer and topsail sheet bitts surround the foremast on the forecastle. On the Naiad draft, the jeer bitts are indicated as Y-bitts, but it is unclear if this specification is meant to apply to both sets. I decided to take this interpretation and make both sets as Y-bitts. The picture below shows the parts after fit-up and before assembly.
 
 

 
The sheave caps on the sides were sliced off of the larger piece to the right. In this piece the sheave opening was milled and the decorative mold at the top filed by hand before slicing off the pieces. In the next picture the bitts have been installed.
 

 
The white paper on the upper deck is my solution to minimize small parts dropping into the lower depths. This can be a real problem because tweezers are no longer a feasible extraction method if the pieces reach the bottom. I have had to unbolt the model once or twice to shake out parts that were too valuable to abandon until the next major clean out.
 
The next picture shows the installation from forward.
 
 

 
This picture shows that in my concentrating on these details I had forgotten to install bolts in the made beams and in the mast step. These were soon added. This is easier to do before installing the beams – obviously.
 
In the next picture the beams over the stove are being installed.
 
 

 
In this picture the carlings supporting the vent grating over the boiler lids are being clamped for gluing. I wonder if the barrels of salt meat were dumped into the boilers through this opening or from under the deck? There is not much space for the latter. There is also a grated opening framed over the range area at the front of the stove and the stack will come up through an opening in the deck that will be covered by a metal plate. This latter grated opening is flanked by two openings for rigging – but I am not sure which lines require these openings.
 
The next picture shows some support detail for the beams at the aft end of the forecastle.
 

 
There must have been a lot of onsite improvisation in configuring all these iron knees to avoid the ports, port ironwork, riders and each other. In this case, another iron knee supporting the breast beam – not yet installed – will fit between these knees and the rider.
 
The next picture is a view of the installed breast beam.
 
 

 
This is an interesting beam. It has a wood lodging knee on the aft side – the appropriate orientation for beams in the fore-body. It has an iron hanging knee that can be seen just aft of the rider. The beam has a rabbet on top to butt the forecastle planking and a decorative molding on its aft face. Because of the rabbet and the molding, this beam and its quarterdeck counterpart were made in one piece.
 
The next picture shows a close up of the end of this beam.
 
 

 
The forecastle and gangway planking will butt against the upper portion of the beam with the forecastle planks resting on the top rabbet and the gangway planks resting on the lodging knee. The rounded molded face at the top of the beam will be cut back to take the ends of the gangway planks. The hanging knee for the beam is hidden behind the rider in this picture.
 
The next picture shows the forecastle framing completed and ready for coamings, head ledges and planking.
 

 
This picture also shows that wax finish has been applied to the upper deck and between-deck structures below the forecastle.
 
Cheers,
 
Ed

Hi again -
 
Progress since my last posting includes the cabin roof handholds formed and electroplated, the several raised and flush hatches, cabin and cockpit windows, and the socket for the spinnaker pole.  I just bit the bullet and glued the upper hull to the lower, which is curing as I write this.  Now I can sand the hull to final shape and smoothness, then paint it with gloss blue.  Look for it next time.
 
Here is the overall upper hull.  The cabin windows were masked and the tapered streak hand painted with the gloss blue lacquer decanted from the spray can. 
 

 
The window frames are built up from 0.010" x 0.030" plastic strip.  The corners are chamfered and they are painted a metallic silver.  On the boat they have a satin finish, which the paint replicates quite well.  The windows themselves are gloss black paint, since they are set flush with the surface of the cabin and plastic sheet could not be inset.
 

 
The cockpit windows are built up in a similar fashion.  The hatch in the seat back is built up from unpainted strip with the 1/16" latch punched out from a chrome plated foil sheet.
 

 

 
At the bow is a trapezoidal hatch set flush into the deck.  The size and shape were taken from the plans, a template made from shim brass, then scribed around.  The hinges, latch, and lock were cut from the chrome foil.
 

 
There are several raised hatches with coamings on the cabin roof and forward deck.   These were built up from three layers of plastic, the top one being clear with black paint on the reverse side.  The chrome edging is brass rod bent and fitted to the hatch, then electroplated and glued in place.  Like the companionway hatch, the non-skid areas are art paper appliques.  The lock is chrome foil.  There will be two grey plastic latches fitted as well.  The first set of these did not make the cut. 
 

 
The last piece of major machining for the upper hull was the socket for the spinnaker pole on the port side.  The pole slides into the hull when not in use, and then slides out at an angle so the forward end lies on the centerline of the boat.  This was carefully drilled with an undersized bitt, then slowly and carefully expanded to final size and angle.  As you can imagine, this was High Anxiety without Mel Brooks' humor to lighten the mood.  One slip and I might be forced to discard the entire upper hull.  Fortunately, it came out well, but will be further refined once the hull pieces are joined.
 

 
Before the upper and lower hull pieces were joined a perimeter trench was routed and chiseled into the lower hull to give any wood movement in the lifts a place to go other than outward to crack the surface of the model.
 

 
Here are the two hull sections joined together.  I use a conservator's neutral pH PVA glue from Lineco.  I find that it cures faster than the usual white glues and seems a bit stronger as well.
 

 
And here are all the pieces mounted on the stand, including the rudder which was machined from 1/8" basswood sheet and secured with a brass rod into a socket in the hull.  The rudder and keel are still removable and will remain so until almost the final moments of construction so they do not get damaged by my clumsy handling. 
 
Till next time - be well.
 
Dan
 


 
 

Anyway.. back to the task at hand... Finished off the heavy work on the bowsprit. I guess there's nothing for it but to get on with the main topmast..
 
Andy

As I assemble and "hang" the frames, I fair the inside framing as I go.  I am saving the fairing of the outside of the hull until after I finish the framing of the hull.  I am also gluing in the filling pieces between the frames as I go.  
 
It is very important to securely bolt the keel down to the building board to minimize the warping of the keel as the drying of the glue may cause the stern and bow sections to bow up from the board.

As I previously indicated, when I joined the original MSW, framing of the hull and planking of the outer upper hull had been completed. The most difficult problems with the framing were caused by the building jig, particularly in the bow. In the end, I basically discarded the jig, using only the bolts through the keel and the through the jig base, and the stem and stern supports. Unfortunately, I have no photos at all of any of this work. My first photo is of the hull at this stage of completion. At this point, I had also made and installed the various breasthooks and mast steps and had also done the deck clamps as a means of strengthening the hull for fairing and planking.   Among the many " I wish I hads" on this build is my failure to treenail the planking.
 
From that point, I proceeded to do the lower well and shot locker and then the upper well.  Another of my "I wish I hads" was not doing more of the lower interior detailng. Next for me was the gun deck framing. The kit simplified the deck framing construction by providing layered beams and carlings that created mortises without the need for cutting. A clever, if unprototypical, method. I also added the waterway and a limited amount of deck planking at the edges and center.
 
I made and added the fixed blocks and sheaves. I  added the bulwark planking. I had decided to paint portions of the ship, including the bulwarks, which were painted red. 
 
The last additional work shown in this installment are hardware and fittings such as eyebolts, ringbolts and cleats that were installed on the bulwarks and decking and the gundeck hatches and gratings, mast partners and lower capstan base.
 
Bob

Some years ago, when the kit first came out, I bought one from Bob Hunt (Lauckstreet). Unfortunately, that was well before I had ever heard of MSW and also well before I was aware of the TFFM books by David Antscherl. The kit appeared to provide an opportunity for someone like me without any power tools to build a fully framed model, without spending the rest of my life trying to cut all the framing by hand. While the kit had some shortcomings and problems (e.g. the provided building jig was more trouble than help), it did, in fact, allow me to build a boxwood fully framed model of a Swan class ship in 1:48 scale.
 
From the beginning, I decided on two major changes from the kit. First, I wanted to do a rigged model, rather than the hull only model provided for in the kit. Second, and in part as a result of the first decision, I chose to plank both sides of the upper hull and bulwarks, rather than only one side as provided in the kit. This led me to my first of a number of happy experiences with Jeff Hayes at Hobbymill, to get the additional wood needed.
 
By the time that I joined the original MSW, I had completed the hull framing and had planked the wales and upper outer hull. Sadly, I have no photos of any of that work. At about that time, I also obtained the first two volumes of TFFM, which then became an invaluable aid to the project. Reference to the books allowed me to make various changes and additions to the kit as I proceeded from that point. In hindsight, I regret that I didn't have the opportunity to see the kinds of spectacular work that has been done by Remco, Danny and Toni on their Swans and that I lacked the imagination or confidence to try to do that kind of interior detailing.
 
After completing the hull work, I took a pause of about a year to await the publication of TFFM Vol. 4, before doing the masting and rigging. I built the MS Syren during that pause.
 
This log will be a repost of those photos that I still have, together with some brief summary text. The pictures attached to this post are a couple of the completed model photos. Subsequent posts will begin with the work after framing and hull planking.
 
Bob

After folding the brass over the steel it was ready for the curve at the end I used a loop of the same hard rod, this had to be heated red hot to bend.
 

 
the loop was hammered down to create thecompound curve in the rounded portion.
 

 
the ends were filed even before folding the thimble closed
 

 
a rope wrapped around the finished thimble with a shackle.
 

 
now to make a few more.
 
Michael

Pintles
 
I made the rudder Pintles from 1.6mm thick brass sheet. First I milled most of the inside, leaving a thin piece at the bottom for strength while the rest of the work was carried out :
 

 
Then I cut each piece from the main sheet, sanded the angle at the fore end on the disc sander and drilled the holes for the Pins and bolts :
 

 
I filed out the thin centre and silver-soldered in the Pins :
 


 
Next job was to mill the rebates for the straps and recess the fore ends. For a Mill Cutter I ground the point of a 1.6mm drill flat - perfect tiny cutter (note - I only left a very short piece protruding from the chuck so it wouldn't snap off). The last two pics are of a dry-fitted pintle :
 



 
Then I lightly blackened them to simulate bronze :
 

 
And finally another dry-fit :
 



 
  Danny

Well, the spiders have started work in earnst now.  The lower shrouds, forestay and running backstays are rigged, but not yet finally tied off, although that can be done anytime now.  Next job, I think, will be to rig the boom as I won't be able to get to the parrel once a little more rigging is done around the mast.  Then it'll be on to the ratlines - only one lower mast to do.
 
Here are some pictures of where we are now.
 
First, a few general views of the model.  I think she's finally starting to look like a real cutter with the backstays rigged!



 
The unusual arrangement of the backstays.  These are very like the backstays that Petersson shows in his book 'Rigging Period Fore and Aft Craft', but are pretty unusual for the period judging by the contemporary models that I've seen.

 
The inboard end of the backstays, showing the details as shown on the plans, which confirm the backstay arrangement as shown in the painting.

 
The very unusual lower end of the forestay.  This is shown in detail on the plan, so I have to assume that it's as rigged.  The plan shows four turns of the laniard secured by four hitches, so my stay has (you guessed it) four turns and four hitches.  I think I'm going too far!!!

 
John
 
 

Hello friends.
Design, construction and mounting of ancher.
Karl
 
 
T e i l  21

Hello friends,
 
mounting of the gun ports.
 
Karl
 
 
 
T e i l  22

I have finally had a little time to work on Atalanta.  Beam 15 assembly has been installed.  The hardest part of this assembly was keeping the line of ledges straight across the ship.  Slight differences are a lot harder to notice if there is a hatch, mast partner or beam arm visually breaking up the run of ledges.
 

 

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 126 – Upper Deck Detailing (5)
Posted 3/10/12
 
 
Before moving to the bow, I needed to install the third beam over the mast partners, above the upper deck. In the first picture the beam is ready to be installed.
 

 
Because of the closeness of the beam ahead of it, this beam has U-shaped iron lodging knees. The hanging knees are also iron. These were bolted on before installation. The next picture shows the beam glued in place.
 
 

 
Quite a few bolts need to be installed to complete the installation of this beam. The next picture shows one of these bolts being driven in.
 
 

 
The hole in the end of the leg, in this case the bottom, was drilled first. Its bolt of copper wire was then pushed in with pliers and driven in as shown. The other holes could then be drilled without fear of the arm moving off the first hole. The steel hammering aid shown in this picture was made from drill rod for cases like this, where there is no room to hammer directly. A variety of devices – punches, bent rods etc. - are used for the different access needs. The holes are (usually) driven into but not through a frame, so the bolt can act like a nail. The horizontal holes between the beams, were, of necessity, drilled at a slight angle. With this done, the work moved to the bow.
 
The next picture shows the catheads being glued to beams 2 and 3, there is no beam 1 – a design change.
 

 
The catheads are identical mirror images. At the bottom they meet on the centerline under beam 3. The ends were then checked for length by measuring out from the side and with a square up from the drawing. The fore and aft angle was also squared up from the base drawing and the height of the ends checked..
 
The next picture shows the finished installation.
 
 

 
Holes have been drilled down through the beams for bolts. This picture also shows the framing around the opening for the bowsprit. Beam 4 has also been positioned against the wood lodging knees. Beam 4 supports the upper end of the bowsprit step, which is shown in the next picture.
 
 

 
This picture was taken when the rabbets for the manger partitions were being cut. A bevel was first pared on the lower forward corners. The bevel is shown on the right side in this picture. A groove was then pared down the center of this using the V-gouge in the picture. The sides were then pared with a chisel to a square rabbet as shown on the upper corner in this picture. A traced circle from the dummy bowsprit is just visible in this picture. It was used to center the square opening for the tenon at the foot of the bowsprit.
 
The next picture shows the step installed.
 

 
This picture also shows the “cast” iron knee on the aft side of beam 4. This avoids the gun port and serves as both a hanging and lodging knee. It has not yet been bolted into the side in this picture.
 
The last picture shows the manger wall on the port side.
 

 
The inside end fits the rabbet in the forward corner of the step. The outside end slides into a vertical cant at the side. The cant and the planking were installed as a unit from above.
 
In this picture the beams at the bow seem to have less round up. I believe this is photographic distortion – but I will re-check.
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 127 – Mr. Brodie’s Stove
Posted 3/25/12
 
It has been two weeks since the last post. I’ve been working back along the forecastle with beams and the upper deck detail below them. The picture below shows beams 5 and 6 with the copper knees - not yet blackened. The foremast partners were installed before these beams and are partly visible.
 

 
Beam 7 and 8 were also installed, but that was as far as I could go until the Brodie Stave was made and installed.
 
The Brodie Iron Stove had become the standard by Naiad’s time. It was introduced in the 1780’s but was not dissimilar from types used up to that time. An iron housing contained two built in cauldrons for boiling water. One can imagine 250 pounds of salt meat being loaded into this daily. Below these pots was a firebox with doors on either side for charging fuel – wood or coal. A smaller door below the firebox grate was used to remove ash. A contained oven, accessible from doors on either side, could be used for baking. The front of the stove, the range, was open in the front and was equipped with arms for hanging pots and one or more rotating spits, turned by chain pulleys driven by a vane inside the stack. There was a drip pan under this spit.
 
The finished model of the stove for Naiad is shown below.
 

 
I have been working on this for the last few weeks. I decided to make it from photo-etched parts, but it proved impractical to photo-etch all the pieces then solder these very small parts together. I won’t go through the gory details of the learning process or the earlier failed attempts. I finally settled on making the basic stove structure from a photo-etched plate that could be folded up, origami style, into the basic stove, then making the detailed parts separately. This version has been in production for about a week
 
The next picture shows this photo-etched plate, which was the starting point.
 

 
Some of the stove detail is engraved on the sides – the firebox and oven doors and the front grille. The necking down of the stack transition is the odd part in the lower center of this picture. The next picture shows the basic shape mostly cut out.
 

 
The fold lines were etched out on the back and also one on the front. In retrospect all the etchings could have been deeper. The next picture shows some of this being cut out with a jeweler’s saw.
 

 
In this picture the front vent flap sides are being cut so it can bend up over the stove opening in the front. This piece was made from .032” brass. It might have been better to use a thickness closer to .020”. My early attempts were with much thinner material – too thin, but this thickness made the silver soldering, especially the fastening of the small details, a lot more difficult.
 
The next picture shows the stove in the process of being folded up.
 

The edges along the joints had to be chamfered back to make a tight fit along the seams. The next picture shows the basic stove after silver soldering.
 
 

 
At this stage the internal partitions, the stack, the boiler top, the range grille and the base plate are attached. This soldering required high heat – a regular sized propane torch – hence the blackening. This was pickled off between soldering steps using Sparex dip. Finally the brass-copper fabrication was blackened with dilute Hobby Black. It took about an hour to turn the final shade – shown in the second and the next/last picture.
 
The last picture shows the finished stove in its final position between the bitt standards on the upper deck.
 
 

 
The base plate will be bolted through the deck. The upper stack will be added later when the forecastle is framed.
 
Getting this built was a major milestone. The next big project is the capstan.
 
Cheers,
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 128 – Upper Deck Gratings, Shot Racks
Posted 3/28/12
 
I wanted to model the gratings on the hatches on the upper deck in the waist. This reduces visibility down through the hatches, but there is a lot of open space on the starboard side to see down into the hull. These needed to be installed before the crankshafts for the pumps.
 
I used the method that I am sure many have used to make these. The first picture shows the key parts ready for assembly.
 

 
The supporting ledges and the slats are 2 ¾” wide. The ledges were made deep enough to allow them to be rounded up to match the head ledges of the hatches. The large piece in the lower part of the picture is the assembly jig. All these pieces except the slats were cut using the set up in the next picture.
 

 
A square of Plexiglas was cut to fit the saw table. The saw was fitted with a 2 ¾” (.045”) slotting blade. A dado was ripped into the Plexiglas to fit a guide strip and the opening for the blade cut into it. The boxwood stock was then ripped by guiding it on the wood strip. There is nothing new about all this.
 
The boxwood was then ripped into 2 ¾” wide strips using a much thinner blade. These were then placed in the fixture as shown below.
 

 
The fit in the fixture is loose enough to slide the ledges back and forth. The slats were then fit into the notches. These were a tight fit, but a thin film of glue was applied to the bottom face to help keep the assembly together when removed. The next picture shows a section of grating before sizing.
 

 
The next picture shows the gratings fit to the three hatches in the waist.
 

 
The bottoms of the ledges were sanded until the center of the grating was flush at the head ledges. They were then glued in and the round up sanded top match the curve of the head ledges. They were then finish sanded and polished up.
 
Shot racks were then made and added on the decked side only.
 

 
The shot holes were made with a cannon ball sized spherical cutter in the milling machine, using the Sherline sensitive drilling attachment so the holes could be stopped at a uniform depth - about 1/3 the diameter of a ball - into the edge of a wide piece of pear stock. The strips were then ripped off, cut to length, rounded and glued in place. They were omitted from sides of ladderway openings.
 
Cheers,
 
Ed

Russ thanks.
 
Mathew thanks for looking in.
 
Bob, Jewelery now that is an interesting idea.
 
Stelios, "when I grow up" :D
 
Garward thanks for your kind words.
 
Popeye, yes actual rigging.
 
Germanus before I forget thank you for your comments regarding the need to balance the size of the shackles, I had realized this.
 
If I missed anyone my apologies
 
While this computer was doing the updating  I did spend most of the day working on the shackles I set up a small travelling steady to cut the pins for theshackles
 

 
after drilling the holes for them .
 

 
Each shacle was placed on the wood bar and clamped in the mill vice to drill the holes.the holes are .073 inch
 

 
the retaining rings were snipped off the ends of these compression springs from the spare springs box. I did make some from the .011 thou piano wire but they were a little too fine .
 
Michael
 
 

Hi Guys. Another update for you and this time as far back as we can go on the orlop, but has more to do with strengthen the transom's more then the Orlop deck. Some call them sleeper beams and Goodwin call's them transom knee's, which you can see on page 108 in his book Sailing Man of War,1650-1850.In the photo's you will also see the last beam of the gun deck along with knee's for the deck transom and the knees for the last deck beams. Most 3rd rates had three of them per side. Hope you enjoy the photo's folks.