druxey

You are looking great. A suggestion, use several coats of sanding sealer before painting. The acrylic pain tends to raise the grain on the wood. Also the idea is not new to me but you can modify the binder clips you use as clamps by using the handles to make a base using either the loop end or the other end as the picture I added shows. They are really handy!

So this part isn't easy to document, a lot of sanding and shaping.

Question- Did I lose the false stem? I never saw one so I used a piece of scrap and shaped it...
 
Bands on.
 

 
I notched the frames for the gunwales, but I guess I should have gone farther down. I only cut back 1/16" since that's the size of the wood. Well with the angle of the sides after I sanded them mostly level there isn't a lot of thickness left on the inboard edges of the gunwales. Did I do something wrong?
I sanded the faces a little to give them the look of some thickness.
 

 
Breast hook shaped and glued in.
 

 
I think I'm going to call this pretty much ready to paint. I may do a little more shaping of the bow after I look at some photos this evening.
Need to pick up some sort of primer in the morning so paint will have to wait anyway.
 
 
Overall I think I'm happy with the planking/beveling and shaping of the bow.
 

 
A couple of questions for those reading all this. If I make a rope bucket what size of rope do you think will look best?
(I did shorten the handle on my water bailer substantially after finding JacquesCousteau's build log. Thanks for that!)
 
Having a great time with this little kit. A few more and better pictures in the instructions would be helpful. Especially regarding the bands, gunwales and bow shape. If it wasn't for all of you that have posted your logs newbies like me would be lost.
 
Thanks!!

Chris

One thing that helped me keep the planks in order was to mark the bow end of the pieces before I remove them from the sheet. There is a hole on the bow end of the garboard plank, so I just made a pencil mark on the bow end of each plank. I'm pretty sure I saw this pointed out in the instructions, but I believe I read a post that this issue was a problem for someone. So I kept an eye out for it.
 
 

Just catching up with your log, Chris. You're making a very nice job of that dory!
 
John

OK time to update the post. Starting off with gluing up the bottom onto the frames.
 
 

 
Shaping the bow...

 
 
Moving on to sanding the bevels. Wow, those are tiny pieces of wood! Patience is the key here that's for sure. I made up a tiny down draft table that I plugged into a shop vac to control the dust. Works great. Pop in the ear plugs, shut the door and off you go. The next step will be to move the shop vac into the garage and just have a hose coming into the craft room...
 


 
Gluing the garboard plank onto the frames.
 

 
Broad strake glue up, now the clamping was getting pretty fiddly. You need to be careful not to damage any wood that you have already sanded to shape. I made up these little clamping jigs out of scrap. They worked really well but were not very robust and barely survived all the way to the sheer strake. My big nut makes a great helping hand! It was a perfect angle to hold against the transom.
 

 
One thing I've learned is you need to be flexible in your planning. First, have more than one plan. For example, gluing the planks onto the forms. One time I would use an awl to apply PVA glue where I needed it, clamp it and wait. Sometimes you're going to need to hold that joint with your fingers, so make sure the other parts are clamped so you can pinch that part again. On one side I had the broad strake soaked and clamped up for shape and it lined up so well that I didn't want to touch it. So after it dried I used watered down glue with a brush and painted the joints from the inside then let those dry. So once I removed the clamps it was right where I wanted it. I guess you just need to do whatever that situation requires. I see some people struggle because they have one method of glue up and it's giving them trouble and they get stuck because they can't clamp this one like they did the other one.
 
While stuff was drying I made a little water scoop from scrap. No idea if the scale is correct I was just following some photos I've seen on the web. Based on my ruler I guess the real size would be about 18" long. Hahahaha
 

 
 
Looking forward to hearing your comments!
 
Chris
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Group,
As I use my Taig Mill exclusively, this is another tool that needs a home.  Works great, however for larger scales - 1/36 and above its a bit small for my needs.  Any offers are appreciated via PM

1 The beginning   
 
This part of a build tends to take the longest time.  I have been mulling over modeling this schooner for at least 5 years.  Where to begin?   My introduction to her was seeing two pictures at our local Boothbay Region Historical Society. One view was of her launch and a second of an accident later in the same home harbor. 
 
 
 
1      launch day  
2    oops inexperienced crew perhaps better said " from away" anchored over a ledge, and we have 10-foot tide.    
 
The story and other images are in our local newspaper as a history article.   It was January 1919, and she was full of fish.  They pumped her out, took her to town, unloaded the fish, and raised her on the railway.   All was well so then back to work. She was more of a hauler of mackerel than a fisherman in those days. 
 
 
Having recently completed my big Bluenose I moved onto other builds.   Then a few years later I learned about her racing history….wow and from Maine too!
3.     great view as she completed the Lipton Cup race in 1923 with Ben Pine at the wheel. this image came from Facebook site for the Fisherman Festival in Gloucester  
I then fell into an article from NRJ vol 46 starting on page 12.    A member, Daniel Turner, did yeoman’s work to uncover the story of her mysterious length.   Unfortunately, there are no surviving records from the Adams Shipyard here in Boothbay.  Paul Adams, a grandson to the last builder is past 95.   Sharp as a tack, he came to my talk a few years back on the history of the Boothbay Shipyards and sat in the front row.  He corrected a spelling in one of my slides but alas when talking after he had nothing to do with the yards.  As a matter of record, they had closed by 1921.
Back to the story of why this build.   I am trying to build things for each of our yards.  The Adams family shipbuilding started about 1810 and ended 110 years later.   Pinky schooners first and then many schooners, a few brigs, a ship, and other vessels ending with some tugboats and a motor yacht in 1920.  Their last sailing vessel was the 3-masted schooner, Priscilla Alden. launched in 1918.  I started to build a model of that schooner a few years back, but the records here showed a discrepancy in length of the Priscilla Alden, that I documented there and had to make a choice of who to follow. I chose to defer and build another schooner, the Ada Cliff built across town. 
 
Having recently built two steel hulled vessels I felt it time to go back in time a bit and take on another Schooner. I have about 5 of them on my to-build list and the White Ghost looks like a fun place to start.   I highly recommend any schooner lovers out there, especially any Mainers or Bluenose people to chase down the NRJ article The Schooner Elizabeth Howard and enjoyed it. Ten years ago, I built a big Bluenose [ 1:24 scale]. I went to Lunenburg twice over that build and fell in love with the saga of the Fisherman’s Cup Races.
 
In several books they talk about the challenger, but some focus was given to the field of contenders. More so when like the Starling Burgess designed Schooner Mayflower owners tried to enter. What they had built was truly a racing machine that only looked like a fisherman. She was kept out of the races due primarily to the small volume below decks set up to race and not to collect fish. It is interesting to note that one of the schooner Elizabeth Howard’s options was to be sold to the schooner Mayflower owners to use as a match boat if Mayflower ever would be qualified for the Fisherman Cup.
There is a bit of fate to this story too.   The Schooner Elizabeth Howard was bult in 1916 and was quickly followed by her 126-foot sister the Louise Howard in 1917.   To satisfy her owner, Thomas McManus took is 1908 design for the schooner Oriole and extended her bow.   As said above…she had to be fast!  In her early years she was known for speedy long runs full of fish that she typically bought in Nova Scotia to race south. She was reported to do 16 knots in a good blow.  When the Fisherman Cup races became popular in 1920, her owner wanted to get involved.
 
The problem she had at first was that she was not associated with the Gloucester in-crowd.  With a New York owner, and having been built in Maine, she was not accepted to enter the races.   After the 1921 loss to Bluenose the Americans were scrambling for the next year rematch.   The top two schooners to contend amongst four were Henry Ford and Puritan.  The Puritan, designed by Starling Burgess, was launched in March 1922.  As part of her prequalification, she was off to the grand banks to fish.   Disaster struck and she was lost in her first summer. Ben Pine [ future Columbia and Gertrude Theobald skipper] was preparing to race her so now he was looking for help. After Elizabeth made a reported amazing fast sailing return trip to Boston from the banks and the schooner Puritan was lost, Ben Pine, made arrangement to get Elizabeth qualified. He then took her on and in 1922.   In the best 2 of 3 series, she raced but broke a topmast on the first day and was beaten by the schooner Henry Ford in light air on the second day.  The Schooner Henry Ford competed for the Fisherman’s Cup but lost to Bluenose. 
 
Elizabeth won the Lipton Cup races  in 1923 but after that win, Ben Pine moved on to the new Starling Burgess designed Columbia.   There is a large collection of photo images of these races on the Boston Library website.  Elizabeth’s distinct white hull surely makes an impression, and it is easy to see how she got her name…the White Ghost. The unfortunate end of her story connects her fate to the schooner Puritan. It was later in the fall of 1923 when just like Puritan, she was lost off the coast of Nova Scotia. 
 
What was her length?
 
Let’s look at her lines for a moment.   Daniel’s NRJ article touches on the racing and then proposes a solution to the length mystery saga of the Elizabeth Howard.  She was designed by the renown Thomas F. McManus.  Howard Chapelle includes the lines of Elizabeth Howard shown annotated over the lines of an earlier 1908 schooner Oriole.   The schooner Oriole was 127 feet at the rail.  The only change was to push the bow forward [ in scale] 6.5 feet.    The only reason to do this would be for speed. she started as a knockabout [ no bowsprit]. The confusion comes from a note on the Chapelle document stating the length at the rail being 148.  
 
The short version of Daniels work is a follows.
•    A Fisherman Cup racing vessel must be less than 150 feet.
•    The reported bowsprit added to Elizabeth was 14 feet long.
•    If one scaled the Chapelle drawing showing the extension one gets 133’6”
•    Add the bowsprit and you are under 150 at the recorded 148 feet.
Go with the 133’6”.     I think that is more than good enough and it is what I will try to build.  
 
 All for now
 

You will have as many opinions as there are model-makers! If longevity is not a concern, then.... anything goes. For stability, hollow wood is a better choice. either hollow lifts, or plank on bulkhead. Other than the species already mentioned, another possibility is yellow cedar, if you can get it in your area. It is a nice stable wood easy to work with a pleasant odour when cut.

This is what you need (aft edge of post should be a blue line!):
 
 

Not for sale, LOL...
 
Interestingly enough,  there were about eight or nine models that I placed on the set.   Several of mine and many others from members of my local Ship Model Society of New Jersey club.   Someone was so taken by one of the models  that they bought it.   And for a very handsome sum.  I have no idea who.   It was an anonymous sale through the production studio.  So it was a success for many model ship modelers I know.   Maybe if it goes well and enough ship model content isnt cut from the final movie, it will also encourage a few to give it a try.   You never know!!!

Full Metal Beam Engine Steam Engine (RETROL)
EngineDIY
Catalogue # 33ED3487709
Available from EngineDIY for USD $299.99
 

 
A beam engine is a type of steam engine where a pivoted overhead beam is used to apply the force from a vertical piston to a vertical connecting rod. This configuration, with the engine directly driving a pump, was first used by Thomas Newcomen around 1705 to remove water from mines in Cornwall. The efficiency of the engines was improved by engineers including James Watt, who added a separate condenser; Jonathan Hornblower and Arthur Woolf, who compounded the cylinders; and William McNaught, who devised a method of compounding an existing engine. Beam engines were first used to pump water out of mines or into canals but could be used to pump water to supplement the flow for a waterwheel powering a mill. They also could be used to power steam ships.

 
The first steam-powered ships used variants of the rotative beam engine. These marine steam engines – known as side-lever, grasshopper, crosshead, or 'walking beam', among others – all varied from the original land-based machines by locating the beam or beams in different positions to take up less room on board ship.
 
The kit

This steam engine kit comes in quite an anonymous and thick gauge cardboard box with absolutely no label! The box itself is reasonably heavy too, weighing in at just under 2kg. Lifting that lid off immediately shows the colour printed instruction sheets which are sat on a sheet of foam which protects the two trays of parts underneath.

This kit contains 84 parts, inclusive of screws etc. All parts are sat in foam cutouts which provide excellent protection for the assemblies and parts. I say assemblies, because I see this as more of a semi-kit in that a number of elements are pre-built, and the idea is to assemble these to the individual parts, which are all then mounted on a metal base.


A number of the parts are in plastic sleeves. These are the ones made from stainless steel, and are for building the boiler's mounting chassis,  and also the fuel/igniter tray. 

Work starts on mounting a number of parts to a metal stand-off frame which will eventually mount to the main plinth. This includes the piston mount/condensation block, and the column for the cross beam. Hex keys are provided for the bolts, as well as a spanner with various sized jaws for various nuts etc.



This assembly can now be mounted to the main plinth. This is done via a series of brass stand-offs. I'll also now fit the two fly wheel mounts.

All screws are tightened up except for those holding the brackets. I decided to make sure I align the drive shaft through them before properly tightening up.

This is the cross beam, and one of the number of pre-built assemblies in this model. This is composted of cast and turned brass, plus stainless steel. You can see the piston plunger on the right of the image.

This is now fitted to the column using a small grub screw to secure. I ddi apply a little lubricating oil into the piston chamber first and then made sure the beam would move freely, pulling the piston up and down. A separate sheet of instructions gives tips on how to achieve this. If not done correctly, this is about the only area which will cause enough friction to stop the engine from running freely. I found I needed to do a little adjustment of the base of the beam. That's why you can see an adjustment hole underneath this, in the main plinth. The idea is that once the piston is raised, it will drop into the piston cylinder due to gravity.

This drive arm is now lubricated and slid into the base of the piston block, and the two bearings are interred into the outside of each of the brackets. Notice the larger end isn't yet engaged into anything and is sat on the bracket simply for the photo opportunity!


You could say this is one of the main events...the fly wheel. This beautifully machines piece of aluminium will now be fitted between the two bearings, via that drive shaft. Flats are machined onto this so the grub screws have a proper surface to fasten to. 


The opposite side of the drive arm is now engaged into the drive shaft and a grub screw used to tighten up to the machined flat on the shaft. 

The drive wheel can now also be secured to the drive shaft via a grub screw. A small collar is used to help space the components.


This is the beam link which will connect the beam to the flywheel drive shaft. The brass fastener has a reverse screw thread which secures into the drive arm.


This beautiful little assembly is the centrifugal regulator. The lowest bolt needs to be removed from the unit and reattached from the underside of the plinth, along with the smaller bolt you can see here. Pushing the small brass linkage downwards will force the two balanced wheels outwards. This is what will happen when pressure is pushed through the brass block that you can see midway down the assembly.

A small length of silicone tube is used to link the centrifugal regulator to the condensate box/piston chamber.

Lastly, for this section, a silicone drive belt is applied between the centrifugal regulator and the fly wheel.

The boiler sits atop a stainless housing which doubles as the heat box for the boiler. The first side is fitted, via two brass shafts which also help reinforce the assembly, as well as create mounting points for the boiler securing straps.



The box is now complete, with the scalloped side towards the top, and the square cutout as shown. The latter is to accommodate the fuel tray.

This really is a very nice piece of engineering, mostly from machined brass. I remember the boilers from the Mamod steam engines, and I can vouch that there are flimsier than this, and that had soldered joints. This is a far superior unit. 

The boiler is now fitted and secured. The protruding outlet pipe is connected to the centrifugal regulator via a length of silicone tubing.

The steam engine itself is now complete.




These parts assemble to create the fuel tray. This contains a tray into which the fuel (methylated spirits, IDA etc) will be poured. The 'wick' units which create a chamber from where the fuel vapours emit, are then plugged into the tray and then the cap is fitted. This creates a shield which closes off the fuel chamber from the outside world. 




The underside of the piston block has that condensation pipe. This little tray will sit underneath that whilst in operation. 

Instructions
These are quite sparse in text, with quite a lot of Chinese present, but the illustrations themselves are enough to easily build this steam engine. 





 
With the engine complete, we can now give it a test. First, the safety valve needs to be unscrewed and then water added. I do this with a syringe. First you need to open the valve at the front of the boiler, or the water will just leak from the injection point, as you add it. I found that about 60ml of water was enough for this. I also added about 10ml to 12ml of methylated spirits to the fuel tray and then lit the burner. The boiler took just a few minutes to come to pressure. The flywheel began to rotate slowly, so I gave it a gentle push and off it went!


 
 
 
 
 
 
Conclusion
Firstly, I have to say that this is a delightful little steam engine that is both easy to understand and build. This took me a little over 90 minutes to build, inclusive of taking the unedited photos. The quality of parts really is excellent, which is what you need when you are dabbling with a miniature boiler unit and the pressures within. The overall feel of the kit and the finished model is one of quality. All I would suggest is adding a little lube in areas such as the piston and gearing in the centrifugal regulator etc. When you compare the beautiful finished model here, compared with the current Mamod models which are pre-built and cost over a £100 more than this, then I consider this to be excellent value for money. It will also make a wonderful cabinet display piece too, which is exactly where mine will be heading. 
 
My sincere thanks to EngineDIY for sending out this kit for review on Model Ship World. To buy direct, click the link in the header of this topic.
 
 
 

And... the magic begins to show! Lovely work, as ever, Gary.
 
Off topic, the eclipse: If one believes that it is all a coincidence in size and distance.... BTW, in Niagara we were almost totally cloud covered that day. Sigh.

What an experience and also what a momento - if that film turns out to be a classic that boat will be worth a fortune 👍

Many of you are curious about this photo.   Its floating around the forums without an explanation.  I brought my Medway Longboat to the New London show last week where it was photographed..   You may not be able to see it right away but yes I changed this Medway English longboat to be an American boat.   This model was used in the movie that I worked on last year which I talked about a while back.   I changed the flag and the nameplate on the model.  They wanted it to be American and have the Character's Name on the model.  They were going to slowly pan across it for the movie and wanted Ed Harris' character name very visible etc.
 
To my Surprise after spending a bunch time with him trying to teach him how to fake being a ship modeler,   Ed Harris signed the model.  But of course not the base....Black sharpie right across the hull.   No fixing that!!!  So rather than put the model back to its original English origin and remove the nameplates, I decided to just leave it as is.  It will make for a nice conversation piece.   The movie is supposed to come out in July I believe....It was about 10 degrees out the day he signed it.  The workshop was set up in the garage of the set.  I have no idea how they acted as if it wasnt freezing all the time.  I suppose that is why he is considered such a great actor.
 
Starring Ed Harris, Dustan Hoffman, Bill Murray, Gabrielle Union, Jenifer Coolidge, Pete Davidson and a bunch of others you would certainly know.   We shall see how the movie turned out!!!   At least I have a memento for the wonderful experience.
 

Druxey, Glen, Keith, Roger and Tom – Thank you for the positive and encouraging comments.  I sincerely value them.  And thanks to all for clicking on the "like" button.
 
 
 
Druxey and Glen.  Too bad about the cloud cover - disappointing no doubt.  Here in Maine, early April is a time of year when we expect fast changing and unsettled weather. In fact, four days prior we had a late snowstorm – wet heavy stuff with strong winds that dropped many trees and limbs and left us without power for several days.  The day of the eclipse was some of the nicest weather we had seen in weeks.  Unbelievable good luck.
 
 
@Glen McGuire @Keith Black @TBlack Thanks for the comments on the eclipse photos. I shot about 20 photos with a cable release during totality.  All were exposure bracketed sets of three - so 60 images total.  All were very over exposed, and the three I posted were the most interesting of the lot.  Never thought I'd be grateful for lens flare. 
 
 
 
Hey Keith - yes, because I'm not sure one would see anything down there without it.  But it will be on the dim side.
 
Thanks everyone.
 
Gary

The diagonal joint is great when there will be a lot of stress on the finished item. In your case I suspect the load will be minimal!

Yes they will all be painted.  Basically I will be following the contemporary model for the paint scheme.
 
Thanks for the kind words guys.

I've started on the keel. The shape is not complex, so it can be modelled pretty easily. For stability & strength I decided to make it from horizontal strips of timber, dowelled with brass. The timber is a nice straight-grained piece of Huon Pine. The keel is not a difficult shape: it fairs with the hull, but essentially it appears to be even from there down to the bottom of the keel.
 
This is the keel side on. The yellow bands will be done in strips of timber.

 
The strips, in plan:

 
The timber pieces cut to shape, plus the 1/8th brass rod:

 
Stacked & trimmed, & sitting on the hull. It doesn't look quite right, but it will. The hull has more sanding to get it down to the right size, I have left that to assist get the fairing with the keel right.

 

 

 

thanks all
 
 
 
 

Welcome back, mini-me, to minier-me!
 
Nice to read a good-news story for a change! Thanks, Chuck.

Looking very ship-shape, Chuck.
 
Have a great weekend. Wish I was there!

Impressive photo!

That's great news all around Keith. Hope Maggie keeps making progress. Great to hear she's gotten this far already. 
 
Great to see you're getting "some time off" as well. 
 

Wow, my last post was towards the end of March, time has certainly gotten away from me. My apologies for the delay for a Maggie update and a response to Brian @mbp521, Keith @clearway, Tom @TBlack, Eric @Cathead, Keith @KeithAug, Gary @FriedClams, and Mark @AnchorClanker. To each of you, thank you for your kind thoughts and well wishes. And thank you to all for the likes and for following along on this new part of our journey.
 
 Maggie is much improved in the clarity of her speech, fascial expressions, the strength in her left hand, ams, legs, and her independence. She is getting her own  breakfast and lunch. She's managing to do her laundry, she's washing some dishes (we don't have a dishwasher) or drying dishes after I wash. She's able to get in and out of the shower and gets dressed on her own accord. She's managed to do a little knitting, it's sure not pre stroke quality but that she's able to knit at all is a small miracle.
 
 She made meatloaf the other night with some help but she was able to make the effort and it was a welcome change from my cooking. While we were prepping we play bickered at one another and she reminded me that I was in her domain. Sweeter words were never spoken. This is coming none too soon as the other night I caught myself on Amazon looking at frying pans and paring knives. 
 
 She has a devil of a time with opening lidded containers so on those nights when I have pool league I have to place plastic wrap over those (lid removed) containers she'll be needing to get into for her supper and she has no issues using the microwave. I'm so grateful for her getting to this point as it allows for some much needed Keith time. 
 
 The above is answer to prayer, a peaceful rhythm of life has returned, our lives no longer feel like it's been stirred with a stick.
 
 Though we be knee deep in that time of year that requires outside attention, I'm getting real close to resuming work on the Tennessee. The other night I managed to attach a rigged pair of deadeyes to the port side and it felt good to be sitting at the worktable again. The third hand awaits, stropped deadeyes and thread callout,  time for this part of my journey to continue.
 
 Thank you for following along,
 
  Keith 
 
 

To Bob, Pat, Glen, Brian, Eberhard, Andrew, Keith, Tom, JJ, Roel, Dave, Ryland, Chris, and Keith, a huge thank you for your prayers, thoughts, and well wishes. My MSW family is a blessing, every interaction brightens my day. 
 
 To answer Eberhard's question regarding Maggie's surgery..... they tried to find a vein to her heart first through the groin, then her arm, and lastly her wrist. They were able to remove 100% of the blood clot without any bleeding of the brain from the surgery. The surgery was a complete success, modern medicine is absolutely amazing!
 
 Guys, never pass up the opportunity to give your wife a hug and tell her that you love her. They are the most precious thing in our life because they make life bearable, without them we are nothing. 

Lovely neat joinery as usual!