rlb

Boarding steps--


 
I would have made the steps the full width of the hammock opening, but the carronade position wouldn't allow it.   The hammock position corresponds to Chappelle's sail plan drawing and also the location of the outboard boarding steps shown on the hull plan, but a little foresight may have warranted shifting the steps and opening just a bit.
 
Ron
 

Thanks Joe, and all looking in.
 
The hammock cranes and cloth are done.   It was more work than I anticipated, but I think it was worth it.  I got some practice making jigs and drilling small holes on the mill, and I learned about Silkspan.
 
Here one side is done, and the other has been "strung".  I was tempted to leave it this way, but elected to complete both sides--

 
Done.   Work on the capstan bars continues--

 
Knotted boarding ropes hang over the boarding steps.  I don't know why Lieutenant Woolsey is falling all over the deck in the previous photos, but he's found his feet here.  I'll secure the ropes with a dot of glue on one of the lower steps, but for now the clips make them hang straight and give the idea--

 
I am reminded of something I read about Oneida being reported by an early crew member (I think) as being a "warm cozy" ship.  They were probably talking about below deck, but the more enclosed and protected feeling with the hammocks in place on the rails does give me that impression--
   

 
All for now,
Ron

More hammock crane work.
 
I decided I needed a better way to make the modeling clay form for the hammock covering cloth.   I had just kind of rolled it out and mashed it into rough shape, but it was a little TOO rough and varied in height and thickness.  So I made a mold out of scrap wood.  This is the length I need for the forward sections.  The previous clay form and removed covering paper are above it--

 
Then I mashed the clay into one side of the mold--
 
And clamped the outer mold piece against it.  There are spacers at the end to make the right thickness, and I used my calipers to make sure it was the same width at the middle.  They also worked as a clamp.  I mashed additional clay into the top where needed--

 
Then scraped the top smooth--

 
This gave me a piece of clay that was uniform in height and thickness--


 
I ran a finger along each side of the top to round and smooth it--

 
New pieces of Silkspan were moistened and folded around it--

 
When this dried, I tucked and glued the loose ends at the bottom, and let that dry--

 
Here it is fit into place--


 
 
I am much happier with this attempt.   It may be more uniform than it really should be, but it will be easy to go back and make it a little "lumpy" if I decide it needs it.  Here's a view from inboard--

 
As I finish up the hammocks I'm adding the capstan bars to the capstan.   It's always one of the things on a model that catches your eye, and I've been waiting a long time to add this touch!   I cut some blanks, and test fit a few times to get the length I thought was appropriate.  They look pretty chunky, but they haven't been tapered or rounded yet, hence they are also not glued to the capstan yet--

 
I numbered each hole and bar on the underside just in case it matters which one goes where--

 
As the afternoon light starts to fade--

 
That's all for now.
 
Ron
 
 

Continuing with hammock cranes.
 
I was able to thread the three outboard lines and test the hammock covering cloth.  I'm not truly happy with the covering cloth, I may redo that, but I do like the overall look--


 
It was blackening residue in the holes that was making it so hard to thread the line.  And the end caps were clogged with Tung oil finish.  I had to carefully try and get the drill bit through the holes and clean them out.  The angle wasn't exactly right, and I probably should have just twisted everything out and re-glued them.  Some became loose anyway (and many bent this way and that-thankfully none broke).   But after clearing the holes, I found that I could get the thread through.  By the last one, I found that with the tip just stiffened by wax, rather than CA glue, I could get them through quite well--didn't need to push and pull with the tweezers.   The CA, though it stiffened the end, did increase the diameter a smidge.
 
Here are the first set of lines through, and the next set of hammock cranes glued in.  After all the lines are threaded, and the cloth in, I'll knot off the ends of the lines--

 
Now I'm off with my daughter to my parents' house in Rochester to try and see the eclipse.   It's supposed to be cloudy, but maybe we'll get lucky.  If not, we'll still have a nice, if brief, visit with my folks.   Hoping the traffic will be manageable, but it probably will be pretty bad.
 
All for now,
Ron 

Thanks Mike!
 
Continuing on with the hammocks, I made a line of clay, which fit between the hammock cranes--

 
I wrapped this in the black painted Silkspan and tested the fit.  It looks just okay.  I may work a bit on the "wrinkles"--

 
I removed the clay/paper, realizing it would be much easier to run the line through all the hammock cranes without having it in the way.  And it was FAR more difficult than I anticipated.   I spent hours trying to come up with a way of stiffening the end of the line with superglue, and cutting a point on it, but the holes in the cranes were just too small, and some had become partially blocked with blackening deposits (I think).  I spent a lot of time with a pin trying to open the holes--very awkward with them glued in place.  Some cranes came loose from the rail, or bent (though easily re-straightened).   I even tried supergluing a strand of fly tying thread to the end of the line to lead it through the holes, but that failed like all the other attempts.  I finally searched for a thinner line in my stock, and found one.  It was just enough thinner to work--
 
 
Hopefully I can get through the rest of the holes, and finally see what this looks like with the hammock paper inside.
 
Also, trying to finish everything on the deck before rigging begins, I glued some eyebolts and rings to the deck binding strakes, and some to the channels, which can be seen in the photos.
 
All for now,
Ron
 
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Experiments with Silkspan continue. 
 
After applying another couple of coats to the example in the previous post, I decided to try the "thin" Silkspan; the above post used the "medium" variety.   There is a big difference in thickness.  After wetting and taping a piece to my frame (and letting it dry), this time I applied acrylic matte medium to both sides of the Silkspan, hoping that this would fill in the fibers, so that I wouldn't need as many coats of black paint to make it opaque--

 
This seemed to work, and after three (I think) coats of black, I had a nice smooth, opaque surface-

 
While coats of paint were drying, I glued eight thin pieces of wood into a block, to shape into the end caps for the hammocks--

 
I decided that I would follow the angle of the bulwarks, inner and outer, with the hammock cranes and the end pieces--

 
However, my shaping had reduced the "block" too much.  It was too definitely too short, and too narrow for comfort, so I glued another set together-

 
These should work--

 
I separated them, and because some had slight marks from prying them apart I sorted and numbered them to put the "bad" sides inward where they would be covered by the hammock cloth and not seen.  I drilled holes in the bottom for pins--

 
I marked and drilled the holes for the six lines in the end caps.  Here also are two sheets of painted "thin" Silkspan, which I will use--

 
I'll now experiment with how to shape and place the hammock cloth within the cranes, and epoxy the cranes and end pieces to the ship.   I'll probably need another sheet of Silkspan also.
 
All for now,
Ron 

Thanks for this timely tutorial, Toni.  It is exactly where I am at with my Oneida.

Thanks for this timely tutorial, Toni.  It is exactly where I am at with my Oneida.

Thanks for this timely tutorial, Toni.  It is exactly where I am at with my Oneida.

All the masts, yards and associated items completed.
 
On to the stove, capstan, rudder etc.
 
New Sphinx kit procurement approved by "higher authority" so I better not screw this one up "or else"!

The futtock staves were made from 3” served rope and are located as far below the trestle trees as the top of the mast is above the trestle trees, approximately seven feet.  For ease of installation, I used served 24 gauge wire, rather than rope.  They were lashed to the shrouds.  The picture on the left shows the lashing in white for clarity and the finished product on the right.
 
And now it is time for the dreaded ratlines.  There are some lines on a ship that are a do not change with the size of the ship, such as the footropes and ratlines, both of which must hold a seaman’s weight.  The ratlines are made of tarred 1.5” rope.  At this scale, I simply tied, rather than lashed, them to the outer shrouds.  They are secured to the inner shrouds with clove hitch knots, a drawing of which is below.  This picture is also from The Boy’s Manual.

Ratlines are spaced 12-15” apart and are parallel to the waterline.  The easiest way to keep them even is to make a line jig.  There is a tendency to pull the shrouds inward as the ratlines are added.  I like to secure a brass rod or stick to the outer shrouds to keep them straight.  This is my setup.  The clips are holding the line jig in place.  The ratlines are parallel to the waterline, not to the deck. After several hours, 220 knots and fifteen scale feet of rope, the ratlines were finished. 
 
Catharpins are ropes with an eye at each end which extend across and are seized to the shrouds at the level of the futtock staves.  According to Steel, sloops were not equipped with catharpins but I included them in the kit to illustrate their construction.  I made them from 22 gauge wire with a loop on each end.  As there is no tension on them, I did not solder the loops closed.  The catharpins are served and the ends are painted black to simulate the eye splice.    The first catharpin is located just aft of the mast and the other two are spaced out evenly along the futtock stave.

This completed the standing rigging of the lower mast.  As mentioned earlier, because this is a cross section model, lines that would not terminate on the model, such as the stays and backstays, were omitted.

I have coated the boat with oil and made a slipway. Once assembled, it turned out to look like this. Macro photography revealed some disadvantages, but in the future I will eliminate them.

Well the move was completed after our new home was built on Oak Island.
The new model workshop/office is far smaller than my previous one at only 13x13 but I’m using shelving and other things to maximize space which is ongoing.
Winchelsea is now waiting for me to start Chapter 7 on the Quarter Deck hopefully in the next couple of weeks as soon as I find all the parts!

hamilton, if only you knew how how deficient I feel in matters of care and precision; though I know, of ourselves we tend to be the harshest critics.
 
Thank you, and I'll try to continue to show how I manage to do things.
 
Ron    

Thanks, Allan.   The taper of the stem and bollard timbers is being sanded by hand, with that sanding block you can see on the left in the first photo.   I have a sanding drum in my full size drill press down in the basement, but I only use that for roughing the basic curve of the pieces after cutting them out, and I don't trust myself with chisels for this work, so it's slow going.
 
It's taken me a while to wrap my head around these pieces, trying to visualize what the end shape is, compared to the lines on the paper pattern, and how they need to fit with the stem, lower apron, rabbet and rest of the hawse timbers.
 
Ron 

Hi, and thanks at all ❤️
 
 

Hi ☺️
 
 

John and Dan, I enjoyed meeting and talking with you both.  Always nice to get to know someone beyond their profile photo and user name!
 
Mast collars:  I started by cutting a bunch of pieces with a 45 degree angle and gluing them together.   If I really wanted to get it right, I should have cut 22 1/2 degrees off each side of a piece, to have the wood grain radial.   I was satisfied with just showing that the collar is made of eight simulated "wedges"--

  
 
These were then sanded roughly round--

 
Next I drilled out the center, glued in a short piece of dowel, and turned the piece round.   After it was round, I drilled the dowel out--

 
Here you can see I've started roughing out the opening of the first one to fit the fore mast, and other has the dowel glued in--

 
I used my lathe, but lacking that I could have chucked the piece in a standard drill--


 
One difficulty was shaping the cut out to accommodate the rather sharp rake of the masts, especially the mainmast.   In addition, my shaping of the masts was not perfect, with some variation in the eight sides.   That and the rake made it so the collar will only fit on one way (hence the label "F"(forward) on each collar.   Each one broke apart at least once as I was chiseling it out.  That ended up being a good thing, as the joints became a little more pronounced after regluing.  One down, one to go--

 
Here are some photos of the masts with the collars dry fit on deck--




 
I believe that is now a wrap for the hull and deck.  I am not going to redo the gratings--the holes are only a tiny bit too large.  They should be no bigger than 2 3/4", and they are 3".   So with that, it's time to start making rope for the standing rigging.
 
All for now.
 
Ron

Today is the day my friends, I am going to mark this ship Finished. Lol. What a journey  .


Bow lines are on. @Gabek sent me a message on how these are done. One look at his plans , Neanderthals don't rig. So I came up with this , it will do. Lol. 
 Then I moved on to  seizing the bolt rope on the sails. After that I needed 10 rope coils, whipped them up pretty fast, on my  Isaiah  coil jig.



So I am closing the book calling her done.
 I am going to put all the figures on  and put it in the display case  in the near future.  I will post some final pictures and thoughts of  the build then. 
  Here she is , and I love it. Grinning 😀 😅 .




I have so many to thank, I am pleased  😄.  I wonder if I can enter this for the October  page on the NGR calendar  next year lol. It will be MSW first  Finished log for the Amati Mayflower model.  I am going to have to  to let them know I am finished so they can mark it in the Data base, it will be neat to see the  Finished  marked  beside Knocklouder's  log lol . One more done 3 left to go, I have to pick one,

  but dreaming of   the Duchess of Kensington  by Vanguard Models.lol
 Ok, like I say up to the case she gos 
Thanks for putting up with my typos and humor  lol.
Bob M.

Sounds like an epic trip, JJ!   Have fun.
Ron

John and Dan, I enjoyed meeting and talking with you both.  Always nice to get to know someone beyond their profile photo and user name!
 
Mast collars:  I started by cutting a bunch of pieces with a 45 degree angle and gluing them together.   If I really wanted to get it right, I should have cut 22 1/2 degrees off each side of a piece, to have the wood grain radial.   I was satisfied with just showing that the collar is made of eight simulated "wedges"--

  
 
These were then sanded roughly round--

 
Next I drilled out the center, glued in a short piece of dowel, and turned the piece round.   After it was round, I drilled the dowel out--

 
Here you can see I've started roughing out the opening of the first one to fit the fore mast, and other has the dowel glued in--

 
I used my lathe, but lacking that I could have chucked the piece in a standard drill--


 
One difficulty was shaping the cut out to accommodate the rather sharp rake of the masts, especially the mainmast.   In addition, my shaping of the masts was not perfect, with some variation in the eight sides.   That and the rake made it so the collar will only fit on one way (hence the label "F"(forward) on each collar.   Each one broke apart at least once as I was chiseling it out.  That ended up being a good thing, as the joints became a little more pronounced after regluing.  One down, one to go--

 
Here are some photos of the masts with the collars dry fit on deck--




 
I believe that is now a wrap for the hull and deck.  I am not going to redo the gratings--the holes are only a tiny bit too large.  They should be no bigger than 2 3/4", and they are 3".   So with that, it's time to start making rope for the standing rigging.
 
All for now.
 
Ron

Dave, that is a great point.  I have thought about it, and my initial thought was to greatly simplify the collar and do the canvas cover.  Then I thought that fiddling with trying to make a cover, and realistically fastening it would be difficult.  However, I didn't research to find out what it needs to look like and how others may have done it.  Now I feel like doing some searching on this!   I have no concerns that any work will have been wasted (after all, on one will ever see the stove!)  At this point my options remain open.
 
Ron

John and Dan, I enjoyed meeting and talking with you both.  Always nice to get to know someone beyond their profile photo and user name!
 
Mast collars:  I started by cutting a bunch of pieces with a 45 degree angle and gluing them together.   If I really wanted to get it right, I should have cut 22 1/2 degrees off each side of a piece, to have the wood grain radial.   I was satisfied with just showing that the collar is made of eight simulated "wedges"--

  
 
These were then sanded roughly round--

 
Next I drilled out the center, glued in a short piece of dowel, and turned the piece round.   After it was round, I drilled the dowel out--

 
Here you can see I've started roughing out the opening of the first one to fit the fore mast, and other has the dowel glued in--

 
I used my lathe, but lacking that I could have chucked the piece in a standard drill--


 
One difficulty was shaping the cut out to accommodate the rather sharp rake of the masts, especially the mainmast.   In addition, my shaping of the masts was not perfect, with some variation in the eight sides.   That and the rake made it so the collar will only fit on one way (hence the label "F"(forward) on each collar.   Each one broke apart at least once as I was chiseling it out.  That ended up being a good thing, as the joints became a little more pronounced after regluing.  One down, one to go--

 
Here are some photos of the masts with the collars dry fit on deck--




 
I believe that is now a wrap for the hull and deck.  I am not going to redo the gratings--the holes are only a tiny bit too large.  They should be no bigger than 2 3/4", and they are 3".   So with that, it's time to start making rope for the standing rigging.
 
All for now.
 
Ron

Post One hundred and Seventy-one
Album photo's
I have at last got around to taking the completion photo’s which will form part of the Photo build record book that I’m currently putting together.

4395
4361A

4392

4364

4365

4391

4390

4396

4369

4405

4395

2161A

2145a

4397

2162a

2164a

4380

4379

4388

4494a
I am currently faffing around with a clinker built 18’ cutter, and ‘Indy’ is yet to be enclosed in her case, so the story has not quite ended.
 
Then there’s the 26’ Launch, still on my mind.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.