catopower

I'm sure that you are correct about your statement on the non-naval ships, Bruce. I don't think I suggested otherwise.

I've been having a really hard time working on my ship modeling projects. I started this topic a few days after my dearest kitty cat, Sierra, passed away. She'd been seriously sick for a couple weeks and couldn't hang on. I ended up having to work a lot extra to pay for her vet bills, plus had a hard time concentrating at home. So, things progressed very slowly, even though at times I thought things were getting better.
 
Now, maybe they are getting better. I don't know. But, I did compile some of the work I've managed to accomplish over the last two-and-a-half weeks...
 
I set the sails aside and started working on the main hold-up on this model, which is the making of chainplates. Once these are made, the shrouds can then be dealt with. It’s been a long time since I’ve made decent chainplates. On the Charles yacht model, they are simple wires that wrap around the deadeye and the bottom ends are inserted straight into the hull. I wanted something a little more sophisticated. So, I created chainplates from brass wire that are soldered to form flat plates with a loop at the bottom end for a nail.
 
Took me a while to consistently form brass wire into the right shape. For this, I had to make a little fixture with a piece of brass rod for the big loop (for stropping the deadeye) and a hard, stainless steel pin for forming the small loop for the nail.


It’s also been a long time since I’ve done much silver solder work, and I couldn’t find my silver solder and flux, so I had to buy more. I was sure I had some somewhere, but I guess it was hidden away somewhere some time ago. The soldering process turned out pretty well as you can see below. After soldering and cleaning up the new chainplates, I blacked them, starting by soaking them in vinegar (acetic acid) solution, rinsing them off, and them soaking them in a dilute solution of BlueJacket’s Brass Black solution. I find that BlueJacket’s metal toners work the best of any metal toners I’ve used over the past 30 years.


Deadeyes are 5mm, 3D printed resin deadeyes sold by Syren Ship Model Company.
 

Thanks Patrick, I appreciate the nice comments.
 
I had a bit of a slowdown over the past week, but I think I should be on a more regular ship modeling schedule again.
 
Here's the most recent progress I made on the Yacht Mary. The lee boards were already made, but there was no pivot for it, so I drilled them out, as well as the hull, to fit a small length of dowel.
 

Also assembled the anchors and cleaned up the anchor stocks. I used black thread to wrap the stocks. I think I need better lighting, because I had a hard time seeing that the wrapping wasn't particularly straight. But, I did manage to wrap the rings on the anchors without too much problem, and then added the anchor cables.
 

When I first received the model, it had the hull ladders still intact. But, in the process of going to another ship modeler and then back to me, the ladders got broken. So, I had to remove them completely and rebuild them. I'm not really happy with the new ladders, because of the way they had to curve slightly under the hull. I'm not sure if that's because of the way the hull was built, or if perhaps they're not supposed to actually be flush with the hull as these will be. 
 
I suppose they should be straighter, but on this model, they would end up flaring out from the hull at the ladder bottoms, which would seem stranger to me. 

I didn't do much to the guns and carriages, except to paint them. They carriages were initially natural wood color, and the barrels were painted black, but were chipped. So, I painted the carriages and barrels, and then took a length of line, and threaded them through the carriages for breechings. Note that this is the style of Dutch gun carriages, but the Mary was Dutch built, so this should be correct.
 
Not sure at this point if I'm going to add gun tackle and train tackle.

Finally, I added the remainder of the decorative piece at the stern. It was a bit of a challenge to fit these parts, and the work left some notable gaps. But, I think it looks okay.

I'm starting to work on cleaning up the already made spars, and fashioning flag staffs. I've also decided to use Chuck's ULTRA rigging line and 3D printed blocks and deadeyes on this one.
 

Here's some of the first work I did on the model.
 
I decided to add a little more color to the model, so I painted the bulwarks the same shade of red I used on my Charles royal yacht. I'm doing the same with the gun carriages. Part of the reason is that the bulwarks wood was a bit splintery, and there were issues apparently when the builder was cutting the round gun ports.
 
Also, I didn't like the way that Mamoli had the caprails built up from layers of strip wood. It must have made construction easier, but the visible layers of wood seemed distracting, so I went ahead and painted those as well as the moldings around the decorative section of the bulwarks and the channels.
 
I considered using a strip of light colored wood over the moldings and maybe the edge of the caprail, but decided not to, at least not at this time.
 

I rebuilt the chimney that's just behind the windlass, added the decorative hawse pieces at the bow and drilled the hawse holes.
 
The gun ports were a bit of a challenge, as some of them didn't line up correctly. Another reason I chose to paint the bulwarks, so I could hide any corrections. The round ports on one side had only been started, so they were too small. But, a bit of filing opened them up and adjusted their heights and alignment. 
 
Decided that the model was far enough along to safely mount it. I didn't want to use the included stand. Those things are usually too flimsy and don't provide a means to really secure the model to the base. I just used the classic brass pedestals.
 

That little deck structure hasn't been permanently attached yet. I want to add the guns before I permanently fix it to the deck. Oh, and on that and on the stern cabin, I added acetate for the windows, which were left open by the original builder. I think I just used canopy glue to secure them into place.
 

Yes, before you comment on it, that gap between the rudder and stern post is... well, it's too large. After repairing the rudder and the rudder irons, I left it the way it was originally built. If it bothers me too much, I may just clip off the stuff in between, fake the hinges, and pin the rudder to the hull. Just haven't felt the need yet.
 
Lastly, I saw some photos of other Yacht Mary builds and really like the splash of color painted on some of their transoms. So, I went ahead and added some color to this one. I'm not sure if I can handle painting any better detail, but I may try. Just not really ready for it yet. I considered doing more, but I really just wanted it to have a little bit of color. Any more, and I might feel the need to paint too many other details as well.

Again, this is not intended to be an "accurized", and I'm trying not to undo too much of what the original builder did. But, as far as kit-built models go. It is started to look rather nice, and I'm happy about that.
 
 
 

Those following my HMS Wolf card model build may be wondering where I disappeared to. So this is what I've been doing for the past couple months.  A couple years ago, I bought a Mantua/Sergal Sovereign of the Seas kit, unstarted, at an estate sale. I guess the sellers were so happy to move the kit that they threw in a partially started Amati Prince (yes, the rare, and huge Amati Prince in the wooden box), and this partially completed Yacht Mary.
 



Having recently completed Woody Joe's Charles Royal Yacht, and having so enjoying modeling a royal yacht, I was interested in working on this new acquisition. But, the model left my possession for another modeler to work on. But, over time, I thought about how the original builder, a Mr. Richard Fletcher who lived up near Placerville, CA, was building this as a wedding present. I didn't know the man or the details of who it was supposed to be fore, but I didn't know that the builder's widow really wanted to know that her late husband's models were being continued.
 
Later on, finding out that the modeler I had passed this onto was turning into some random fantasy ship, I decided to try to rescue it, with the intent of finishing the model and presenting it back to the Mr. Fletcher's widow. So, with my new plans, I managed to get the model back, and start working on it.
 
My intent is not to make a perfect model of the Mary, nor a perfect model of a Dutch yacht. Rather, it's to essentially take Richard Fletcher's work and to continue the model to completion without changing too much. That's not to say I would avoid ANY "corrections" to the build, but mostly to avoid changing the nature of the model more than I need to.
 
While I don't have any photos of the model after it came back into my possession, I did have to clean up some alterations that were done to it, such as the removal of a "poop deck" railing that was installed for the fantasy model, and a couple other minor things that had been broken since I saw it last. Aside from that, I noticed the original builder had some trouble with a few things and left a big gap just between the transom and the gallery windows casting. So, I did a few small modifications to make the model look better. 
 
By the way, I've always been interested in modeling the Yacht Mary, and even have an unstarted, original Mamoli kit, which gave me access to the original, full-sized kit plans, which I found helpful. I think my interest in the model dates back to seeing the late Jean Eckert's build in the old Seaways' Ships in Scale magazine. She, by the way, started and ran the South Bay Model Shipwrights club that I'm a member of still today.

 
I'll post a series of photos later to show the progress to date. I'm hoping to complete the model by June. So, this will not be a long and detailed build log. Mostly just wanted to be able to share about the work.
 
Note: I will be getting back to my HMS Wolf build shortly!
 
 

Okay, I broke down and started rigging the gun tackles on the Mary's cannons. The way I'm building her, she'll only need six guns. And, given that at this scale, they're not too tiny, that's about as easy a rigging job as there could be. It's not going to get any easier in the future, and perhaps this will help me decide if and how I can rig the guns on my smaller HMS Wolf model.
 
First, in order to mount the guns securely, I've been pinning them to the deck. In this case, a sewing pin cut off and inserted into a hole I drilled into the bottom of the gun carriage. Don't ask me why I chose sewing pins and not just some brass rod. The pins are a hard steel and hard to cut. 

I tested out each gun in position, to locate where I need to drill a hole in the deck. Note that they don't line up quite right, but that's because the locations of the gunport in the hull are off slightly. But, that's the way it was built, and it's not actually very obvious.

Then, test fitting each one. This particular gun gave me the most trouble. I don't think the carriage is quite square.

I'll probably shorten the pins a little. Some are longer than they need to be. They seem pretty well hidden underneath those carriages, and then definitely keep the guns solidly in place.
 
Now, I'm in the process of rigging the gun tackles. I'm using Chuck's 3/32" 3D printed blocks. To be safe, I drilled out the holes with a #78 bit, which worked well, and allows me to pass a his .008" Ultra rope through it pretty easily. I decided to do a simplified job of it, using no hooks, just tying the strop through the eyebolts.  
 

I don't have a photo of them, but I have double-blocks stropped through eyebolts that will be attached to the bulwarks. Oh, and I realize that this particular gun is missing the trunnion caps. That's because it was one of two "spares" I decided not to use. Then, during the rigging process, one of the eyebolts got stuck and broke off. So, I just put one of these spares back into service. It'll get it's trunnion caps shortly.
 
My work schedule changed today, and I think I may actually have enough spare time today and tonight to complete these! 🤞

A minor update, but fairly significant for the model. 
 
Today, I got sick of the enormous gap between the sternpost and rudder and I clipped off the pintles and just pinned the rudder into place. I think it makes the model look a whole lot better!
 

Yes, it's not perfect, and you can see one of the pins if you look closely. But, I'm not striving for perfection here. I'm just going for a better appearance, and I think this works.
 
Now, I can move on to other things, as this is the last item that just bugged me!

Thanks Patrick, John! I'm much happier with the appearance now. De-bugged, indeed!
 
Meanwhile, since I was in the process of trying out the gun tackles, I went ahead and just rigged them all. Was a bit of a challenge with only a small amount of cursing.
 



During the process of making the gun tackles, I'd managed to lose a couple blocks to the rug monster. Later, I decided to hunt around for scattered debris. Interestingly enough, I not only found the blocks I'd lost, but two other, larger blocks, that I didn't recall losing. And then, most important of all, the yellow item on the right side of the photo below.

That's one of two sweep port lids, from my as yet unfinished HMS Wolf model, that I didn't realize I'd lost! 🤣  It's now safely in storage for when I return to work on that model. Hopefully, that will be sometime late next month.
 
 
 

Thanks Druxey. Nothing like a snugged up rudder. It's so nice to look at the model and not be instantly drawn to that huge gap!
 
Well, I'm turning my attention to the rigging now. I've already simplified the rigging of the topsail and spreader yard, based on the great photos and paintings people have contributed. Now, I'm looking at the rigging of the gaff and mainsail. 
 
Below is from the Mamoli kit drawings. My plan is to make some small modifications based on the photos of the Utrecht replica. Special thanks to Gregory and Patrick(Baker) for the painting and Utrecht images. 
 
1. I'm going to replace this block(Fiddle block?) with a single sheave block attached at the gaff.
2. This brail block will be moved down the gaff slightly.
3. This brail block will be move down and replaced with a double block, so the brail from block 2 will pass through and down to the deck.
4. No need for this extra block, since block 3 will have a pretty clear path down to the belaying points at the deck.

Something else I noticed about the Utrecht replica and wondering about this on the Mary, is the lack of ratlines on the shrouds. It's been my plan to rattle down the shrouds. But, there's really no need for anyone to climb up the mast, except maybe a lookout. In the following excerpt from Ab Hoving's new book "Dutch 17th Century Ship Models in Paper", he shows another state yacht with no ratlines. Since this is essentially what the Mary was, would it have been without ratlines? Or, being a ship of the British Royal Navy, would they have added ratlines?
 

I'm not quite at the stage where I have to worry about the ratlines, but we're getting very close. Any thoughts?
 
Oh, and in the meantime, I decided to practice working with my laser cutter to make the 5-hole deadeye for the mainstay. I think this one is large enough, but I made parts for a slightly larger one. I guess I'll go ahead and make that one and see which looks better.
 
 
 
 
 

Made my first attempt at printing flags on tissue paper and couldn't get the paper to not jam up in the printer ☹️
 
I was able to print on regular paper and thought about folding them over, but I know how thick that ends up. Decided to see how good the alignment consistency is on my printer. Turns out, if I'm careful and have the images perfectly centered, I can print one side, flip the paper over, and print on the other, and it's pretty darned close.
 
I have three usable flags done this way now, and just the pendant left. I don't have any artwork for that flag, so I'll have to draw it up from scratch. Pretty basic, so it shouldn't take that long to do.
 

I only folded the flag above. I didn't try to wet it at all. I'm not sure of the colorfastness of this ink. I'm using some cheap third-party ink, so I think I have to spray this with something to keep the colors from running. But, I'm not sure if that's just going to make the whole flag itself waterproof, and prevent me from using water to shape it. It probably doesn't matter, as I think the flags will shape nicely, even without wetting them.
 

 
The one thing I forgot about is the white edge of the paper. It's just like paper modeling, one needs to color the edge to take off the bright white color. 
 
Note that I tried to give the above flag some texture, but I made it a bit too wrinkly. I'll keep that in mind for the final flags.
 
 

Flag work aside, and with all the main detail work done, I finally made some progress on rigging. 







 

Forward, Back, Cha Cha Cha...
 
That's the kind of dance it's been the past couple days on this project.
 
I made the standing portion of the vangs. Are these pendants? Anyway, made all four of them with 8mm fiddle blocks stropped in their ends. Then, I realized that I didn't rig them with beckets. Had to redo all four... 😖
 
Today, I fixed the issue, cut away the temporary line I had in place of the vangs, and rigged the vangs. All looks good. They're not permanently in place, since I may have to remove the gaff when I rig the sails.
 

During this last step, the stropping of one of the double blocks (the very last one I was working with, of course) gave way, so I had to remove the eyebolt for that block. It didn't want to come out, but finally did. I destroyed the eyebolt in the process, so had to replace it and re-strop the block to it before finishing up... three-four... cha cha cha...
 
Now, I'm all set to get to work on the sails. They're basically cut and ready to finish up. More on that next time.

The shrouds are now "rattled down". I didn't get too fancy and just did my usual clove hitches all the way across. It's the way I've always rigged the shrouds, but in the future, I think I will try using cow hitches at the ends as someone suggested. I can see where this could actually make the ratlines easier to do, as well as make them more secure. It's not easy to trim those end knots and for them to stay secure. So, I gave them a strong dose of PVA to hold them.
 

Not perfect, but it's done! I redid a few of the ratlines where I needed to do some adjustments and had a few knot failures. But, it's all secure now. Also, the photo is before I added one more ratline at the bottom end.
 
By the way, for the fun of it, I decided to record myself tying ratlines, and I posted the video on Facebook and Youtube. Nothing fancy, just video...
 
 
 
 
But now, I'm dealing with the sails. My sails usually turn out fine, but I'm never happy with the process.
 
I've done other sails on other models and used fabric stiffners and glued all the tablings and reinforcements, and I'm very happy with how those turned out. In the future, I'll be trying out making silkspan sails. But for this model at this scale, I wanted to follow a more "traditional" process, where I sew all the tablings, and that's slowed me down a lot, mostly because I'm thinking about things too much.

The first sail completed with a glued-on boltrope is the topsail. Folding over the fabric at the foot was sure a pain. I wasn't able to do a double fold, so it's not as sharp on the back side as I'd like. And, oops, somehow I managed not to take a photo of that side... 😬 

The main issue I have is, of course, the mainsail. I'm not done with it yet, and thinking maybe I'll just get the jib and staysail done first, since they're pretty straight forward. But, here's the first issue with the mainsail...

I've constructed my model with higher peak, so I can't use the kit pattern as is. I cut a new pattern with the added area highlighted in red, above.
 
Now, I guess I'd better be off to start working on these remaining sails. Still not sure about the bonnet and reef points, so maybe I will just start with those head sails...
 
 

I found another fabric I purchased at a local store long ago. In general, the spec of this cotton fabric is one of the top in my country, although the other cotton fabrics I tested before had the same spec. Because different countries use different scales, especially on cloth area, I can't simply convert the spec of the fabric to TC. (I don't know how to calculate it.) 
 


Isn't it interesting?

This is a corner of a sail from the "Star of India" in San Diego.

I am sure there are many different ways to do it and some members will explain their techniques, but I do it in the following faschion:
I use a very thin cotton fabric for my sails, instead of silkspan. I found it in my local fabric store  (www.moodfabrics,com)  a fabric known as cotton muslin, already factory coloured into a nice cream (eggshell) color - perfect for sails, so I don't need to color it by myself. It is used primarilly for linings for suits or similar. But my model is in 1:48 scale, so this muslin is barely thin enough for my sails. It might be too thick for your model though, if your scale is smaller.
I wanted to show all sewn details of my sails, and I feared that silkspan, being soooo thin and delicate, would not allow this...
 
After preparing my sails in the traditional way, I attach (glue) to their edges a bolt rope, making sure that it isn't attached to the edge of a sail, but instead it lays ON the edge, on the AFT side of the sail. After the glue (white glue like Elmer's),  slightly diluted with water, has dried, I sew the rope with a very thin needle and thin thread of almost the same (only slightly darker) color that the sail itself, like on the attached pic. I found out that if I leave the rope only glued there, it has a tendency to split from the sail, if you manipulate it with your fingers. Sewing it, reinforces the bond and secures it.
It is an extremely tedious and time consuming process (if you think, tying ratlines is tedious, think again!), I work with magnifier Optivisor and have a thimble on my finger to push the needle through the slightly stiffened (by glue) fabric. I place the sail on a rubber mat, like yours, but on top of that mat I place a piece of ordinary cardboard and only then I place my sail on top of it. The cardboard allows me to push the needle through the rope and the sail and a bit more (perhaps 2 to 3 mm - the thicknes of cardboard) on the other side. It is easier than, to push it all the way through. I sew through the middle of the rope and  through the sail, just perhaps 1 mm from its edge. After the sewing, the thread is nearly invisible, only from a very close distance, say a few cm, similar to full size sails.

For yet another approach, see the topic under 'Reviews': Swan IV, Sailmaking Supplement.

I'm starting this first project with my son (12). Unfortunately, I don't have the instructions manual. I'm trying to look for it online with no luck so far. If anyone has a copy...I will keep the build log up to date. 

It's nice to hear of another who remembers Ray Aker, a man who certainly deserved greater fame than he realized during his lifetime. He was a very good maritime historian and one of the better draftsmen around. I still have the copy of his beautiful technical drawing of the remains of the 1840 whaling bark Lydia uncovered during excavations for the 1978 construction of the San Francisco Peripheral Sewer project which he gave us when I knew the archaeological impact report consultants on that project. 
 
 

http://library.mysticseaport.org/ere/odetail.cfm?id_number=1961.72
 
Without passing any judgment pro or con regarding your posting your research records on the Drake Navigator's Guild's website, as a fellow member of our generation, I would urge you to strongly consider making provision for the donation of your research files to the J. Porter Shaw Library at the San Francisco National Maritime Museum at Fort Mason, San Francisco. As you probably know, the J. Porter Shaw is the best recognized repository for such subject matter these days.  

IF you have photos of the model you want to repair please send them as email attachments and I can comment further.
 
Some Questions and Cautions
 
The plans of Pilgrim which have been circulated since the 1940s were made by Cornelius F. Spillane of New York.
In all probability, the model you have will have been made to those plans.
 
Although they can be used to produce a lovely model, his is not an accurate depiction of this brig, based on newer research by my late friend Raymond Aker of Palo Alto, California, and my own c. mid-late 1990s.
 
Spillane's model (exceptional craftsmanship) is in the Mystic Seaport Collection and I had the privilege several years ago to view and photograph it extensively. But I cannot share those images.
 
There are copies of Ray's drawings "out there" and without his or his widow's permission (both deceased) but even they are incomplete.
Nevertheless, I have seen at least three models made using them, and each are excellent.
 
Strangely, I suppose... but although I can confidently say I know more about this Pilgrim than anyone living, I never built a model of her or contemplated doing so.
 
Having just begun my 80th year, I am considering gathering my research and posting it on the new website established by the Drake Navigator's Guild
https://nasoh.org/news-and-announcements/f/new-digital-journal-the-bowsprit
 
If you decide to build a model of Pilgrim, I can also provide guidance toward what I believe will be as accurate a depiction as can be derived from known primary and secondary sources.
 
Not long ago the Historical Society of Old Yarmouthport published my research on an 1830 watercolor proven to be of this Pilgrim, in the harbor of Palermo in 1830.
 
Guessing my entire body of findings -- including a 160+ entry, annotated bibliography, would run to several hundred pages.
 
Too busy for that now, as I am deep into developing a new biography of Howard Irving Chapelle (1901-1975). On letter exchange with Chap is about this Pilgrim, which curiously, Chap had never studied or written about.
 
Good Luck!
windships@earthlink.net

A different option might be the Model Shipways Gunboat Philadelphia. It's large scale 1:24 and does not have a ton of small rigging. Olha Batchvarov just starting a group build on her YouTube channel:
 
 

Your observations about Vanguard kits are interesting. The thing is, the Vanguard and Caldercraft kits, besides sharing the same designer, Chris Watton, make similar use of etched brass and small parts. Etched brass is commonplace these days -- you'll be hard-pressed to find any wooden kits that don't make use of it. And the only way to get away from smaller parts is to go for larger scales (which might actually be counterproductive, since larger scales can include more fine detail).
 
That said, of the three kits you listed, the only one that wouldn't interest me, personally, is the Corsair, since that is a generic brig and not a historical vessel. But with your experience, you could build any of them, so choose whichever you like best -- just be forewarned that all of them will have that dreaded PE brass and small parts.
 
Cheers!

Thank you all for the words of encouragement. I think next steps will be to get a curling iron, watch more videos, and taper more. I think I’m on the right track, but need to follow through more.

Thank you for all the likes.
Many thanks for @Baker, @druxey, @wefalck, @GrandpaPhil, @ccoyle and @Michael Mash for their positive response. Too much honor.
 
@wefalck: the crew was made by my friend Herbert Tomesen's company, which is specializing nowadays in making all sorts of human figures, using 3D photography. The firm hires re-enactment groups of people who are dressed in the appropriate clothing and can be delivered in any wanted pose or stand. Usually the scale is 1/87 (HO), but 1/72, 1/120, 1/160 and 1/220 are also available. For me he simply prints them at my 1/77 scale, but I am not sure he can do that for everyone...
This is his site, the artwork is done by my son Emiel: https://www.artitecshop.com/nl/figuren/

Thank you for making me smile this morning, Ab! Love the figures animating your model as well.