Aussie048

Slow and steady, but I have finally fitted the boat to the stern davits. The photos are a bit rough but show the work as it progressed. The gripes are made from an old handkerchief which the boss surrendered. It was stained in cold tea and rinsed in diluted PVA glue. After drying I cut some 2mm wide strips which were still reasonably flexible and added some brass rings to tie them to eye bolts in the stern rail. There is a gripe rail with padding between the boat and the transom but the photo of that was out of focus. The gripe rail is required to keep the boat off the rudder pendants and to pull the gripes against, same as for boats fitted to davits along the bulwarks.  

Hello friends. I've been out of the shipyard for several weeks, mostly due to the start of a new school year. Well, my classes are up and running well now, and we were blessed with a nice cool day today, so I headed out to the Glacial Progress Boatworks and started work on the post that will hold up the catheads. The catheads will angle in from the tops of the bulwarks and bevel into the post. The bowsprit will sit on top of the one of the catheads to the side of the post. Not much work, but that's never stopped me from posting photos before.
 
Steve

Thank's Geoff, I am glad that you are going to follow along . This build just fell in my lap , I don't know that much about these Boats ,Last time I followed Around the World Races it was called the Whitbread race. So I may learn somthing along the way. It looks like it will be alot of fun to build . And we will get to see her sail.
 
Best Regards,
Pete

Continuing the boats. Gee whiz! you are thinking. How does he keep his ribs so gol' durned square on those boats? Well, attached is the secret. Put all of this under a magnifier & I can tell if it is a micron out of square. I know, it's this kind of tip that makes this forum worth the money you pay every month. I'm happy to help.

I started a gun rope coil factory. I gave up on the plastic rolling device since it got very gummy fast. I used 50% PVA and 50% water to soak the rope. Then I just carefully rolled the ropes in my fingers to make the coils. I check several models and very strict Flemish coils looked a bit parade like and not the way guns would be ready for battle. So I made them less formal looking. I still have about a dozen to go.

Hi all
 
Not long to go now ha ha.
 
I robbed the "RW" kit for the stand, just one coat of varnish on it so far ( 2 more to go ).
 
Done port side anchors, will do the starboard side today.
 
All that is left is to do the flags.
 
Denis.

I was asked to bring the model to the Fell's Point Maritime Museum in Baltimore on July 22nd, 2012, for a one day display to commemorate the anniversary of the first 7 letter of marque vessels to sail out of Fell's Point for the War of 1812.  It wasn't possible for me to fully complete the model in time, or even get it sailable, but I resolved to do as much as I could to make her presentable for display.  The Pride of Baltimore II would be there, and I had sailed on Pride with her captain, Jon Miles, ie: someone intimately familiar with the boat I was modeling would see it, but hey, no pressure.
 
In preparation though, I bolt-roped all the sails, worked out a chart of what rigging blocks she would need, and began making them.

 
The sails are roped with a three-stranded nylon cord.  The bolt rope is glued to the sail with fabric glue as well as sewn in an abbreviated version of the way real ones are sewn on.  A bolt rope isn't sewn the the edge of a sail, but rather to one side of it right at the edge.  Each stitch passes between two strands of the line, through the third, and into the sail, where it takes a turn back around and repeats in the next strand.  Each turn is in the direction of the lay of the line sew the stitching disappears into the lay of the bolt rope.  In stead of every strand, I stitched through every three or four strands.  The stitching is somewhat visible at this scale, especially on the "back-side" of the sail from the bolt rope, but the glue makes up for the reduced structure.
 
 
Eyes, cringles, garnets, etc, along the edge of the sail were made with the bolt rope.  grommets in the sail are burned with the pointed tip of a soldiering iron.  This is a nice feature of using Supplex, holes can be made for reef-points, for example, that are heat sealed and require no further reenforcing.  Eyes are formed around a round toothpick to maintain constant size and keep the from closing while sewing's in progress.  Grommets are burned in near each eye for and the bolt rope is seized on either side, just as a real sail is constructed.  Well, this IS a real sail, just a small one.  By-the-way, did I mention I used to work at Ulmer Kolius sail makers near Annapolis?  I didn't usually sew on bolt ropes there, that I learned working on boats such as Pride; at Ulmer I did things like putting ducks on Flashers (a genoa/spinnaker hybrid).
   
 
The yards got foot-ropes and I made some unsheaved blocks to cover for this display.
 
 
 
 

 
The sails were attached to their spars, the main and fores'l to the mast hoops,  Halyards rove, and bit by but, Pride was dressed. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
I was ready.  I even cobbled together a slide show of the models construction and loaded it onto an e-frame, and made up some hand-outs with specs on the model and the real Pride.
 
Unfortunately, the events schedule was changed to a day I would be out of town for something else - so Pride didn't get publicly displayed.
 
Later, I made and attached fairleads to the fore tops'l for the bunt-lines which I made from a bamboo chopstick.  I found the new information on the pump heads mentioned previously.  And noted a sort of rub rail under the hawse pipes of the original boat and a difference in how the wale finished at the bow.

 
I took a shot at turning a gun barrel, one in pine, one in cherry - neither of which I'm satisfied with.  The carriage was better, but I had to draw scaled plans as Gilmer's drawings of the guns were a bit cartoonish.
 
 
The model's been moved to my new residence, as I move out of my house.  With no consistent income since being fired in January 2012, after 18 years, the house is being foreclosed on.
For the moment, Pride sits on top of a cabinet in the living room waiting for the new shop to come online.

Spars
 
All the spars were made of white pine, since it's been working so well so far.
Rough cut to size, square stock was made 8-sided, etc, etc, to round.
 
 
Gaffs and boom were fitted with jaws made from aircraft plywood and tried for size.
   
 
The boom has a shoulder cut in the end for the ring-tail iron and a bolster that keeps the mains'l clew out-haul held off the boom.
 
 
The main mast was fitted with a saddle and knees for the boom to rest on, after the mast's hoops were loaded on.

 
All the spars got stain and paint, and all the brass was blackened and painted.  The coarse yard got stuns'l boom irons, stuns'l booms, and jack stays.
   
 
Cleats and holes for sheets and the like...

 
and a clew iron for the main boom

 
The yards and boom

Thanks once again for all the kind comments Geoff, Grant, Greg, Nils, John, Joe, David, Steve, Christian, Carl, Janos, Johann, E&T and Padeen, and also for all those who "Liked" my last post .
 
I somehow made a measurement error on the Mizzen Crosstrees, and subsequently had to remove all the pieces of the top (apart from the Battens), make new crosstrees and refit the lot. I'm very happy with the results now .... that kind of thing would have caused all sorts of problems later on.
 
Topmasts
 
The Topmasts are a bit trickier to shape than the lower masts. Starting from the bottom they have an octagonal shape, then a square, another octagon, a tapered round for most of it's section, a tapered octagon and a tapered square topped by the tenon for the topmast cap. It all sounds very difficult, but it was surprisingly easy (although time consuming). As with the lower masts most of the work was done with a chisel, rounding the middle section with sandpaper.
 

 
I made the Fids from brass strip. The rectangular holes were cut with a very narrow chisel after first drilling two small holes :
 

 

 

 

 
Two slots were cut for the Top Rope sheaves, which were turned from brass :
 

 

 
  Danny

Finally the hammocks are complete...all 180 of them. Now I have to figure out the best way to secure them. One method would be bees wax and turprntine...I'll have to find out exactly how to make such a brew. Any other ideas?....only friction holds them now.

Geoff,
 
thank you very much,  I`m happy if it is liked and to share this with others....
 
Nils

Pretty confused day mixed with homeworks, clients, kids issues, passed express, and evening comes. She called and I answered.

Her first order was : "Rudder nails first !"
 
And I made and mount 8 missing nails, and rudder is finished (except some coloring)

Then she said: "Look at my stern, do you think I am happy with this?"
 
Then I started to fine correct her stern, telling Her that She must bi patient waiting putty to dry and harden.

She answered: "OK, do not lose your and my time, give me some make up. Look how untidy I look!"

So I start with fine painting along waterline.

She is a bit wild tonight

When she finally slept, I tested my new founded method for macro shots, and on foot fingers silently run away from shipyard

Build log part 64
 
 
making the main Yard.....
 
 
the plans calls for a 6 mm dowel but I find that too flimsy, so I Chose a 8 mm dowel, put on an octogonal middle section with 7,2 mm flat widths and tapered the Ends down to 3 mm.
This is the second Trial but I think it works out OK now and I shall do both (raw) lower Yards in this way
 
Nils
 
 
 

In the Spring 2014 issue of the Nautical Research Journal I read a brief review by Kurt Van Dahm (page 69, Vol 59 No 1) of a new tool called a Micro Combo Saw by Unique Master Models of Deerfield Illinois.  It seemed to be exactly what I was looking for in order to make very fine cuts, so I ordered the saw and the Micro Miter Box that was designed for it.  I couldn't be happier with it.  I've shown it to a few other ship modelers, and everyone who has seen it has wanted one, so I thought I'd share it on MSW (I haven't seen any other references to it).
 
The saw itself has a plain wooden handle, and the blades are very similar to 2-edged razor blades. 

 
The blades are .005 inch thick, and have a 'coarse' side and a 'fine' side.  The 'coarse' side is finer than any razor saw I've found.  There are also some spacers included in the kit so you can mount two blades in the handle for parallel cuts.
 

 
Everything comes in a nice storage box.
 

 
The Micro Miter Box has positions for 45, 60 , and 90 degree cuts.
 

 
Since the Micro Miter Box is very small, I made a small holding jig so that I could hold it securely in my vise.  This keeps the miter box from slipping out of my fingers.
 

 
The next picture shows the underside of the jig.
 

 
The saw and miter box are very economically priced, and I recommend them for anyone looking to make fine cross-cuts on small stock.  You can find them on the Unique Master Models website at www.umm-usa.com
 
Frank
 
 
 

I just found out from my newly found friends at Arizona Shipwrights that the grates on a sailing ship should be no bigger than a man's heel. The grates that I struggled so hard to fabricate that were provided by Constructo are big enough to swallow a man's leg! It's too late for me to rectify this major mistake in scale but at least all of you can now check the scale of future grates.

Hi all
 
Just one more photo from the stern area.
 
Denis.

Haven't gotten a lot done the last few days. But thought I catch up on what I have got done.
 

Got the lower stern done with the African walnut.  I bonded some of the thin planking to the inside of each piece and stained same as deck. I beveled the outer edges for a better fit, then sanded the outside flush.
 

 
Made new deck stringers. I stained the originals a color I didn't like. Did a lateral bend and am letting it form.
 

 
Got the hatch coamings on today.
 

 
Put together the ladders for the lower decks and stained them English Oak.
 

 
I'll finish up the stringers next. Then not sure what after that.  Since the Ryder Cup starts tomorrow morning, may not get much done. 
 
 

Hello,
today I want to show you how I have made the fittings for the ventilation hatches with portholes.
These vents are located on the lower deck, as can be seen in the following pictures.

 
The other images show step by step the process.

 

 

 

 

 

Finished another bank of hammocks. Only about fifty to go.

I lied. I never got to the yawl. I spent all day sanding the boats.
 
I ordered a serving machine. From the looks of Lever & the photo's of the real boat, it looks like at least one shroud of each mast is served all the way to the deadeye (see second attached picture). That would be a monumental job to do on my little teensy Model Expo String-Along.

Hello, Bob
 
Next moves have their natural order

1. Finish 8 nails left on rudder
2. Correct place where rudder enters in stern and making there little rounded mask from veneer
3. Correct black color in surface between white square rail and coopered surface
4. Paint white rail
5. Correct color on water ports surface
6. Paint first and second "brown" rails
7. In mean time discover and looking for solution how to make final standing for Her,  make it and then turn Her over
8. Then tricky part - make/drill/etc etc all little parts on inside and outside parts on bulwarks
9. Then more tricky part - deadeye and nail holding rail along inside bulwarks including deadeyes and nails

That is enough for next three years before step No 10. 11. etc

10. making all deck furniture fitting and houses
11. final deck make up

That is for next three years before masting
 
VIVA LA PATIENCE !!!!

I have please a question to thje comunity...
 
when bracing the Yard it will foul the leeward shroud already at minimal brace angles. In order to avoid this the truss pendant will have to be given appropriate looseness horizontaly, but this will move the Yard quite a bit away from the mast. Sling and jeers will hold the Yard securely in vertical Level, but I not sure if this is foreseen the same way on the actual ship.
 
Hopefully a fellow modeler with experience in braced Yards Position can kindly give me some advise on this.
Many thanks in advance
 
Nils
 
Here a Little Illustration of what I mean...
 
 
 

Start mounting rudder

Yes I know, space between rudder and stern has to be smaller, but this is out if my skills. Even work with this little nails 2mm long is horror


 

I have all the gun ports lined and now starting on the stern castle section. I'm trying to follow Lawrence's build as close to as possible refer to: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/2241-hms-victory-by-canoe21-lawrence-al-scale-184/page-4 hence the design on the stern castle flooring. But I'm also trying to stay as true to the kit as possible with limited modifications. I notched into the hull section coming back toward the Stern flooring because I want to leave as much of the sides as possible for added support for the windows or at least until I get them. 

Thanks Tim. PVC pipe does make great wood storage too. That was my first thought until I saw how much pipe I would have to buy.
 
As promised, here is a picture of the cannon balls. I took this picture 24 hours after blackening them. They were much blacker when I first took them out of the solution. I think they rusted a bit, as some are now a little red. Any suggestions on how to get them black again? Maybe put them back into the solution and dry them off when I pull them out? The problem is they are so small and light I am afraid I would loose too many in the drying process. Were the real cannon balls made of iron and if so would they rust too? Maybe I can just leave them like this? What do people think?
 

 
And here is a progress shot of the starboard side wales going in. The strip clamped around the bow has been soaked and is drying into the rough shape for the next wale plank at the stem.
 

 
Tim, I am heading up your way this afternoon to get some stuff out of my father's house in Henrietta. Then its off to LI to drop them off to him tomorrow, and back to Boston on Sunday. I am calling it the New York tour, but at least my daughter volunteered to come with me to help with the driving.