Bob Cleek

My wife breeds and shows champion basset hounds. One of her young bitches got ahold of a couple of my favorite books and chewed up the covers. I went ballistic, but it was my fault for leaving the books where she could get at them, not my dearly beloved's for leaving the door open to my reading room. Rationale: I should know better. The dog doesn't know any better. Cats, dogs, kids, the cleaning lady... just about anything will pose a danger to a ship model that isn't properly cased.

I've sure someone will respond with copies they can share. Better it was the plans pages and not the finished, fully-rigged model, as has been the case on repeated occasions. In the meantime, write 100 times, "Cats and ship models don't mix." Consider losing the cats and getting a dog.

What scale are you working in? Degaussing cables were generally at the waterline. Some went down the entire length of the vessel and others only part way. Some were ever moved around from time to time. Was that 240mm cable 240mm in diameter or circumference? There's a big difference between a nine inch diameter and a three inch diameter. That's a lotta copper either way!

Good question. I don't know. That said, there were and are many degaussing cable arrangements and many more of the related "deperming" system which serves the same purpose. It is quite likely that a variety of cable arrangements would vary from ship to ship and from location to location. (Of course, the "pole" of a ship's induced magnetic field has to be reversed as the ship travels from one hemisphere to the other in order to achieve the magnetic neutrality necessary to defeat detection by magnetic mines and so the configuration of the degaussing cables may have changed from hemisphere to hemisphere, as well. See: Degaussing — National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy (navymuseum.co.nz) I'm going to guess and say that the cable was probably fairly substantial, but it's size and physical positioning would vary from vessel to vessel.

If you are getting a gloss finish from the shellac, you are putting too much shellac on. Just apply a single coat of thinned shellac (out of the can if premixed, 2 pound cut if not) and let the line soak it up. If that is allowed to dry without excessive shellac build-up, the clear shellac should be invisible. If you put another coat on top of the thinned shellac, you will start seeing a gloss effect. You should be able to remove most, if not all of the gloss shine by wiping the shellacked line down with an alcohol-soaked piece of cloth or a cotton ball.

She was transferred to a wheeled cradle which was pushed down a large launching ramp by a large eighteen-wheeler tractor connected by a rigid push bar. The cradle failed on the starboard side.

Ah yes, "two peoples divided by a common language" as they say. In Cangarda's case, it's entirely proper to allow her bronze to acquire a patina. Hers seems to have turned a verdigris green. Often, the bronze weathers to a "tarnished penny brown," but i suppose the verdigris is a function of the amount of tin in the alloy. Her iron fittings require chipping and repainting. (The modern zinc paint undercoaotings would save a lot of work in this regard!) I did also note that there's a bolt missing from the steam line union on the anchor windlass. That definitely requires replacement before steam pressure is put to that union! On a "gold plater" of Cangarda's quality the original blocks on the anchor crane tackle would have been internally bronze-strapped varnished teak or lignam vitae-cheeked or all cast bronze open-web-cheeked. There wouldn't have been any stainless on her as built in 1901. It's this old sailor's "bosun's eye" that catches such details.

An interesting point, Roger. Of course, were she repowered with diesel and lost her steam power, the historic value of the vessel would be reduced tremendously. The steam engine is an historic thing unto itself. With respect to our questions about her hailing port and registration and McNeil's decision to "electronically automate" her steam plant, there may well be a few flies in the ointment. I know a bit about steam power and am relying on my memory here, so don't hold me to it, but, as I recall, under the USCG regulations, at least, a steam powered vessel over fifty feet in length used for any commercial purpose (which would include charter service) must operate with a USCG certified marine steam engineer on duty in the engine room and, as might be expected, the steam plant must be thoroughly safety-inspected on a regular schedule. Then there's the issue of obtaining insurance which would add a big chunk to her annual operating budget! I doubt she's capable of anything other than coastal voyaging, as she can't possibly carry enough fuel for ocean crossings. She's not a toy for anyone on a budget, so I doubt even giving her away would be an easy task, let alone trying to sell her for anything remotely close to what McNeil put into restoring her. We all can thrill to the accomplishment of her restoration, but in the end she may turn out to be a very expensive white elephant. Then again, as "the rich get richer," maybe another billionaire just might be crazy enough to take the bait.

They certainly didn't have stabilizers like that when she was first built, as far as I know, but she probably required them, particularly when she was carrying the top hamper of two masts. I wouldn't be surprised if she was quite a "roller." What surprised me in this regard was the absence of a bow thruster. These are a simple bit of kit these days, particularly since they were essentially building a whole new welded hull. It would make a huge difference when bringing her alongside a dock or quay.

It wasn't the brass to which i was referring, but rather the exterior varnish work. (Which may also be a crew duty, depending upon the management of the vessel and the skills of the crew.) There may be a difference between American and British English. On this side of the pond, we generically refer to brightly varnished woodwork on a vessel as "brightwork." Brass is just "brass" to us, e.g. "...polish the brass..." vs. "varnish the brightwork." That said, the brass looks like it hasn't been regularly polished, but that wouldn't be unusual if she were laid up for the winter. The varnish takes longer to show the ravages of UV and, given that she was certainly wearing a professionally applied "eight coats" when she was restored, the fact that it is wearing through to the wood on the horizontal surfaces indicates she probably was in the sun with the brightwork uncovered for a couple of years, at least. Once it gets to showing bare wood, it must be entirely stripped and a new thick coating of varnish coats must be applied to restore a uniform finish. To maintain brightwork, a light sanding and a coat or two every six or eight months depending on the UV exposure is necessary and even more is needed in the tropics.

The deck appears to be a veneer product made by Teak Decking Systems ("TDS" - World's Premier Teak Decking by Teakdecking Systems — Teakdecking Systems) The structural deck would be welded steel, TDS is laid out on a sheet of plywood and then the teak veneer is glued to the plywood in the configuration designed and shipped out of the factory as an exactly cut prefabricated sheet. (Note the absence of fastener plugs in the teak deck planks.) What you are looking at in the pictures is a modern "faux" laid teak deck, not a real one. I don't know how the original deck was laid out, exactly. It was probably much thicker (and wider) teak planking bolted to the deck beams or through the steel plate deck, then caulked and it was probably laid out to coincide with the bases of the deck furniture. The modern layout and narrow strakes of the restoration planking are an anachronism. Quality teak in sizes suitable for "old school" deck planking is virtually unobtainable today, which probably explains the decision not to replicate the original teak decking.

Thanks for the back story, Roger! I was unaware that McNeil had died. (I've yet to get to my copy of the latest WoodenBoat ) Looking at the photos and unaware of your post until I reached it, I kept wondering why Cangarda wasn't being properly maintained, at least considering what had been put into her restoration. (The Harken stainless steel and plastic racing blocks on the anchor cranes really blew my mind.) Somebody's going to have to put some bucks into refinishing a lot of that brightwork. Once the seams open up and water gets under the varnish, it's toast. It's a crime, really. The cost of regular routine maintenance was probably peanuts in the context of McNeil's overall estate.

She's hanging an anchor light in the above picture, but in the below much earlier picture she appears to be carrying a steaming light on the foremast. I presume this was a permanently mounted electric light. Note that on the flying bridge she is carrying a large electric spotlight.

I'm a "woodie," too. I also followed Gerald's build and was in awe of his jigs. He must have spent a tremendous amount of time conceiving, designing, and building them. That man was a genius, for sure. His Techniques of Ship Modeling is one of the best books on the subject that I've ever seen. I go back for a re-read every so often, along with Underhill's modeling technique books, just to refresh my memory. Looking back on his build log, though, I see where all of his links to his own website are now dead. Apparently, nobody maintained them after his passing and all of it is probably lost, including things like the plans for his jigs. Sigh.

Perhaps you can be more specific. I don't think there are many "sets of mini wood saws" available in the marketplace. Also, are you referring to hand saws or powered saws? Which model are you building? Your answers to these questions will get you responses that are more accurately tailored to your inquiry. Generally, it's not wise to buy "sets" of any tools because they load these "sets" up with a lot of stuff you will never use. Follow the maxim: "Only buy a tool when you need it and then buy the best you can afford." The most expensive tool is the one you have to buy twice! Much of the cutting done in modeling is done with scalpels and "hobby blades" which are readily available on hobby shops and on line. X-Acto and similar brands offer small saw blades that will fit their holders. A basic set runs around $25. In this case, the below "set" is an exception to the "avoid sets" rule. You probably will never use half the blades provided, but the price is worth it for the handles alone. There's a wide selection of bladees availabel separately. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=xacto+x5282+basic+knife+set&adgrpid=1333708177723075&hvadid=83356927325719&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=43893&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83357125204862%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=24627_10488567&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_1gynreog08_e (There are Chinese copies all over the place that look exactly like the X-Acto and Excel brands, but are pure junk. Don't buy them!) Another brand of hobby knife saw set showing the sort of saw blades available for the X-Acto sets. $11.00. https://www.amazon.com/LitKiwi-Modeling-Hacksaw-Handcrafted-Cutting/dp/B0BRKR9KQP/ref=sr_1_44?keywords=jewelers%2Bsaw%2Bkit&qid=1682128554&sr=8-44&th=1 Another option is a classic adjustable jeweler's saw, which will hold a variety of different sized blades suitable for cutting wood, plastics, and metals. You want the adjustable frame so you can reuse broken blades that are no longer full length. (And you will break blades!) Buy a decent quality one. There are cheaper ones that aren't worth the money and hugely expensive ones that IMHO are overkill unless you are a professional jeweler. See: https://www.ottofrei.com/products/classic-jewelers-adjustable-sawframes (Note that Otto Frei jeweler's supply house is an excellent tool source.) Buy a selection of saw blades while you are at it: https://www.ottofrei.com/collections/saw-blades For example, this looks like an acceptable starter set: https://www.amazon.com/Megacast-Professional-Jewelers-Blades-Wooden/dp/B089XSPBJL/ref=pd_vtp_h_pd_vtp_h_sccl_5/139-6146405-0707815?pd_rd_w=5bdn2&content-id=amzn1.sym.a5610dee-0db9-4ad9-a7a9-14285a430f83&pf_rd_p=a5610dee-0db9-4ad9-a7a9-14285a430f83&pf_rd_r=S6XHMSDNABQSEVP6TC18&pd_rd_wg=rM4x6&pd_rd_r=cd18a20a-775c-4dfe-9bea-d3a7d7d282bc&pd_rd_i=B089XSPBJL&psc=1 (The wooden piece clamps to the edge of your workbench and is used to saw shapes from thin flat sheet metal or whatever other small piece you need to hold to saw. It will save you from sawing up the edge of your workbench!) These saws pretty much cover the "mini" handsaw selection for modeling. There are more options for power saws, but for small, fine work, you will probably opt for handsaws anyway. You can spend hundreds of dollars on powered scroll saws, a Byrnes Model Machines table saw and attachments, and so on. Happy sawing!

That was Keith Black's question that I was answering, actually. Your answer raises another question: "Why plank the hull at all?" It's an iron ship, not a wooden one. A "bread and butter" hollowed out solid hull is entirely appropriate. It's your call, of course, but If I were building her and had your skills, I'd be thinking in terms of a metal hull. Carve a pattern and "tap, tap, tap" to get the plates shaped as laid out in the plating schedule, if you have the plans. The late Gerald Wingrove, MBE, undertook as his magnum opus an exact sectional model of the Falls of Clyde in brass (I believe.) (His website, which contained something of a log on his Falls of Clyde build, seems to be no more. The below photo is from https://www.modelengineeringwebsite.com/Gerald_Wingrove.html )

Being as Cangarda is blind-riveted, there would be little point in not painting it, would there? Then again, there were some pretty spectacular builder's models of early 1900's metal steamships which were built of wood and finished "bright" with all hardware of yellow metal (sometimes even gold-plated.) https://www.shipsnostalgia.com/media/cangarda-as-found.97579/ Or, build it all of copper and brass and leave unfinished:

One thing's for sure, they need to brush up on their flag etiquette and strike that yacht signal from the stern staff. That place of honor is reserved for the national ensign only. Then, later, here she is flying the British "Blue Duster" in Canadian waters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ensign And in 2011 in Brockville, Canada, flying an outdated (of 1957-1965) Canadian ensign, the "Blue Duster" with Canadian of defacement. (As of 1965, the Canadian ensign is the red and white "maple leaf" national flag.) So, as for a home port, perhaps she has none and sails hither and yon under false "flags of convenience." (See: https://naylorlaw.com/blog/flag-of-convenience/) Might she be switching national registries to keep one step ahead of the taxman? That could arguably make her a pirate, raising the question of whether MSW would condone a build log for a model of a pirated ship or whether its prohibition only extends to pirated models of ships.

Very nice work at that scale!

Actually, these lanterns don't really get hot. Warm, maybe, but not hot. The flame isn't much more than an inch wide at the burner and forms an equilateral triangle with its sides. A larger flame would only create a lot of black smoke and soot. Out in the sea air in even a light breeze, the lamp body doesn't have much of a chance to heat up.

Exactly so. Eberhard's photo of the tug at the NMM shows clearly how it was done with the lantern hung on a flat back plate which actually carries the jackstay rings. Other lanterns have the jackstay rings attached the lamp itself which would be less convenient than leaving the jackstays permanently rigged and slipping the lantern on and off a carrier plate. It should be remembered, however, that the jackstay and running light halyard arrangement might be a bit messy on a sailing ship with all the attendant rigging already running down to the base of the mast and for this reason steam powered vessels carrying auxiliary sails (or sailing vessels with auxiliary steam power) might opt for the "portable" rig whcih was struck down when not in use . The picture below, showing what appears to be more permanent jackline and bracket arrangement is on a steam tug which would not be bothered by additional rigging on and about the mast. Indeed, the backplate seems a bit crudely made and it's possible it was fabricated by the tug's bosun to achieve the convenience it affords in servicing and lighting. All the lanterns of this era were hung in the same fashion.... or at least all I've ever seen. The back of the lantern has a bent flat metal strap which slides over a "tongue" positioned as may be convenient, either on a flat plate as shown above, or on a light board port and starboard, or on a stern transom or rail as shown in another of Eberhard's photos below. (Interestingly, the stern light shown was originally an oil lamp; as indicated by the permanently mounted "tongue" and strap on the lantern, but the lantern has been electrified as seen by the power cord running into the back of the lantern next to the standing "tongue" bracket. In the photo below, a "tongue," rather than a strap, is attached to the back of this port running light to the right of the red curved glass inside the body of the lamp. (The back of the lamp body is a right angle so it will fit neatly into the corner of the light board. This tongue would slide into a strap permanently attached to the light board in order to "hang" the lamp on the board.

I've had a good look at that vessel in the flesh, as it were, an while I am not any sort of expert on that period, I'd caution against relying upon it for much of any sort of historically accurate data. Those aren't wedges. I can't tell exactly what they are, but it appears they are simply laminated planks used to build up the mast.

Back when her restoration was completed, she was reportedly going to be homeported at Mystic Seaport, CT. I didn't find her on a quick search of the USCG vessel information database, but I'd be quite surprised if she were not a US flagged vessel with USCG documentation. That would require a hailing port on the transom (or stern quarters) expressed as a city and state. That requirement isn't unique to the US, but rather is required by international law. A Liberian flagged vessel would, for example, carry the hailing port of "Monrovia." A British flagged vessel would carry a hailing port like "Liverpool," and so on. The hailing port has to be written in clear block lettering of no less than a 4" high font. It could be that she was pending transfer of ownership and the new owners intended to register her with a new hailing port. In the US, at least, a registered home port can expose the vessel owner to incurring sales and/or ongoing annual property taxes. (In California we see a lot of Oregon hailing ports on large yachts because, unlike California, Oregon has no sales tax. Just a guess, though.)

A great subject to model in the old "builder's model" style of her time. It will be interesting to see what you do with this one! BTW, does anyone know why she doesn't have a hailing port on her transom?

Actually, in the Tung Woo lights, there are curved pieces of colored glass, one red, as shown, and the other blue, in brackets inside the lamp behind the Fresnel lens. The Fresnel lenses are both clear and from certain angles in certain light appear clear from the outside when the lamps aren't burning. I believe the thin curved colored glass panes behind the larger clear Fresnel lenses would have been a manufacturing economy. There is a lot more glass in the Fresnel lenses than in the color panes behind them. Glass is colored with metal oxides. Only the colors created with metals maintain their color intensity without fading in all situations including direct sunlight. A prime example where the capacity to hold color and not fade is critical would be in a running light. Red is the most expensive color of glass because oxidized gold is used to achieve its color. The larger quantity of clear glass used to cast the Fresnel lenses was the least expensive glass of all. If you look closely, you can see the narrow top edge of the curved pane of glass that slides down the side slots and forms a curved "box" between the glass pane and the back of the Fresnel lens. I've always noted that the green light is actually blue with a yellow flame showing green through it, but I can't remember ever seeing a model in a museum that showed a blue starboard oil-burning running light, and I've looked. They all seem to be colored green. Properly, the light board might be painted green, but an oil lamp lens should be blue, or "bluish clear," I suppose. Maybe nobody notices this sort of thing but me. I'm the sort of guy who "clocks" his screws when they show. That's good for extra points on the concours circuit.