Bob Cleek

She's coming together beautifully, Kevin! Thanks for sharing so much with us. I know that can take as much time as the modeling!
 
BTW, I stumbled across your movie, Tobago 1677 on Amazon Prime last night. I enjoyed it a lot. MSW member Ab Hoving's cameo was noted, too!
 
 

There's always the "old standby" of suitably sized round seeds. I suppose you have to know your seeds to know which to buy, though. 

A good epoxy bond should be as strong as needed. Pinning the pieces would be advised if you were using ordinary PVA wood glue, especially since clamping sticks end to end is difficult. Pinning is also difficult because you have to drill a straight hole into exactly the same spot on both broken ends or the two ends won't join together perfectly. (Hint: It's done on a lathe with the end in the headstock chuck and the drill bit in the tailstock chuck.)
 
  There are lots of online sources for micro-drill bits. You aren't likely to find them in a hardware store, although sometimes a few of the larger small sizes may be available in the Dremel tool display case. They are used a lot in the electronics industry and elsewhere.  You can get a standard set of numbered-sized bits for between $20 and $30. You can also sometimes find them individually for about $.75 each at a good hobby shop or in tubes of ten or a dozen on line. You will find yourself using (and breaking) the same few sizes, so "buying in bulk" provides a significant savings over buying individual bits, especially if you can "stock up" when one of the dealers has a sale.       https://www.amazon.com/s?k=micro+drill+bit+set&hvadid=78409042794384&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_421r1x8trl_e     https://www.amazon.com/CML-Supply-Micro-Drill-Chuck/dp/B001RJE3X8/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&hvadid=78409042794384&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=micro+drill+bit+set&qid=1591571449&sr=8-11&tag=mh0b-20   Get on the Micro-Mark catalog mailing list. https://www.micromark.com/ They have a wide selection of modeling tools and hobby supplies and their catalog will give you a good idea of what is available on the market. Their tool offerings are often not the best of their type (i.e. "hobby quality") and they are often much more expensive that elsewhere. Their prices get more reasonable if you sign up for their email advertisements, which always have "loss leader" deals and substantial discounts on things. Syren Ship Models (click on their icon in the "sponsors" bar on the MSW forum home page) is the go-to place for blocks ("pulleys" to the landsmen) and rigging line. (Although you may want to try to duplicate the original rigging line on the model, which may be simply sewing thread.) Sourcing obscure tools and materials is actually part of the fun of the hobby.    If you are new to the hobby, it never hurts to post a question in the "Modeling Tools and Workshop Equipment" section of the forum. You will get plenty of advice on what you need and where it can be had for the least money. (Generally speaking, any tool the advertisements say is "essential for ship modeling" probably isn't!) There are also good articles on tools in the "Articles Database" in the address bar at the top of the forum homepage.   

Perhaps, but if the pieces fit together well, that's not necessary. One of the (few) advantages of epoxy adhesive for modeling purposes is that its bonding strength isn't dependent upon clamping pressure.

As for glues, epoxy adhesive is probably the strongest of all. I'd be inclined to use epoxy for broken spars because they do have to have some strength when rigged. (Rigging tensions can add up surprisingly.)  It's tedious to use, so practice a bit on scrap wood first. Excess epoxy adhesive can be cleaned up before curing using acetone or vinegar. 

A good epoxy bond should be as strong as needed. Pinning the pieces would be advised if you were using ordinary PVA wood glue, especially since clamping sticks end to end is difficult. Pinning is also difficult because you have to drill a straight hole into exactly the same spot on both broken ends or the two ends won't join together perfectly. (Hint: It's done on a lathe with the end in the headstock chuck and the drill bit in the tailstock chuck.)
 
  There are lots of online sources for micro-drill bits. You aren't likely to find them in a hardware store, although sometimes a few of the larger small sizes may be available in the Dremel tool display case. They are used a lot in the electronics industry and elsewhere.  You can get a standard set of numbered-sized bits for between $20 and $30. You can also sometimes find them individually for about $.75 each at a good hobby shop or in tubes of ten or a dozen on line. You will find yourself using (and breaking) the same few sizes, so "buying in bulk" provides a significant savings over buying individual bits, especially if you can "stock up" when one of the dealers has a sale.       https://www.amazon.com/s?k=micro+drill+bit+set&hvadid=78409042794384&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_421r1x8trl_e     https://www.amazon.com/CML-Supply-Micro-Drill-Chuck/dp/B001RJE3X8/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&hvadid=78409042794384&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=micro+drill+bit+set&qid=1591571449&sr=8-11&tag=mh0b-20   Get on the Micro-Mark catalog mailing list. https://www.micromark.com/ They have a wide selection of modeling tools and hobby supplies and their catalog will give you a good idea of what is available on the market. Their tool offerings are often not the best of their type (i.e. "hobby quality") and they are often much more expensive that elsewhere. Their prices get more reasonable if you sign up for their email advertisements, which always have "loss leader" deals and substantial discounts on things. Syren Ship Models (click on their icon in the "sponsors" bar on the MSW forum home page) is the go-to place for blocks ("pulleys" to the landsmen) and rigging line. (Although you may want to try to duplicate the original rigging line on the model, which may be simply sewing thread.) Sourcing obscure tools and materials is actually part of the fun of the hobby.    If you are new to the hobby, it never hurts to post a question in the "Modeling Tools and Workshop Equipment" section of the forum. You will get plenty of advice on what you need and where it can be had for the least money. (Generally speaking, any tool the advertisements say is "essential for ship modeling" probably isn't!) There are also good articles on tools in the "Articles Database" in the address bar at the top of the forum homepage.   

Looks like a very nice model and well worth the effort of re-rigging, especially as it was made by your uncle.  If you are able to straighten out the broken masts temporarily and take a heap of photos of the rigging you'll find that a big help in re-doing the job.  The best way to repair the broken spars is to drill the ends of the broken pieces and secure them with a short length of wire as well as the glue.  This will give them the strength to support the rigging.  Probably the most comprehensive book on the rigging of clipper ships is Harold Underhill's "Masting and Rigging: The Clipper Ship And Ocean Carrier".  You should be able to pick up a second hand copy from Abe Books for around 30 or 40 dollars.
 
John

Hmmmm.  Well, as you can see, there are no sails on this model, but I'm familiar with the Scientific name.  As far as the epoxy glue (those with a 5-minute set), I guess I'd have to hold the pieces together by hand?  

Second gig 

The only Sea Witch kit that I know of what the old Scientific Models kit, which is long since out of production. Restoration work is challenging to be sure, but we have some members here who can give you pointers. A clipper like yours is one of the most difficult ship types to rig, so they will probably also suggest some reference works for you to peruse.
 
Good luck on your project!

How about telling us a little about your skills.  It’s a nice model and worth restoring. You have several options, ranging from completely rerigging to showing it with “stub masts.”  You should also plan for a glass or plexiglass case to prevent future dirt and damage.
 
Roger

Lead shot is an attractive source for scale cannon balls but it's only a matter of time before the lead will oxidize.  Hard shot will oxidize slower.  Humidity and temperature are variables that will influence the oxidation rate.  I don't know of any coating to prevent oxidation that will stick to lead.  Bird-shot made of tungsten, bismuth or polymers is available in many sizes and will not oxidize.  Heating steel/chrome ball bearings is a good way to blacken them. 

My goodness! I missed this build log the first time around and just noticed it now. I know Islander, nee Kathleen, quite well, having crewed for her owner, Harry Smith, in a Master Mariner's Benevolent Association classic yacht race back in the early 1970's. She was a sorry old bucket back then, but Harry and his family loved her and nursed her along in her old age. Despite a prior owner covering her in plywood and fiberglass resin, she still maintained the respect due her age. I was a young guy working for a yacht brokerage that specialized in wooden classic yachts back then when very few people had any interest in wooden boats. Harry invited me to crew in the race because my own gaff rigged ketch was hauled out and he needed crew for the race, an annual regatta of the top wooden classics on the West Coast. I have to say Islander's sailing abilities weren't improved by hanging a ballast keel on her, nor by covering her in an inch or two of plywood and fiberglass, but we had plenty of fun watching the fleet pass us by one by one on the course and the lunch Harry's wife packed was great!  She berthed in Paradise Cay Yacht Harbor in Tiburon, which is somewhat off the beaten path, but whenever I'd have occasion to be there, I'd check her out. I had no idea she'd gone to the Hyde Street Pier. Nothing makes a sailor feel old like seeing a boat he's sailed end up in a maritime museum!  It would be wonderful if they found a way to restore her to her original state. She's probably the last of her kind now.  Fact is, though, she was well past being a candidate for restoration fifty years ago. The HAER documentation is great and makes it possible for someone to build a replica from the ground up for far less expense and labor than trying to restore the original.
 
Kathleen, as she's now called again, was one of three surviving "pumpkin seeds" on the Bay up to the mid-seventies. The "pumpkin seed" was a San Francisco Bay and Delta centerboard hull which evolved to handle the heavy winds, short chop, and shallow waters of much of the Bay and Delta. They were called so because their shallow draft centerboard hulls resembled a pumpkin seed.  Harry Smith had Islander (Kathleen,) my good friend, Bill Vaughn, had Billikin, quite similar to Kathleen, unrestored, but still shipshape and in her original centerboard yawl configuration, and another fellow I knew, Bob Porteous, had Polaris, a nice pumpkin seed sloop he'd owned forever. I was in my early twenties back then and all of those guys were much older than I was. I'm sure they've all gone to their rewards by now. Bill Vaughn passed away a few years ago, into his eighties. Billikin was broken up long ago. I'm not sure if Polaris is still around. Last I saw her was maybe ten or fifteen years ago. Today, there are fewer and fewer of us "old timers" (never thought i'd be calling myself that!) who as young kids were taught and mentored by masters of the "pre-fibergalss" "wooden ships and iron men" sailing fraternity and learned our seamanship and maritime trade crafts from mentors who worked in wood, handed cotton canvas sails, and spliced hemp line.  Now wooden boats are like classic cars and have a following again, but the game is a lot like the Civil War re-enactors, they're trying to recreate the past but there was a break in the continuity of the craft.
 
While they provide modelers with honest and worthwhile enjoyment, God knows there are far more than enough Victory and Constitution models around. Models like you're attempting here with Kathleen are really far more valuable contributions to the historical record and, IMHO, their uniqueness makes them much more satisfying to build. Neither do you have to add a room to your house to display them when they are done. I encourage modelers to model these types of near-extinct watercraft. Twenty-five or fifty years from now, if you are still around, you will be proud to have built a "contemporary model" which may be the only reliable model of an extinct craft. The HAER collection, its indexing weaknesses notwithstanding, is a goldmine full of plans for modelers who are willing to do a bit of pick and shovel work finding what's in there. Better still, the plans are wonderfully detailed, complete, and professionally researched, and best of all, absolutely free. (Our tax dollars at work!) The TIFF format plans can be enlarged easily without loss of definition or widening of lines, which is a boon to modelers.
 
So, as for your model, it does seem to be, as you have described it, "50% the Kathleen and 50% a boat."  Actually, Islander could be accurately described as "50% Kathleen and 50% Islander," given the unfortunate modifications imposed upon her during her long life. Now, the model you've built so far will always be your first and you should always cherish it, but you may want to consider a new start on a model that is 100% Kathleen. Take the HAER plans and eliminate that abortion of a concrete ballast keel and deadwood. Replace the rudder with the "barn door" rudder she likely had. (And if you are lucky, one of the many photos that are part of the HAER collection, but not scanned, may show that original rudder in a photo of her hauled out.)  In her original centerboard configuration, she'd make a beautiful model. (Now that I've discovered her plans, I've put her in my own modeling "on deck circle," in fact.) It would be a challenge, perhaps, but if you take it slowly with a lot of attention to detail and rely on the resources of the MSW forum, you can do it.  I wouldn't bother with a plank on bulkhead hull approach. (It's more difficult to plank, I think.)  I'd suggest you either go with a solid "bread and butter" hull or full-out plank on frame. (Or consider card stock if that interests you.) This model would also be suitable for building with bent frames, as real small craft often are. (The frames are bent inside a "basket" of battens fastened over a few bulkheads which are then removed.) Take a look at the available tutorials and be ruthlessly attentive to detail. Start a build log and ask questions when they arise. You can do it!  

Stee,
Your model does not look to be particularly affected by dust...yet.  The main source for damage and destruction for any wooden ship model is in the failure to place it in a proper case.  They can vary from an elegant piece of wooden furniture with glass or clear plastic sides and top to a glued plastic box.  All choices will involve some cost.  If you wish it to last, a case is pretty much necessary.
Keep it away from direct sunlight and allow for filtered air exchange.
 
It is a worthy icon for your grandfather's memory.  Keeping it and keeping it safe would show great respect.  He spent no little time and energy building it.  If you do case it, attach a narrative with as much information about him and it as you can gather to the bottom.  This way when this is passed on to a later generation,  more than vague and mostly forgotten stories will be with it.

My goodness! I missed this build log the first time around and just noticed it now. I know Islander, nee Kathleen, quite well, having crewed for her owner, Harry Smith, in a Master Mariner's Benevolent Association classic yacht race back in the early 1970's. She was a sorry old bucket back then, but Harry and his family loved her and nursed her along in her old age. Despite a prior owner covering her in plywood and fiberglass resin, she still maintained the respect due her age. I was a young guy working for a yacht brokerage that specialized in wooden classic yachts back then when very few people had any interest in wooden boats. Harry invited me to crew in the race because my own gaff rigged ketch was hauled out and he needed crew for the race, an annual regatta of the top wooden classics on the West Coast. I have to say Islander's sailing abilities weren't improved by hanging a ballast keel on her, nor by covering her in an inch or two of plywood and fiberglass, but we had plenty of fun watching the fleet pass us by one by one on the course and the lunch Harry's wife packed was great!  She berthed in Paradise Cay Yacht Harbor in Tiburon, which is somewhat off the beaten path, but whenever I'd have occasion to be there, I'd check her out. I had no idea she'd gone to the Hyde Street Pier. Nothing makes a sailor feel old like seeing a boat he's sailed end up in a maritime museum!  It would be wonderful if they found a way to restore her to her original state. She's probably the last of her kind now.  Fact is, though, she was well past being a candidate for restoration fifty years ago. The HAER documentation is great and makes it possible for someone to build a replica from the ground up for far less expense and labor than trying to restore the original.
 
Kathleen, as she's now called again, was one of three surviving "pumpkin seeds" on the Bay up to the mid-seventies. The "pumpkin seed" was a San Francisco Bay and Delta centerboard hull which evolved to handle the heavy winds, short chop, and shallow waters of much of the Bay and Delta. They were called so because their shallow draft centerboard hulls resembled a pumpkin seed.  Harry Smith had Islander (Kathleen,) my good friend, Bill Vaughn, had Billikin, quite similar to Kathleen, unrestored, but still shipshape and in her original centerboard yawl configuration, and another fellow I knew, Bob Porteous, had Polaris, a nice pumpkin seed sloop he'd owned forever. I was in my early twenties back then and all of those guys were much older than I was. I'm sure they've all gone to their rewards by now. Bill Vaughn passed away a few years ago, into his eighties. Billikin was broken up long ago. I'm not sure if Polaris is still around. Last I saw her was maybe ten or fifteen years ago. Today, there are fewer and fewer of us "old timers" (never thought i'd be calling myself that!) who as young kids were taught and mentored by masters of the "pre-fibergalss" "wooden ships and iron men" sailing fraternity and learned our seamanship and maritime trade crafts from mentors who worked in wood, handed cotton canvas sails, and spliced hemp line.  Now wooden boats are like classic cars and have a following again, but the game is a lot like the Civil War re-enactors, they're trying to recreate the past but there was a break in the continuity of the craft.
 
While they provide modelers with honest and worthwhile enjoyment, God knows there are far more than enough Victory and Constitution models around. Models like you're attempting here with Kathleen are really far more valuable contributions to the historical record and, IMHO, their uniqueness makes them much more satisfying to build. Neither do you have to add a room to your house to display them when they are done. I encourage modelers to model these types of near-extinct watercraft. Twenty-five or fifty years from now, if you are still around, you will be proud to have built a "contemporary model" which may be the only reliable model of an extinct craft. The HAER collection, its indexing weaknesses notwithstanding, is a goldmine full of plans for modelers who are willing to do a bit of pick and shovel work finding what's in there. Better still, the plans are wonderfully detailed, complete, and professionally researched, and best of all, absolutely free. (Our tax dollars at work!) The TIFF format plans can be enlarged easily without loss of definition or widening of lines, which is a boon to modelers.
 
So, as for your model, it does seem to be, as you have described it, "50% the Kathleen and 50% a boat."  Actually, Islander could be accurately described as "50% Kathleen and 50% Islander," given the unfortunate modifications imposed upon her during her long life. Now, the model you've built so far will always be your first and you should always cherish it, but you may want to consider a new start on a model that is 100% Kathleen. Take the HAER plans and eliminate that abortion of a concrete ballast keel and deadwood. Replace the rudder with the "barn door" rudder she likely had. (And if you are lucky, one of the many photos that are part of the HAER collection, but not scanned, may show that original rudder in a photo of her hauled out.)  In her original centerboard configuration, she'd make a beautiful model. (Now that I've discovered her plans, I've put her in my own modeling "on deck circle," in fact.) It would be a challenge, perhaps, but if you take it slowly with a lot of attention to detail and rely on the resources of the MSW forum, you can do it.  I wouldn't bother with a plank on bulkhead hull approach. (It's more difficult to plank, I think.)  I'd suggest you either go with a solid "bread and butter" hull or full-out plank on frame. (Or consider card stock if that interests you.) This model would also be suitable for building with bent frames, as real small craft often are. (The frames are bent inside a "basket" of battens fastened over a few bulkheads which are then removed.) Take a look at the available tutorials and be ruthlessly attentive to detail. Start a build log and ask questions when they arise. You can do it!  

Your story resonated with me on several points: 1. I am a descendant of Nieuw Amsterdam immigrants. 2. I am a native of Northern California -- like the REAL Northern California, not like the Northern Southern California town of San Francisco. 😉  3. My youngest daughter is a Kathleen.
 
Good luck with your project!

Or there's  the old counterfeiter's trick: Tumble the damp paper in the dryer with a fabric softener sheet. (Or so I'm told. ... "Hey, can you break a hundred for me?")

Pin vise works for me. I can get better looking holes than with a Dremel and I don't have a drill press. I would start small and work up which also prevents splitting and this also lets you adjust if your hole is slightly off kilter

Thanks for the tip, Rob! We've had unusually high temperatures here in Northern CA the last couple of days, breaking 100F in some places. I'm close to the coast with sea breezes keeping things cool most of the time, so I just need something for the summer heat spells. I saw someplace that they are now making them with a hose that can be run out a window to deal with the "exhaust" and condensate. I'll be looking for that feature for sure!

I would advise you experiment on some scrap wood with both and see which you prefer. I'm guessing you'll end up preferring the pin vise for it's accuracy.  However, I'd say that after a Dremel, some sort of drill press would be the next most useful powered tool a modeler would want to have, so I'd urge you to bite the bullet and get one now.
 
You can get one of the $79 Chinese mini drill presses and get by, but you get what you pay for and, too often, less than that with Chinese machine tools.  You can also pay a bit more ($134 US) for a Vanda-Lay drill press that holds a Dremel mototool. (The Dremel drill press stand is generally considered to be close to worthless because it lacks the precision modeling demands. ) http://vanda-layindustries.com/ (I have no idea of the shiping and duty costs to Australia, though.)
 
  Vanda-Lay also has a variants of their basic drill press (above) which include a mini-milling machine using the Dremel mototool as well as other brands. These Dremel-powered machine tools are quite good, but aren't up to the level of the far more expensive dedicated micro-milling machines. Their primary weakness is the Dremel Mototool, which depends on speed rather than torque for its power.  For modeling, however, they do offer a good compromise in terms of a cost to benefit analysis. Vanda-Lay is a small family business with excellent service and support.   See the discussion on drill presses at:     

Using a drill press, clamp a strip of wood to the drill press table to serve as a fence so that the drill bit is above the center of the pin rail when the rail is up against the clamped wood fence. Slide the pin rail against the fence and drill the holes equally spaced. The line of holes will be straight. If you want to get really fancy, you can mount the fence on a piece of wood with a pin the diameter of the holes sticking up exactly the distance between the pins from the point where the drill bit hits. Then the pin rail can be drilled and, as each hole is drilled, the rail can be dropped over the pin on each most recently drilled hole as the pin rail is slid against the fence, which perfectly aligns the next hole to be drilled. That will ensure the holes are equally spaced and in a straight line.  If pins aren't evenly spaced in a straight line on a pin rail, they tend to stick out like a sore thumb.
 
Drilling pin rails without a drill press is very difficult. I'd use a bit in a pin vise. A hand-held Dremel is quite difficult to control for such an application.

Thanks for the tip, Rob! We've had unusually high temperatures here in Northern CA the last couple of days, breaking 100F in some places. I'm close to the coast with sea breezes keeping things cool most of the time, so I just need something for the summer heat spells. I saw someplace that they are now making them with a hose that can be run out a window to deal with the "exhaust" and condensate. I'll be looking for that feature for sure!

Yes indeed they can be.  You have to include panel lines and belly/reef and top banding...not to mention the reef points and clue and cringle rings.
 
Paper lets me build my sails with plain white glue and then I can roll and billow them using a cake makers fondant ball roller tool.  Pressed and rolled against a thin foam backing, This allows me to get the edges to *roll* making the sail *fill*.  Then they can be painted with what ever shade of tan you choose(Lightly...you don't want to totally cover up the inked in panel lines).  Next the bunt and leech lines can be added, along with the reef points.
 
A finished out sail can in of itself, be a small model all by itself if ample details are desired.
 
And once the paper is painted it holds its shape, especially if it's clued to the lower yard.
 
Thanks for the fine compliments.
 
Rob

To the OP....personally, I prefer sails on models..even if they are only furled.   In reality, vessels generally only removed their sails when in port of extended periods or in service dock, to eliminate clutter and to do maintenance on the sails themselves.   If you are considering the Cutty Sark...remember....the expansive sail pattern was one of the aspects that made a clipper a fast vessel....it was one thing that made her unique from other ship designs.  Clippers carried lots of sails for their hull size.  So in my view the sails are just as much a part of the overall representation of the vessel type, as is the hull...or all her rigging.
My recently completed Great Republic sported 22 sails...and I left off many stay and all the stunsails.
Here is an image of how convincing PAPER sails can be on a 1/128 scale model.  One with light so you can see the translucency of paper.
 
Rob

Ummm.  You might consider altering the title to: Bulkhead fairing techniques. 
Your present title is bait for POF scratch builders.
Frames are a whole nuther thing.  While they are just assembled frames, they are beveled as an isolate unit.  A sanding drum with 60 grit or 80 grit does an efficient job for me,  Fine tune with 220 grit.  Once they are placed on the keel, the final fairing can get tricky - if the spaces between the frames are not filled with bracing.  Moving the frames because of too much force being applied is not good.  I have the spaces with temporary filler wood, so I can be vigorous about it.
 
The same problem can occur with POB -it seems to me - in theory.  The molds ( bulkheads ) are just hanging out there, if there is not bracing between them.  Then there is the whole alternative of filling between the molds and thereby provide an adequate base for the planking.