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KenW

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Everything posted by KenW

  1. KenW
    Lou: Can you send me the tags the Providence models and the two museums. I can't find the models on either web site. Thanks.
  2. KenW
    Thanks for the kind words Tim. I don't imagine my works would sell. They aren't really 'museum quality' by any means. Cheers.
  3. KenW
    Thanks for your kind words Tom.
  4. KenW
    I’m moving along with work on the hull. First I installed stairs leading from the quarter deck to the main deck. The stairs are a little wide, but I think they would’ve been busy. I also made a binacle. It has the normal setup - in the middle is the lantern I made last summer, along with two compasses. I tried to make sure both compasses are pointing in the same direction. Please note that the binacle is not glued onto the deck yet. And, finally, I installed the rudder using the Syren Pintles and Gudgeons kit.
  5. KenW
    Thanks Bill and Lou and the 'likes'. Lou: I'm going to leave it white. It used up almost all of my holly planks.
  6. KenW
    I finished planking the quarter deck. That includes some planks, and decoration, along the side of the hull. I don’t have much to say about this, because it’s all quite normal. No problems at all. And the boat looks even more black.
  7. KenW
    I’ve mounted the stern piece and a few pieces along the sides. Not much to say, just a matter of glueing and holding it in place for a while. The boat is looking more black.
  8. KenW
    Lou: I only meant that my next project will have proper plans from the National Maritime Museum or some other reliable source. Perhaps the HMS Halifax. Cheers.
  9. KenW
    One more thing. Apparently the Continental Congress, in around 1778, specified that the Continental flag should have 13 strips and 13 stars in a blue canton. Note that the number of points of the stars was not mentioned; nor was the color of the strips. A proper designation of a flag was made in around 1783, but even here the arrangement of the stars was not specified and the plan was for an additional star for each state as well as an additional stripe for each state. After 15 states, the number of stripes was changed to always be 13 with a star for each state.
  10. KenW
    Lou: Great talking with you. The site with the Grand Union flag in question is here, "http://www.loeser.us/flags/revolution.html". This site also has the correct history of the Betsy Ross flag. Anyway, making the model has been fun, but I'll only use reliable plans in the future. Cheers.
  11. KenW
    Lou: I agree about the color of the balwarks. The Constitution has green on the interior balwarks and white on the lower gun deck. Even the HMS Victory has white on its gun deck. I've gone to several web sites about the flags of the revolution. The Grand Union flag with red and green stripes was apparently a variation. The red, white and blue is listed as a variant also. And the Holman painting has the Providence with red, white and blue strips. All my models are revolutionary ships. And my last has the New England pine tree in the canton with red, white and blue strips. I intend to use the same flag that is in the Holman painting. Again, evidence is lacking and, at times, contradictory. Cheers.
  12. KenW
    Lou: Thanks for your reply. I never thought of painting the inner balwarks green. I remember when I visited the USS Constitution that it's balwarks were green. I just followed my previous models and painted them red. Too late now. I also know that the Continental Union ensign, which usually had red and white strips with a Union Jack in the canton, had several different strip patterns. Some with red, white and blue strips and a few had red and green strips. An early admiral liked the different colors since it helped him identify which ships were which. Sounds wild.
  13. KenW
    January 23, 2021 A few months ago, I said I’d look into the color scheme that I’m using versus what the actual sloop “really” looked like. That turns out to be not an easy chore. Here’s what I’ve found out: The earliest reference I’ve found was an article in , “Sea History”, Fall, 1978. The article was titled, “The Ships of John Paul Jones” by William Gilkerson. It refers to a “Brittish intelligence report describing rebel warships in 1775”. At that time the boat was known as the Katy and was , “A sloop, all black, low and long …”. The boat was taken into the Continental Navy around the first of January, 1776, and renamed the Providence. In May command was given to John Paul Jones. After his first cruise he had the boat “heaved down” which meant it was hauled over on her side to expose her bottom. The hull was scraped clean below the water line, repainted, caulked, tarred and painted. This was done to both sides. The Holman painting that I included in my first post was painted in 1777. His painting clearly shows the boat with tan sides around the gun ports. However, Holman never actually saw the sloop. He did talk to sailors (officers? Men?) but no one knows what information he received. So I guessed that at the same time Jones had the hull scrapped, he had the sides around the gun ports scraped and painted tan so it would look more like a navy ship. I’m not going to paint the dark blue and red stripes as seen in my second posting, since I want to have as much of the hull painted black as possible. No way to know what the boat really looked like, of course, but since I’m the captain, I get to decide for the model.
  14. KenW
    Thanks Mike. Your model really looks great!
  15. KenW
    Hey Mike: You're really doing a great job. I just have a question: For the "The planks that go around the mast partners and coamings", is the angle 45 degrees? Thanks.
  16. KenW
    I’m working on the quarter deck and the stern. They are dependent on each other so I’m doing them concurrently. The quarter deck has another hatch and stairway; both were made. The stairs were made from 1/32 thick strips. The quarter deck is made from two layers of 1/16 sheets. The stern windows are 1/32 and the stern is two layers of 1/32 sheets. The stairs are in there.
  17. KenW
    This is my favorite holiday. Starting tomorrow the days begin getting longer again. Can summer be far away? I rigged the rest of the guns. I also added channels and more belaying pin racks. The belaying pins I made are not glued in place yet. I’m going to remove them so they don’t get hurt. I also made a rudder and tiller for the ship’s boat and added oarlocks. I’m now ready to start on the quarter deck.
  18. KenW
    EJ: Great work! This boat is huge! But you just hang in there and "Do It". Keep at it. Cheers.
  19. KenW
    Next up is to finally rig the guns. I just need to add the out-haul lines. I’m using 3/32 Syren blocks and .008 Syren line. I also made the coils from the out-haul line. Coiling them was pretty easy: just twist them the way you would to coil a garden hose. I use diluted white glue to hold the coil onto the deck. I’m only rigging one or two guns per day since I think that’s enough. So far I completed the port side guns. So, during my spare time I made the rudder. I used the Syren kit for the pintles and gudgeons (rudder hinges). The shaft is extra long and will be shortened once the quarter deck is made. These photos were taken with my iPhone - not the best quality.
  20. KenW
    Good job Bill! Keep going and be safe. Cheers
  21. KenW
    Thanks Lou.
  22. KenW
    I decided to take time off from the main hull and work on a small boat which will hang off the stern. One of the officers in my club did a Tech Session at one of our meetings on making small boats using a method he called Lifts. I’ve heard it called “bread-n-butter”. I use a plan for a 16 foot long boat from the ‘Anatomy of the Ship’ series - the HMS Diana. The lifts correspond (in this case) to the three horizontal lines in chart # 1 and #2. The curved lines in #3 are the same lines. So I carved out three sections using the lines in chart #3. My three lifts are below the plans. I used basswood and I made the boat in two halves because the keel-stern-stem piece will be cut seperately. The lifts are sanded to get the shape of the boat using chart #1. Then the center of the two upper lifts is cut out leaving about 1/8-3/16 thick pieces. The bottom piece is left solid since it will be covered with the floorboards. Next the inside of the top lifts were smoothed out. Then the three lifts of each half were glued together and more sanding was done. I didn’t use any power tools. Power tools scare me. Once the bulwarks are about 1/16th or less, the centerpiece and the two halves can be glued together. More sanding is done to make the boat “look right”. I then added pieces of 1/32 x 1/32 basswood to look like ribs. I also added 1/32/ x /1/8 for the risings which will hold the thwarts and 1/32 x 3/16 floorboards. My lifts didn’t fit together very well. The outside joins weren’t smooth so I used gello and painted the outside of the hull white. The thwarts and aft seats were added and gratings, as well as the breasthook and knees. I also cut out a ‘cap rail’ and painted it black. I still have to add a rudder, I think, and oar locks. It’s hard for me to imagine that this is a 15+ foot boat. I used a measuring tape on my shipyard floor, and this little boat was actually pretty big.
  23. KenW
    Unbelievable! Not only is your model one of the best I've seen, but the base is also outstanding. Great work!
  24. KenW
    Sounds to me like you have to get your son(s) involved. My boys are extremely strong and work really fast. Nothing like youth.
  25. KenW
    The guns and their carriages have been mounted along with their breach lines. The aft two guns will not have a problem with the partition to the officer’s quarters since it will be removed and stowed below the water line whenever the boat “clears for action”. I made the other holder for the cannon balls along the aft hatch using the same technique as on the forward hatch.

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