Jond

Post 11

 

Complete planking

 

As most of us have learned the hard way there is no simple answer to hold that last few rows of planks in place.  I have learned to simply improvise as I go.

• 75     here I took a block and passed the string through the hull and clamped it to a bulkhead on the other side.  A little wedge and all is good.

 

• 76    here we are done for the lower section.

 

• 77     There were several areas that I thought to fill before sanding thus confirming my limited ability.

 Now I need to get those bulwark planks in place and not glue them to the bulkheads. I could have waited I suppose but I believe this is the right time to complete them.

• 78    I cut away the top corner of each  bulkhead and then used scrap and clamps top act as temporary stanchions.

 

• 79     I learned before that it is handy to get a prime coat on to better see what I am dealing with at this stage and not wait .  Before the paint that I razor cut along any joints that I filled as I hope to get enough joints showing through the paint to see the planking.

 

• 80     here the top bulwark plank is in place, sanded and primed.

Now to do the other side and add a second coat of primer

• 81to 83   
• 

 

• sanded and primed.   Now comes a few days of going over and adding a little filler where needed, sanding and trying to get a better grade before marking the waterline and painting the bottom. I also need to add many little cuts to show the ends of the planks after a sanding and before final painting.  

Next up I am working in parallel to get all the spars ready

 

All for now

Just a few updated photos as I started the final planks just before the holiday break.  Lots of sanding and scaping of glue ahead of me

 

cheers

 

 

 

Post 10

 

Continue hull and spars and research on sails

 

I believe it is important to record where we combine ideas and sources especially when we are making it up as we go.  One of the best books for a Schooner lover is the  wonderful book  The Schooner Bertha L. Downs  by Basil Greenhill and Sam Manning.  A note on the cover also identifies this book as the anatomy of the Ship.    I love that because there is a running argument that a Schooner is not a ship. There are many other drawings by Sam Manning  and other information available through the Maine Maritime Museum of note too.  MMM in Bath, Me is a must stop for those that get up this way. Basil Greenhill has other great books too. Part of the fun of these builds is also the growth of the library .

 

• 68     The Book  retells the history of Schooners and then takes us through every detail of this wonderful vessel build around 1909 in Bath, Maine.  We need to remember that around this period,  the famous 6 masted Wyoming was launched, it was the end of the schooner building boom.   It was 7 to 8 years until 1917 when so many freighters were sunk by the German U boats, that people realized the resource of skilled people, materials and facilities in Maine to build many Schooners.  That combined need and supply source led to the boom in 4 masted schooners that lasted about 5 years. 

 

As I said earlier in the log, the Ada Cliff was used as a model for 4 four masted Schooners.  The only change to the first one was to add 40 feet and a fourth mast to the lines of Ada.  I repeat this because the detail of the four masted Bertha l. Downs is therefore very appropriate to compare with the three masted Ada Cliff.  I will not place lots of details from the book that I use in the log but will declare that masting and rigging is be based as follows.  I am copying the scaled sail plan of the other 1917 Boothbay Schooner Priscilla Alden and then checking it against the Bertha L Downs drawings . For spars and things there is no way to use the other information, so I use the cad scaled drawing for lengths of spars and sails  and the book for everything else.

 

• 70    here is an updated progress shot.  All the spars are roughed out and I am in the second stage of adding yokes drilling holes and thinking about cross trees.  I need to get more photos to determine the extent of painted spars too. 

When I studied the Charles Notman, built in 1894 in Bath, Me., they used jack stays for the topsails and not hoops.   That is similar in logic to using a spanker mast on a ship.  I note that Bertha  L Downs shows hoops on the upper masts so that is a way to go. 

Continuing spars

Now that I am using the details form the book I am able to get going.  First up I found I needed to take down all three lower masts to get to a smaller diameter. Second up is to start making all those little yokes.

• 71    I learned a while agio that to make straight little drill holes it is best to use a mill.  After learning that I found it natural to go over and set it up.

 

• 72     this also helps in glue up to be able to use pins to align the parts   I am using maple for the yokes. .

 

Start of sails

 

Sails take a long time. The first process is to develop a set of templates. That is all I am doing now.

 

• 73     here I have taken measurements from the Sail plan in Turbo cad and laid them out on a sheet of newsprint. I made simple coordinates. 

 

• 74    here is the detailed sail print from Bertha L Downs.   It is fun to check especially as they seem to be similar. When I measure the foresail and fore topsail, they are right on.   The head sails will be different and of course we are missing one mast.

Up next is Planning the middle band of planking

It is time to recheck everything and plan my attack.  As an amateur I can say I am ok if the bands on port and starboard are not perfect.   They are off on one side to the other about a 1/16 on average.  The bow is right on as I could look each time.  The stern is over a 1/16, so I need to fix that .    we will see how it goes next week.  I am sure as soon as July 4 arrives, we will slow right down though, so I do not have major expectations as when to celebrate the last plank.

 

All for now

Post 9

 

Start the masts and continue planking

 

I found a few years back that I love using Sitka spruce to make large scale spars.  I bought a good supply and will be able to continue that practice. 

 

• 60    I started off this time by making a jig to hold the square cut strips to make that first corner cut. 

 

• 61    here that cut is made. I then carefully adjust the fence and make the three other cuts sliding the cut side on the table.

 

• 62    I chose to do the foremast first as it is the shortest. It fit in the middy lathe.   Yes, I am taking a short cut using the lathe to make round spars.  I agree with eh hand method in small scale but continue my ways.

 

• 63  here I have sinned again by selecting dowels for the other smaller spars.  Once they are shaped, stained, and all and sails are attached, I am comfortable that not using the spruce will be OK.

 

• 64   when it came to the two longer masts I needed to cut the below deck portion first to fit in the lathe.  I remember the difficulty with the bigger Bluenose spars, so being able to fit the rough cut stock in was particularly good news to me.

 

In the meantime, I peck away at the planking. Another sin is I am running longer planks and will cut in joints later. I do this to get a smother sweep.  

• 65   here we are at the beginning of the week getting close to completing the out two bands.

 

• 66    here is a progress update photo showing many of the spars are now roughly shaped and the planking coming along.

 

• 67    I can celebrate the first bands are done and the first plank of the center band is going in place. I hope to get through this stage before the summer outside schedule take over completely.

 

All for now

Post 8

 

Fixing the stern again

 

My effort to stretch the plans a bit to make the stern more like the photo of Ada went too far. So, what did I do, what went wrong and how to fix

 

• 51    here in a blow up of one of the photos of the 1899 Lillian Woodruff we see maybe 8 feet [ 2 inches in scale ]and the angle is closer to the 45 degrees than the 60 degrees of the bath Schooner plans.  I made the transom based on this photo. 

 

52     and   

 

 

• 53     looking down and then across we can see the extra dip and twist of the planking that was not faired to the combined new transom….oops  that mistake was picked up by my colleagues.  
•  

So how to fix?

 

• 54  playing back inside the cad plans  I added a rough polyline that split the difference between the original station 23 to the transom.  That blue line is bigger than station 24

 

• 55    I printed that drawing out and pasted it to scrap plywood

 

• 56      here I used the red Cross sections lines to properly align the new piece and glued it to station 24. This effort gives me more station bulkhead to fair

 

• 57    it became obvious I needed to do the same thing to station 23.  In this photo I had removed planking only from one side where the clamps are located

 

• 58    several days later , both sides are done and I am getting back into the swing of planking.  The dip is gone, so I guess we are OK

 

• 59     looking from the bow,  I am now working top and bottom bands toward the middle. 

 

I know from memory I will get to a point of no internal clamping if I complete both bands and then attack the middle.   So more to think about as we move along. I need to figure at what point in the curve do I want to be fitting the last planks where only rubber bands and other similar means hold the planks in place.   I prefer not to pin them but we are painting so maybe that will be OK too.

 

All for now

Joe

thanks for the sympathy    yes we need to show our work and we need the critical eye and open comments to keep us improving.   I have gone past the problem with adjusted stations and will catch up on the log in a bit.

 

thanks

 

jon 

Alan 

 

good to hear from you

 

I learned the method at Wooden boat school many years ago when I went there with my son for a vacation treat of building two Marblehead racing yachts.   I have used it on several other larger scale builds .  it saves so much effort.

 

cheers 

 

jon 

Post 7

 

Planking plan

 

This story is lengthening as I have some false starts.  The root cause of the issues is having no real plans I am combining photos with a bath-built hull drawing of an 1884 schooner.   The impact of my false start is the highly visible stern section.  We will get to the oops but first the plan.

 

In my last Pinky build, I went through the lessons learned at the NSJ conference in New Bedford, where we had a  great presentation on planking.  I followed THE process the best I could and had a reasonable conclusion.   My previous large hulls were for RC. That means the hull planking was only a substratum for fiberglass and as three of my builds show, it is fast using 1/8” cedar planks and sanding away.   This time it is a large hull and I want the planks to show through the paint a bit.  That still allows a few errors to be hidden and for a reasonable rate of work.  Sloppy glue will be sanded and painted by example so good old strong wood glue can be used.

 

A major issue will be how to deal with the bulkheads once I complete the outside and turn the model over to start the deck.  So, what are we trying to achieve?

 

• 45  here is a newspaper photo of the Schooner Anna Laura McKenney build a few hundred yards away from Ada at the same time.  She was completed in December of 1917 when a major freeze came to Boothbay Harbor. Everything was frozen. They could not launch her for a month.

 

• 46   the point of showing her is in this grainy blow-up detail of the planking.  This photo shows that the size of the planks are clearly less than 12 inches.   Based on the experience of seeing Ernestina Morrissey being rebuilt on the exact location over the last few years is that 9 inches is a good average to use in the planking.  Thus, for the first conclusion the maximum planks will be 3/16^th in scale.

 

I plan to use 1/16” thick planking without laborious thickness sanding.  The first reason is strength.   I want the opportunity to dig out much of the interior bulkheads in case I take that path.     The second reason is there is so much planking I want to be more productive and less worried about each placement. There is then plenty of meat for sanding. 

 

Next up is figuring out the bands

 

• 47   here we have the table of calcs to figure and simplification of plank production.  If one sees the box its numbers advise the size of a plank for each zone.  It is possible that for most of the planking, since it is so straight, that with more simplified tapering vs each plank spiled we can get there.  I am sure at the bow and stern are will we the take off method and spiling of planks out of ¾ “blanks.

 

• 48    jumping ahead in what became a false start.   I am adding a few tapered planks to the stern.  The transom in this photo is also being planked.   The three bands are separated by twine. This string option was described in the NJR conference, and I have adopted it.  I like that it allows easier adjustment than the use of wood battens.

 

• 49    here we are doing the easy stuff at the bow.   I had to do the other [ port] side twice to get the two sides to come together at the bow sprit.

 

•    50    well here we are post covid back at our monthly guild meeting.  We even had lunch.   My schooner skeleton is there about to get creamed.   It seems using string for setting up bands makes one think there is no fairing going on.  The old-style batten is the way to go they mostly said.  More important was the consensus that my first attempt to put the right size transom on the old, designed hull was an un lofted failure.  I am truly glad they trashed my first attempt.

 

 Some time we need our peers to clobber us.  I am back to the shop and already part way through the restart.  The issue is with the enlargement of the transom [ height that is] I ended up with the two planks that I set on the stern area below the shear planks, reducing to the last station 24 and then flaring back out to get around the transom……oops  that what was rejected, and they were right.

 

Next posting we will document the problem and the fix.  I do not agree with them on the string however as I understand it is not the same process as the batten fairing that precedes it. 

 

Cheers

Post 6

 

Complete deck shear line planks

 

I have to admit that I am going back and forth between drawings of schooners and playing with the few photos to make some of the design decisions needed to move forward.   One example is to identify the location of the forward end of the poop deck.   In the 1894 build of the Charles Notman it was unusual and went up forward past the main mast.  That was found to be not a great engineered solution and was quickly abandoned.  The 1917 Priscilla Alden plans that have survived are the general basis of the logic I am using.    All that being said, the point is we are building a bulkhead model and need to be sure to eliminate the bulkheads at the deck level before planking where possible.

 

Using the Priscilla Alden plan, the poop deck ends just forward of the mizzen mast.   The fore deck is raised just forward of the fore cabin.  The foremast is in the middle of that cabin, so one would go forward stepping down to the fore deck.

 

• 40   here we see just forward of station18 we need to add the deck shear plank.   I let the poop deck shear plank run past for now.

 

• 41  up forward the foredeck rises at statin 4.

 

• 42   now I need to fill in and complete the planking between the two shear lines.  Note I left the planking run past  and cut out the bulkhead behind it and left it loose   I can connect and fill in with stanchions much later in the build .  

 

• 43    in this view we see I have placed spacers to maintain the right space between planks so I can fill them in later

 

• 44    here we have completed the four-plank strip making up the two shearlines of the main deck level and raised deck level

 

I probably did the extension of planking for future connection because it will make a much stronger model.  Perhaps a carry over from my radio sail days.  These 1/16” poplar planks will be quite strong.   I do not plan to use resin on the outside because I want to see the planking through the white paint. I am not sure yet how much of the bulkhead I will cut out after I turn the model right side up and start the deck.

 

Next up is to figure a planking plan

Post 5

 

Update on resizing and building the stern.

 

I realized that to properly build the stern I needed to extend the building board. One advantage of this large scale and the stability of the bulkheads is that I saw no movement when I released the aft keel end post.   I simply inserted a scrap piece of pine the same thickness and reset the end post.  

• 33    here we are extending the building board. The pattern for dead wood and sternpost is laid in.  a note is that after looking at the Ada Cliff photos, I decided that the transom was clearly closer to 8 feet than the 6-foot dimension on the older Bath drawings. 

 

• 34    here I used the aluminum box to hold all straight as I screwed the end post back into the building board and the small plywood square splice block.

 

Now I can go ahead and build up the stern.  Since this is a bulkhead model, I can shape a block that is so much easier than the frame building I just did on Ernestina.   I will save that joyous exercise for another build.

 

• 35    in this view, I have taken some scrap pieces of Alaskan yellow cedar that I am using to rebuild my front porch. It is beautiful wood to work with and I plan to keep all the useful scraps for the model shop.

 

• 36    now I added in a transom station and dry fit the parts.

 

• 37    here is the glue up to the transom station.

 

• 38    I have added a 1/16^th piece of sacrificial plywood to act as the template for the future transom planning.   I also need to fair things to fit the planking.

 

Now for the bow stem I simply added in some scrap balsa to help provide a better shape and give more surface to glue the curving planks.   I have done this in pine on previous builds and thought this choice might be easier.  We’ll see.

 

 

• 39    here are the blocks with rough fairing underway.   Not too much sanding.   I then need to carve the bow stem for the rabbit need to receive the planks. the "Bearding line" I think

 

All for now

 

Michael

welcome aboard.    The hull on deck when adjusted should be 37.25  which scales to 149 feet.  I try on all my builds , as I focus on the ship building of the town here in Maine, to include what research I can.   I always welcome suggestions and questions.  

 

 

cheers 

 

jon 

Post 4

 

Yes, I am really going to stretch the model to achieve the new length.  

 

I start off with a few images of Ada Cliff.

 

• 24   here from the internet is reportedly an image of her sailing toward us.  It came from a website of a railway modeler who started off to build a model of her.  The string seems to disappear, so I have no idea if a model is out there.  

 

• 25    this famous image is all around the town here in Boothbay. I have a high resolution from the Boothbay Region Historical Society that will allow some blow up investigations.  This photo shows the three masted Schooner Lillian Wooddruff being launched in East Boothbay in 1899. She is proudly perched in the yard of what most recently was the Lobster Dock Restaurant.   As mentioned earlier, the hand me down nature of the design aspect of these schooners [ shipwright to ship wright] leads us to consider looking at these photos and merging the results.  There are features that change but the main elements are consistent.
•  
• Mr Cliff was mayor of Somerville MA and had a house full of co-investors.   One of the reasons I like Ada Cliff so much is the story that she was used for the design of what became four each four masted schooners that followed her in the boom years. There is another view from the land side in an earlier posting.

 

• 26   here is another image of her sailing away. I will be going back to the historical society and will find I am sure more relevant information.

 

Now to grow 7 feet longer

 

I chose to use the same method the investors used when the deigned the first 4 masted schooner as Ada was finishing up.  I will cut in the middle, add 7 feet [1.75 inches] and move the stern aft.

 

• 27   shows the placement of the “cut”.

 

• 28    here we have the magic of Cad allowing a revised layout of the building board.  I simply moved all the stations aft and added in a mid-bulkhead to fill the void.

 

• 29      here I have removed all the stations. A little damage occurred, but I have no worries as they all made it.

 

• 30    here the first half of the revised lay out is pasted in place.

 

• 31    here we see the building board all ready. A little tight on the transom , more study needed there.

 

• 32     here the stations are reset ready for spacers and re gluing.

 

Next up we need to finish the re bracing and regluing to get back to where we were before learning about the BOOK.

 

cheers

Post 3

 

It’s time to decide how long this schooner model is supposed to be.

 

I listed above the information that clearly showed this build had been planned  to be 142.66 foot on deck Schooner. after reading that it might have been a 154 foot schooner, I used  the sail plan from the museum to try to determine the right length.  It had sail dimensions and I measured them all.  The horizontal dimensions, when scaled to 142 feet, were off by 2.5-3.5% consistently.   The vertical dimensions were off by 1 – 2%.  

So, maybe  the paper stretched.  Who knows?   My first thought had been to ignore that MIT catalogue and to go with the 142 as listed both by Maine Maritime Museum and Jim Steven's Downeast magazine article. If I took the maximum, I would add 3% or just over 4 feet.    But 154 feet listed by MIT?  I cannot just ignore it even though the late Jim Stevens of East Boothbay in my opinion had to been right.

 

 

The Book   that stopped me!!  

• 17   oh the book    here it is . it references the hart Museum and on their website they confirm the 154 feet on deck

The sail plan in the book was shrunk for better publishing fit. There is no dimension nor scale indicated.   I put it in cad and scaled it to be like the sail plan from Maine Maritime.  I tried multiple methods for comparing and not much comes out right.  If am right, the plans from Maine Maritime and MIT do not seem to align.  An example was to scale the two-sail plans for the same deck overall length. I then measured separations of the three masts and came up different.  I think I am working too hard and need to come up with a solution before I restart a new hull for Priscilla Alden.   The issue now is what to do with the hull I have roughed out as a start to this build?  

 

Before deciding, I made a few more comparisons. First up was the transom

• 18   here is the Kate Hilton section showing the transom. Roughly a 30-degree angle and 1.5 inches or six feet

 

• 19   here I take the station for the transom and stretch it to the measures 1.5  inches to make a pattern.

 

• 20   here is the section on the scaled Priscilla plan from the book. The angle is roughly 45 and the and the slanted height nearly 2 inches or 8 feet,

 

• 21   Here we see the difference in stretching the transom station to the new height.

 

• 22    I got a great image of Priscilla from the Boothbay Region Historical society

 

My final comparison was to take the photo from the historical society and scale it to the 142 feet. I then traced the profile in green.

• 23   here is the result of the photo traced in green and the drawing traced in dark blue. [ the photo is cut off at the waterline]  They are not the same schooner as the under image of the Kate Hilton hull.

So……..

 Let’s look at the Ada Cliff. She was built at almost the same time over in the main Boothbay Harbor.   She was recorded to be 149 feet. She was a production made schooner made for the coal trade. The owners built multiple schooners.   In my research a few years back with the late Jim Hunt, we understood there are no surviving drawings or half models, around here anyway, that represent any of the big schooners built between 1917 and 1922.  The owners were mostly from Boston, so if half models existed, they probably became artifacts of the various investors.  I am planning to proceed by building the Ada Cliff based on the hull from Bath of the Kate Hilton and the few surviving photos of Ada before launching.    I have already changed the name of the build, so I am determined to make it work.

 

 

Next up I need to adjust what I have to form the new length of 149 feet.

Cheers

Post 2

 

Assemble the bulkheads and start the design for the bow and stern.

 

In this posting I share the process to assemble and get ready to build out the transom and bow.  I can take advantage of reusing many leftover parts from earlier builds.   I have several build boards that remain in the attic. 

• 10   in this view we see all the cigar boxes filled with bulkhead stops and screws from my earlier BHOD and Charles Notman builds.  Having these already was nice. But the idea is to prepare all parts first and not as you go.  The other step is to mark a 1/16” inner line on the edge of each bulkhead to allow for the planking. I then quickly and easily sand off this material, so hopefully the final shape of the planked hull is right, I find this process faster than trying to make the line in Cad.  That is a choice.”
• 11   in this view one can see the build board.  When scaling the hull to 142 feet we find the bullheads are at 1.42 inches.  That number like the .70 inches in the vertical grid is nuts to convert to fractions and lay out.  I simply made a full-scale grid in cad and printed it out and pasted it to the building board.  I then cut out a supply of spacers and using the square and a few clamps get it all square in the middle section.
• 12    here is the cad template for the bow stem. I cut this out as the keel in ¼ “poplar.
• 13    here is the template for the stern post.
• 14    here all the station bulkheads are in, braced and the two end posts are set into the keel. the strip for the keel extends both ways to be made fast in the end supports. I chose to cut up all the final remaining stops so after this build I will not have three cigar boxes to store again….smile
• 15   here we are all glued up

 

 

• 16    in this view we see the square aluminum tube that extends the length of the keel with strong clamps to hold it as straight as one can during gluing.  

all for now

we made it to the museum store  so that means finished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post 1

 

The beginning

 

The beginning to a new project can often be a bit risky.   For me at least I am typically a little tentative.  Will this be small or large scale, plank on frames or bulkhead model or a diorama?  In this case, I want to build a three masted Boothbay built coasting Schooner.   What is interesting is that I rushed into it and started making sawdust before fully sorting out my research.    First of all, I wanted to explore this design because after studying the bigger schooners, and learning firsthand the poor sailing aspects of the “too long” form, I wanted to get to what seems to have been the most reasonable solution.  That is 3 may have been better than 4.

 

Three masted Schooners a quick summary

•       The first 3-masted schooners evolved in the Chesapeake region around 1790

•       The three masts were adjusted to be the same height around 1850

•       1840-1865 full rigged ships looking for speed evolved into clipperships 

•       As steamships took over for long hauls, coasting schooners, with less labor costs, took on coastal routes

•       1865-1880 coastal trade blossomed as the US government required US flag vessels for inter-city trade

•       The coastline favored long narrow fore and aft rigs (like clipper) with small crews

•       Coastal schooner construction grew quickly, and the 3-masted fleet competed with steam ships along the coast 

 

These beauties became prolific in the decades after the civil War.  Then, as human nature and business models dictated, they grew until the sails became too big.   Then the plans changed, and a fourth mast was added to improve the sail handling and keep the sizes growing.  As we know that cycle repeated itself across Maine until we ended up with nearly ten 6-masted schooners and one steel hulled 7-masted schooner by around 1910. Then, except for the World War I short termed boom, steam took over  .

 

 

01a   Looking at the local Boothbay market, we learned that through this period schooners built here were prolific in the two masted fishing arenas. From 1873 to 1903, nine bigger schooners built. In East Boothbay, four masted Schooners were launched from the Adam’s yard in 1890 and 1903.  Jim Stevens, one of the area gurus, put together a story listing 21 3 and 4 masted schooners built on the peninsula. There was a complete void until in 1917, when  it all came back in a roar.

'

01b  In the main harbor in the year 1917 the Ada Cliff was being built at the I R Reed yard.  That year the Mayor of Sommerville, Mr Cliff himself, and lots of investors came, bought that yard, and built four 4-masted schooners over the next few years.   They took the partially built Schooner Ida Cliff lines and simply stretched them 40 feet in the middle and then added a fourth mast.  Anyway, someday I hope to build a diorama of all that stuff. It is not for this build.  What is of interest is that in 1917 the IDA Cliff was a 149 foot long three masted schooner and that was pretty much as big as they got. Just beyond the big roof in the phot, on the other side of the harbor, the Atlantic Company was set up and they built 6 more 4-masted schooners before then end of the era in about 1921.   More on that when I get back my next 4-masted build. 

 

I am now focused on East Boothbay.  I have selected a 1918 Schooner, the Priscilla Alden.  I chose after searching all the names on the list I had and found at Maine Maritime Museum an authentic copy of her sail plan to use as a basis. Their list advised the schooner to be.... Length 142.8’. Traced from Charles Sayle original by George S. Parker, 1982.

 

In that late year she was built at the end of the era of three masted schooners.   Those built later would have been an exception.  Fishing schooners continued to be launched into the 1930’s but three and four masted pretty much stopped in the early 1920’s in the post war era of steam.  The Priscilla Alden comes up in a few publications.  The late Jim Stevens of Boothbay wrote an informative article, Boothbay Schooners in Downeast Magazine published in Sept 1968.  At the end he listed Priscilla to be 142 feet.   I suspect with his working often with the Maine Maritime Museum that they shared sources and that is why they agreed.  It is the length I plan to build. 

 

A challenge was to find a hull plan big enough to use in cad to match up with the sail plan.   Here some artistic license in needed.  I found in the Maine Maritime Archive the hull lines for several three masted schooners.  One, the Kate Hilton  was built in Bath and had remarkably similar characteristics. She was 140 feet, so I chose her and down loaded the drawing.  

 

Maybe a False Start I thought that this data was enough information to go go go

 

 A month in and the local Historical Society has reopened for us hobbyist to come in and do research.  I signed up right away and this week went down to spend time going through several files.  Most important however was photocopied pages out of a book.   The book John Alden and His Yacht Designs written by Robert Carrick and Richard Henderson.  On pages 86-88 there is a set of plans that include, sail plan, lines, deck arrangement, cross section bow to stern as well as an amid ship cross section.    There is enough information here to build anything.   Unfortunately to scan the line drawings, approximately one inch square, and to blow them up in cad got a bit fuzzy mess.  I found the book on Amazon and await a better original for scanning. The problem I discovered however is they declare the schooner to have been much bigger.  WHAT???   We’ll see

 

So let’s start off with the steps I took to rough out and make bulkheads for a good start.

 

Design

 

• 02a here is the sail plan published by the Maine Maritime Museum.   There are dimensions on all the sails. There is a little variance[ between 1-2%] between vertical and horizontal found while measuring the image with CAD. 

 

• 02b   here is the source as printed on the drawing. Key word for me is blueprint.

 

• 03   here is the selected hull plan for Maine built schooner in the same size.   I made offsets from both the sail plan and the bull plan and in scale the difference was the sail plan forward shear line rises about 1/8^th inch higher than the hull plan.  That is close enough for me.  Maybe when I get there, I add that 1/8 inch in…we’ll see

 

• 04   here is the source of the kate hilton hull lines

 

• 05   here is the Jim Stevens chart from the 1968 article in Down East magazine.  It clearly shows Priscilla to be 142 feet.  Of more interest is the low tonnage.   IDA Cliff at 149 feet built the same year in the main Harbor was 25% heavier [ volume that is] as she was made for maximum coal transport.  Priscilla was lighter and most likely a faster sailor.       More on this argument later

 

• 06   here I have laid out the cross sections the rectangle that will be used to support the bulkheads to the building board, making the waterline 4.4 inches above the board.   That will come in handy at the time of marking the water line.

 

• 07   here all the layers are turned on for the forward sections. 

 

• 08   here is what the pattern looks like for one of the bulkheads.  The keel/keelson slot is important to the assembly. I did not sit for a while and add the extra cut line for the planking thickness. It takes me much longer that striking a line by eye .  

 

• 09   the patterns are all glued to a simple Luan plywood from Lowe’s.  They are ready for cutting out . I will adjust later for the thickness of the planks.  

 

All for now

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Building a case for model can be a fun challenge. I tried for my last diorama but it did not succeed.  This time I made a sketch and went back to the local glazer who does a nice job

 

345  i made a sketch and measured it twice

 

346 to 349 i am happy with it.  i hope it makes it to the display next month

 

 

 

 

 

cheers 

Post 32

 

the end..... sort of

 

It seems when we get to the end of a project it is more subjective than definitive.   There is always more detail we could add.   Anyway, I think we are there.  Below I have a bunch of photos to capture the completed diorama before it disappears under a case.  

 

First up are four view from the 4 quarters

 

 

• 328  

• 329  

• 330  

• 331  

 

Now three pictures of the crew

 

• 332  

• 333   I added a few jacks to hold the new plank

• 334  

 

Now six views of the hull

• 335  

• 336  

• 337  

• 338  

• 339  

• 340  

 

Three looking down at the decks

• 341  

• 342  

• 343  

 

 

And one for the chain windless shack.   Oops I need to add a building 3 sign.

• 344  

 

In the next month I will get a glass case…I think and then we’ll see where she goes

 

Thus it is the next posting that will say finished

 

Cheers

 

Jon

 

Feb 2021 Update on the sails

 

As I described last time I get a few hours each Sunday in between other activities that I choose to work on this project.

 

• 1107   at the beginning of January we see the replacement main sail in the sewing machine as my daughter made a great contribution needed to get me going again.

 

• 1108   here we are at the end of February with the reef points in, all the grommets in, and the head lashed to the gaff.   In March we should get lashing to the boom, sewing to the hoops and  prepping to be  ready for rerigging.

 

….As I mentioned, I will also add the detail of the down hauls to the gaffs in this update.

• 1109   here as the Bluenose II mainsail was raised, we see the main gaff down haul is on both port and starboard

 

• 1110  this detail shows a few things.  The down hauls act like quarter tackles holding the gaff steady when lowered. The lines are spliced using holes through the gaff. The other two of three holes take the lanyard/ lashing from the head of the sails securing it to the gaff. Most interesting to me was the location of the topsail sheet block. In traditional designs the block is attached to a leather holster type devise that allows it to rotate to the up-wind side while racing.  I assume for fishing it was permanently on the starboard side.

Sailing out to the banks in New England our prevailing SW winds, the sheet would have been tight headed outbound; thus, the starboard side.   Returning home would have been a reach or more downwind, so no there was no need to move the bloc around.    Too much thinking on my part but that is my previous logic for placing those blocks to starboard.

 By riding on the top of the gaff there is less issues as to the tacking.  Only the tack lines are doubled to allow pulling the tack up and over the gaff.  Again, I am sure this is a racing feature but not sure if for fishing they would have worried.   The top sails were most likely flown only on the outboard and return legs.

 

• 1111   shows the fore gaff down haul.  The photos don’t catch all, but the line was made off to the main fife rail on the starboard side

 

• 1112   this detail shows the line is also spliced to the gaff through a hole. The sail lashing was was secured by hitch and there were not three holes

 

• 1113   so back to my work.  You can see I had a traditional application for the main topsail sheet block on the starboard side using hardware.  I will be changing this to update the ringing to what I saw in Canada

 

All for now

thank you Keith.  it is something I needed to do.  I have a few others that i need to drop back on too. we'll see how it goes

 

cheers 

Post 31

  

Stands chain and work crew

 

I believe that telling the story of the railway and how it works is a key part of this build. It has been here and active for 150 years and quite a marvel.  In normal years there are many different large yachts, tugs, science boats and schooners that come up for underwater work.   For the past 5 plus years the yard has been fully dedicated to this re build of Ernestina and that is what we are trying to show.

 

Stands

 

For the full story one needs to go back to photos 144 and 145 to see the stands engaged against the hull when Ernestina was hauled.  Once the planking and framing was removed and the hull rebuilt, the stands needed to be rebuilt to facilitate launching.

• 316   here is a new built-up stand that supports the hull after the planking is done.   At this point all the painting is done and the stands are in position ready for launch.  There are five of the eight on each side engaged. The chains on the deck allow the stand to be pulled away from the hull after the schooner is in the water and started to float free.

• 317   here we see at the aft end the base is in place.  there is a 6x6 post beyond.  This view of the base  is how I plan to show the five active units because before completing planking poles were used and continuously relocated to allow planking. Those bases at the extreme ends were laid aside to allow better access.    

 

Chains and tide

 

• 318  In this view we are need a low tide.  We can see the red buoys marking the end of the railway.  The dock in this view is shown on the edge of the diorama to help orient the viewer.  See the tide marking on the piling. We have 9–10-foot tides in the harbor.

• 319   here is a closeup of the chains laying out into the harbor.  The large chain does not go all the way out.  The smaller chain is hooked to it and rounds a sheave underwater.  

• 320   here the smaller chain hooks into the railway car about 2/3 the way forward. Is is used to pull the car down the slope into the water at launch.  The bigger chain continues up and into the windlass for hauling either out or in and connects to the front to the car. Note the large amount of seaweed even this far up the railway.

• 321  here I have connected the smaller chain to the car.  One of the work crew decided to check it out.

• 322    this view is a typical near high tide.  The water came in and up to the deck of the railway most tides.  I debated what to do and deferred to the easier low tide approach.

 

The work crew arrives

 

• 323    I went to eBay and found a model kit of 9 German army tank workman and thought to give it a try.  I filed off their soft hats and roughed up some of their uniforms before painting.

• 324   I think I want to show a bunch of them working on the hull planking.  It was funny as the loose schooner kept sliding and knocking the guys down.  I need to fix that oops.

• 325   here is the planking crew

• 326   here is the decking crew

 

• 327    Here we see both, and the new black pained trim around the diorama.

 

Next up

 

I realize I need to set the schooner on the railway permanently.  That means any work needing to apply force needs to be done.  Therefore, by next week. work on the schooner per say will be wrapped up and the remainder will focus on details and the overall story of rebuilding.  Finally, I need to complete the diorama parts, painting and seaweed etc.

Post 30

 

Setting the first steel platform

 

Saturday was exciting, as I took the plunge and set the first dockside platform.

 

• 306    here I have laid down the assembled platform and attached all eight of the small chains assemblies to operate the stands.

 

• 307   one subtlety in this photo for my record is that the platform I am raising is actually for the other side.  Can you believe it!!!  I figured it out only minutes after gluing it in place…..I will explain below

 

• 308   here we are with the ABS welding hopefully going to hold

 

• 309   I had to set Ernestina on the railway to see the impact

 

Here are three fun views of what is coming along

 

• 310   the bow over the dock

 

• 311   the stern over the dock

 

• 312    the stern over water

 

Now to the next steps of work

 

• 313    here on deck I have started making 7 figures from an army tank model kit. I shaved off their hats.  We’ll see what type scenes to make.

 

• 314   here the access planks are being placed, the ladder was placed only for measurement.  The two ladders will be hanged on the dockside of the steel platform columns.  Here also for the last time the horizontal steel member in the first bay.  It was supposed to be on the water end bay.   Oops    I mistakenly switched them. so now I must take out this member and place one like it at the far end. 

 

• 315   here is an early view of the stand set up with the chains.  , the real ones are dirty galvanized.   I plan to leave these now as visible copper just make them stand out.  One humorous reason is they are the most expensive thing I have had to buy for this build. 

 

All for now

Post 29

 

 More detail progress on deck and the dock gets built

 

The schooner deck is coming along, and the dock is now completely installed and ready for saltwater impacts like tide markings.  I am getting ready to install the first steel structure on the railway car. 

 

The schooner

 

• 296   here we see the detail of the planning on the transom.

 

• 297   here is my attempt to replicate it

 

• 298   Here is the wheel gear box and access hatch

 

• 299   here is my attempt to replicate it

 

• 300   this view from the aft side. 

 

• 301  My next question is how, if at all, do I finish the wood. There are various stains and that could be enough.  I often used either wipe on poly of tongue oil in the past.  Once I do either there is no more ability to fuss with coloring etc.   the decking is unfinished maple at the moment, and it needs something just to stay clean and to be cleanable in the future.  I also must decide how much deck to install.   There is no right answer I believe to that question, so I will see where it goes.   I want to complete enough in the bow to show the two lazarette hatches. I need to get the scuppers in soon too. 

 

The dock

 

• 302  this work on the dock needs to realistic enough to make sense but not take over as to the subject.  I hope what I doing here works.

 

• 303  as we move past the railway, the dock does stop for a bay and then continue out into the harbor with another building.  I hope the sing sting of piles works.

 

• 304  here I started to show the low tide makings on the piles. I also hope the handrail will help explain this line is the end of a dock that makes up the shipyard. We will need to have an over view phot top make that more clear.

• 
  
• 305   coming up soon I need to get into the seaweed and other things to help make the shoreline more realistic. That is actually fun as I have to invent my way through the stage and hope it all works.

 

Next up I need to complete the fore deck framing and get into decking. Then I need to set the first steel frame and platform and work on chains.

Post 28

 

Progress on deck and the engine room hatch rebuild

 

This post records one of the challenges of building a model without proper drawings.   The park service drawings for Ernestina were based on field measurements made in 2008 ish.  The 2016 redesign and rebuild has many subtle changes.   I am dependent on my observations and photos to pick them up.  

 

Recently I was asked for information regarding the pumps.  I posted the photo below on Allanyed's site without much thought, as I am not building out all the deck furnishings.    Now that I progressed as far as I have with the framing and deck beams, I started adding deck. I found something that did not make sense.  

 

• 286    This view shows the new pump on the rebuild in a space between the main fife rail and hold hatch that is clearly as big as the fife rail.  Let’s call it 4 feet.

• 287   This view shows the engine room hatch/ dog house being almost square.

• 288   This view shows what I built that clearly reflects the drawings.  The hatch is big and comes forward to the major deck beam just aft of the main mast.   This configuration may agree with the drawings but clearly not the photos of the new build. 

 

I was lucky to get to the yard and learned that I not only did the hatch wrong, but the lower bulkhead should also be one beam aft of what I built, again as I built to the old drawing.  I need now to dismantle and rebuild the hatch and bulkhead.  That will also free up space between the major deck beams for the pumps and reflect the new build.

  

289    this view shows the deck plan with a red line where the forward extent of the hatch needs to be located The reduced size of the hatch  would give room and clearance through the structure for the pump as well. 

 

• 290   This closeup shows the bulkhead below that needs to be moved aft one frame.

 

• 291   Here I have made a new deck beam.

 

• 292   In this view I have removed much of the lower deck frame and bulkhead. I may be able to reuse most of these pieces in the rework.

 

• 293  Here we are all rebuilt and the deck  recut and placed.

 

• 294   Here we are a few days later where we wanted to be.  The decking around the hatch is being glued down.

 

• 295   I wanted to share this view of the real hatch construction.  The hatch curbs are painted white. The unfinished wood is the buildup of the doghouse that as of now I am not building.  I may rethink this later.

 

Well, I lost some time. Checking things twice pays off.  Fortunately the rework was not too taxing.

 

All for now

Post 27

 

Diorama update on the dock and boat stands

 

This posting records progress on the railway.  I also want to share some more images of what the real equipment looks like and then my approach to replicate it in miniature.  There is also a sequence issue that I will share below. What I want the observer to learn from seeing the diorama is how the railway works.  First up is some progress.

 

• 273    in this view the building of the structural steel towers has progressed to painting and has gone from the table.  I have started the dock.

• 274   as we start building the dock toward the harbor, the railway car deck is 2-3 feet above the dock. The piling starts somewhere under here.  

• 275    as I work south, I need to make the piling reasonably realistic as one can see through from the side.  I can promise this task is another rabbit hole.

• 276a   at the top end I need to both close in the ugly side of the diorama for paint out and thought it would be good to show the front of the winch hose that pulls the chain.

• 276 b   here is an image of the scene. The large 10-inch chain goes in and out around a windlass to pull the car either way.

 

•  276 c   here we are with siding etc. I will add the sign

 

Ship stands are quite unique, and I want to represent them the best I can.  The phasing issue is that while frames and exterior planking is underway, these stands are not in place. They go in after planking. I feel though the system is important, and I will explain it below.

 

 

• 277   here is a complete stand. In this build there are ten of them engaged.  The system allows for 8, a pair at each of the main columns in the structural.

• 278    here you can see the tabs that ride on the edge of the floor plank.  The forward uphill stand connected to a chain that passes through the box sheave and runs on the near side of the beam across the car to the exterior.  the chain on the far side of the beam connect to the outer corner of the block.  These chains pull either toward or away from the ship [ schooner tug or other vessel when the car is in the harbor to either grab a vessel when hauling or loosen a vessel at launch.

• 279  here is a better view of the chain that pulls the stand inward.

• 280   on the outer edge of the car, the continuous chain feeds through two more blocks and upward to the platform.

• 281  on the platform there is chain fall rig that grabs the chain and with a handle, when operated, allows a man to move the stands in or out accordingly.

• 282  in this view one can see that all 8 columns are set up this way.

 

 

Now how to model this system …another rabbit hole. To do all eight that means 16 times 20 inches of chain. 64 blocks and attachment to ABS plastic steel.  No soldering. I will go as far as I can reasonably…. we’ll see. I started by buying 20 feet of chain and raiding the last of alloy blocks from my Bluejacket stores.    I will do at least the 5 engaged stands …again we will see what that looks like

 

• 283    here we see the second side of structure just back from painting.  I figured out how to do three blocks attached to ABS and thread the tiny chain. 

 

• 284   here I am trying to make the blocks to go at the car level out of ABS plastic so I can weld them in place.    

 

• 284   here I have placed the bottom component of the stand where they go and laid out a 20-inch section of chain. The only way I can see to attach 42 link chain is glue.  I made an eye that clearly too big so more work there.  

 

 

I think it is important to tell a s tory about this 700ton-railway car. It has been here in some form since 1869.   The history of the railway is being studied for exhibition by the yard and that is exciting too.

 

I probably should make one stand at a 1:12 scale as part of a side exhibit. More to think about.

 

All for now