US Brig Niagara by mikiek - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64 - First wooden ship build

[6ohiocav]

The Lake Erie Fleet is beginning to take shape. And not a moment too soon... the Royal Navy is are lurking over the sand bar.

 

Looking great. I have the same problem with pins, and have two sizes.  I will be following your lead once again.

 

Thanks partner.

[Elijah]

Nice job! Now that I think of it, the hull must have had to be very sturdy to be able to fire all those guns for a small boat like she is! Nice crew! Did you paint them?

[mikiek]

Don, Darrell, Elijah - thank you for checking in and for your feedback!  I am still a little uncertain about the pins but I am telling myself they will likely be 80%-90% covered by rope so I have some wiggle room. I prefer the smaller ones but the others should suffice,

 

I was able to find the 1:64 figurines online - same scale as the kit. They are pewter and have been painted. I don't plan on mounting them permanently but they are a help in realizing the scale.

 

In the interest of time, the original builders took some serious shortcuts when building supports for the deck. Several common practices are believed to be omitted. But still sturdy enough for the one battle this ship was intended for. I believe the Browns used the same techniques when they built Eagle on Lake Champlain a year later - a build they completed in something like 40 days.

[6ohiocav]

All of the Brown's ships were built in short order. I too read about the 40 day builds.  Unbelievable and very humbling.

 

can you send me the site for the figurines. They are real cool.

 

Still waiting my rope order to start rigging.

[jbshan]

Capt. Arthur Sinclair, who commanded the next fighting season, said the brigs hadn't a knee in them.  The knees were replaced by large deck clamps, etc. to give better purchase for the deck beams on the Champlain vessels the next year, possibility the same was done on Lake Erie.  Not to start another battle, but the vessel they raised in 1913 and presumed to be Niagara has a multitude of knees, just check the pics taken at the time.

[mikiek]

Key word "presumed"

[mikiek]

1:64 figurines were purchased here. Set of 6 different figures. Only downside I have run into is painting them. The blue in the pic is after 4 coats and it still chips easily. Maybe enamel rather than acrylic?

 

[cobra1951]

Nice Mike

Maybe matte or satin also, they look very shiny

Edited October 6, 2016 by Cobr@

[mikiek]

I definately will put a finish on them. Problem is I keep finding little spots I missed or chipped off. I'd like to get those cleaned up first.

[Julie Mo]

Mike, that is simply awesome!  You just continue to blow me away. 

[mikiek]

Thank you Julie! This kit seems to have a lot of detail packed into a rather small hull. All having to do with her intended use.

[mikiek]

The pix don't look a lot different than the ones from last week. But I am calling the deck finished now. All the parts made and mounted. I will still do a final compare with the plans to see if I overlooked something.

 

My thanks to Darrell for leading the way on the galley pipe. Was not sure how to do that one. Soldering brass strips to the brass pipe was quite annoying. Tried a mini torch at first. Get one soldered. Go to do the next one and the heat would melt the solder on the first one. Had to break out the resistance solderer. It took a while to get each strip in place with one of those third hand things. Then get the electrodes touching without knocking everything off. But the solder was quick and did not affect the other pieces. The little cone piece on top was made by turning a piece of wood. Actually my first attempt using a lathe for anything other than rounding square sticks for spars.

 

I did some reading on galley stoves and it appears that early pipes were made of wood not metal. Not so sure about during the Niagara period. If it is wood then I probably have the pipe painted the wrong color. I know the top area would have been black from soot.

 

Channels and chain plates are next. I've posted a question about that here. Feel free to add your 2 cents worth on that.

 

Well here she is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cobra1951]

Another stage of the build nicely finished

[donrobinson]

Very well done Mike, looking great. I am still amazed at the amount of guns, they look awesome

Edited October 12, 2016 by donrobinson

[mikiek]

Bob and Don, thank you!  It is a real mile stone in this process.

 

Don, it's almost an illusion. The ship only carries 20 guns. Relatively speaking, that ain't many when compared to a ship o' line. I guess it's because they are all out on the main deck rather than below on a gun deck(s).

[Elijah]

The deck looks fantastic! Your ship is coming along very well!

[mikiek]

Thank you Elijah. It is almost a relief to have that behind me.

[mikiek]

Wow, 2 weeks gone by. They have been very busy with little time to build. This weekend was literally the first in 4 months that I have had to do what I please. I split that between Niagara and an RC sailboat I am building. Weather was gorgeous, had both ends of the garage open - no A/C needed. What? Yes that's right, another build   A 1 meter racing yacht. Compared to what we do, this build is a piece of cake. The difference? This boat can get wet

 

Beginning the prep for rigging, I needed to get the channels and chain plates in order. Channels were easy enough. Chain plates? The plans are not clear. I started with the preventer plates. A lot of builds make a loop of wire and pound them flat leaving holes at each end. I'm not a fan of that look. Instead I stole a technique from the Eagle practicum.

 

I started with a piece of annealed 0.03 wire. Then using a metal punch,  I hammer out 2 spots which will wind up being the ends.

 

 

Then the spot in between gets a couple  of whacks.

 

 

Using a center punch, start a hole for each end.

 

 

Then drill out the holes.

 

 

Cut and shape each end. A few of the early attempts.

 

 

They are getting more consistent and it is taking about 2 minutes per piece. Kind of expensive but I prefer this look. The toe links were just the basic piece of wire, looped and ends soldered. I am holding off on the upper links for now, I suspect they are not all going to be exactly the same size.

 

Deadeyes will be next. I found a technique that I will be trying from a pay-for site. No soldering involved.

 

I want to throw one question out there - Niagara plans show the channels mounted just under the hand rail. The Eagle practicum (which I have referenced a lot) shows them on the gunwale. At the moment I am opting for under the rail. Any thoughts???

 

From what I am seeing, the angle of the mounted chain plates should follow the angle of it's shroud, so to get much further I will have to step a mast. I believe I will follow Lever and work from the stern forward. Still debating that.

 

Nice to get back to things again....

Edited October 24, 2016 by mikiek

[jbshan]

Yes, Mike.  The angle of the chain should follow the shroud, so you have a straight pull.  A mockup mast needn't be complicated, of course.

I made a couple extra notches in the channel edges (later to be covered by the edge board) and used pins to give something more than just glue holding things to the hull.  This whole structure should be somewhat like the bridge of a violin, with the channels having mostly inward tension on them, not up or down, but you could use brackets below the channels to help with some additional support.  The brackets might be supposed to be there, check the plans.

[mikiek]

Joel - the Niagara plans say channels are just under the rail. The Eagle practicum, which is based on Chrisman's Eagle excavation/plans,  call for them on the gunwale. Wasn't sure if the under rails idea was a modern day thing or maybe there were some significant differences between Eagle and Niagara. I've been thinking they were close to the same design.

[jbshan]

I put mine under the rail, FWIW.

[mikiek]

We'll all go down together - so did I.

[mikiek]

Came across this site today as I was researching the rigging process. It's probably of no use to the experienced folks but for the novice (and I include myself) it is a quick, concise explanation of a lot of rigging lingo.

 

 

[donrobinson]

That's a good site

[6ohiocav]

Hey Mike,

 

I have been working hard on the foremast and Jib rigging and am getting ready to post all of my work with rope sizes, serving choices, lengths, and as best I can figure, how it all came together. Quite a chore.

 

I glued my channels under and up against the bottom of the rail. It provided support.

 

Thanks for the site.  Good info.

[mikiek]

That will be interesting Darrell. I'm gonna start at the tail and work forward. Also hoping to do Main & Fore lower, then tops, then top gallants. We'll see if the plan holds up.

 

I'd be curious to hear your take on how much stress the standing rigging actually puts on tie-downs like deadeyes. I know ropes like shrouds should not be limp but I imagine they are not cranked down either.

 

I'm still coming across deck pieces I overlooked, like the bell and forward pin rail.

[cobra1951]

I'm still coming across deck pieces I overlooked, like the bell and forward pin rail.

At least you are finding them before it's too late

[mikiek]

Sometimes I amaze myself with my own stupidity!  One track, no options. The chain plates were a perfect example. I had originally made the preventer plates by trying to hammer (flatten) a piece of wire. Perhaps in real life that's how a smith would have done it. But there is quite a difference between beating on a 1' piece of metal and beating on a 3/16" piece. Looking back at my earlier post, those things were UGLY.

 

Lightening did strike. How about taking an already flattened piece of metal and just shape it as you need it? Duh! Break out the Dremel. Break out the Foredom. Turn on the brain.

 

So we start with a brass strip and punch some guide holes.

 

 

Next, drill out the holes and grind to shape.

 

 

Took a third of the time as the previous attempt.

 

Next, getting deadeyes mounted on channels and mast tops. Due to shortages I used a combination of kit supplied and ones from Syren. Not overly thrilled with either. Wire is wrapped around and squeezed tight.

 

 

The both ends are inserted into a hole in the channel or mast top.

 

 

Trim the short end, bend the other end. This end will also be shortened to where it ends level with the top. The deadeye is turned into position. A piece of rope or chainplate can be inserted and then the end is pushed up into the underside of the top or chainplate. NO SOLDERING!  I'll show you that when I get there.

 

 

I really need to do something with these masts.

 

 

 

[donrobinson]

Hey Mike, looking at your pictures all of your deadeyes are not aligned properly. I'm not sure if you are finished with them in the pictures but you should always have one hole perpendicular to the seizing, just a heads up.

[donrobinson]

Geez, I forgot to say your new "preventer plates" look great , nice method. Now do something about those cob webs