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

[mikiek]

I'll be transporting Niagara to my dad's soon. I think I'll use the foam holder that I used for the build so I took the stand off. The foam keeps her from rolling, so if I can just keep the foam from rolling I should be OK.  I figure a lot of towels wrapped around it will keep the foam still and also act as padding should she fall for some reason.

 

 I'll be sorry to see her go.

[milosmail]

Really nice build on your Niagra. I have been a lurker reading your blog, and I appreciate the info. on problems you encountered. 

As for mounting , We probably all made the mistake on our first kit to not drill mounting holes in the keel at an early stage. I know I did. Looks like you recovered nicely.

Mine is going slowly, as life has interfered over time - mostly a couple of home remodels... I have just finished painting the hull and moving on to planking the deck.

 

Well, enjoy your ship. What's your next build?

[mikiek]

Thank you Steve. I'm afraid I went the other way. Building when I should have been doing other things. I let a lot of things slide.

 

As far as builds, I'm in the middle of a RC version of Amati Riva Aquarama. Getting things laid out for a 50" RC trimaran. A restoration of a 70 year old build for a family friend. And considering Constructo La Camaret just for something fun & easy.

 

Stay with your Niagara. If I can be of help please let me know.

[mikiek]

Case is ready! Went to go pick it up - too big for the car   It's gi-normous.  From the tip of the bowsprit to the end of the spanker boom, you don't realize how big these things are.

 

Will have to go back with the truck tomorrow. May also need a Plan B in case my dad decides it's all too big for his mantle. Then I'll have to make him something else

Edited November 16, 2017 by mikiek

[Nirvana]

Mike, 

if the case is to big for the mantle, then what is plan B?

And what will you do instead?

[mikiek]

Hi Per - I'll bring it home and find a spot. I may need to construct some legs to raise it up. It might fit on a table where I have a small case now. It might look cool on a wall shelf. I don't remember the outer dimensions or else I'd be measuring right now.

[mikiek]

On 11/16/2017 at 5:15 PM, mikiek said:

 

Will have to go back with the truck tomorrow. May also need a Plan B in case my dad decides it's all too big for his mantle. Then I'll have to make him something else

Plan B it is. The case is rather overwhelming on his mantle.  I'm getting some of those hairpin metal legs and will attach those to some 1"x4"s  to make a frame that sits under the pedestal. Not many places in the house  with a big "hole in the wall" for something like this.

 

I wonder if I should start making smaller boats

[Nirvana]

Mike,

Where I work we have a display for our company's small gifts, when I realized maybe I should look up the length of Confederacy. 

Total length of her is 35" the display we have is 40" and it's huge!'

I have no idea where to put such a display. Fortunate she is not carrying full rigging!

[mikiek]

You are right about that Per. The case - just brought it in from the truck - is 44"x28"x16". It probably could have been 1" smaller all around and still looked OK.

 

I have often commented/joked about admiralty builds and doing something like that for future builds. It does 2 things. Number 1, you don't have to rig much. Number 2 your case will be half the size of a fully built out boat.

 

Personally, I think all the ropes detract from the deck details. Niagara is kinda bare bones there compared to others. I couldn't imagine doing one of the 17th century boats - gilded, ornately carved, rounded stair cases, etc.  and then covering it all up. But that's just a personal preference. (Step down from soap box)

 

I have to pull all the protective paper of the case and clean it up and then I'll post some pix.

 

 

[mikiek]

Niagara in her new room. I have some  legs on order and will put them on a platform that the case can sit on. Hope it all gets here before Thanksgiving. The Admiral won't be happy if we have to share the dining room table with a boat.

 

Had to take pix from the side as from straight on the flash gave too much reflection. The protective paper is still on the back. If it was another color I might consider leaving it on.

 

About time to change this title to FINISHED!!!

 

 

 

 

[Tigersteve]

Wow! Congrats. 

Steve

[GrantGoodale]

Very nice build. Did you build the case yourself?

 

[Tom E]

Wow! 

 

She is beautiful!

 

[mikiek]

Thanks to you all for the kind words and for your support during this endeavor. Things are definitely winding down. I have the leg platform to build (when it gets here) so I can place the case against the wall. I have one other task to finish and then will call this project done.

 

GrantGoodale - I did not build the case. There is a plastics shop near work that makes custom cases. They did the job. Third time I have had them build a case and all have been top notch.  This was the largest case by far.

[Mickgee]

Mike, now that looks professional!  Excellent.

[donrobinson]

Very nice Mike 

[mikiek]

Mickgee - Thank you. I've always felt like the cases add a little something to the final look.

 

Don - I guess we both have a decision coming up.  What's next? I've got several smoldering on the bench but nothing I would call my main build.

[lkimmins]

Mike

Nice job now you can bring it to our club meeting, Lee Kimmins

[Jim Rogers]

On 11/16/2017 at 3:15 PM, mikiek said:

Case is ready! Went to go pick it up - too big for the car   It's gi-normous.  From the tip of the bowsprit to the end of the spanker boom, you don't realize how big these things are.

 

Will have to go back with the truck tomorrow. May also need a Plan B in case my dad decides it's all too big for his mantle. Then I'll have to make him something else

Put a set of legs on the case and make it a stand up display. It will look great. Very nice job.

[mikiek]

Lee - believe it or not  have found a relativley safe way to transport the boat. I use one of those foam holders, I think MicroMark sells them. Cradles the hull firmly then I pile towels or blankets all the way around that. Of course you do need a SUV.

 

The boat didn't roll or even tilt and was in perfect condition at my destination. And I used to hear horror stories of major destruction during transport.

 

Jim - that's the plan. Build a frame of 2x4s and fix the legs to that. Then set the case on top.

[Jim Rogers]

53 minutes ago, mikiek said:

Lee - believe it or not  have found a relativley safe way to transport the boat. I use one of those foam holders, I think MicroMark sells them. Cradles the hull firmly then I pile towels or blankets all the way around that. Of course you do need a SUV.

 

The boat didn't roll or even tilt and was in perfect condition at my destination. And I used to hear horror stories of major destruction during transport.

 

Jim - that's the plan. Build a frame of 2x4s and fix the legs to that. Then set the case on top.

Mike that ship and case are beautiful. Put a nice oak apron on it and get a set of nice turned legs. Repurpose some old Queen Anne legs.

[mikiek]

Thank you Lee - for now I'm going with some of those metal harpin legs. Not as nice as your suggestions but I needed something fast.

[mikiek]

For scheduling reasons we are having Thanksgiving tomorrow so I got to work on the stand for the case today. Pretty much finished except for putting on a few coats of varnish. Didn't have time for it to dry and since the display will be parked in the dining room I didn't want it smelling like  like varnish during the meal tomorrow. Maybe later. Here's what I ended up with.

 

 

Had to fit some shims in there - probably should have stained it so it's not so obvious. However the stand surface is smaller than the footprint of the case so it'll all be covered up. One good thing about the pedestal with the case.

 

I had ordered some metal legs from Amazon and since I have Prime I had expected them to arrive yesterday. Instead I got an email saying delivery would be postponed - no date specified. So I cancelled that and in a panic took off to Home Depot. I must say what I ended up with is much more elegant than the metal hairpin legs. Pricier too. But Dang It, this is my first major build, it took over 2 years - SO THERE! 

 

Well here she is folks, parked in her new home.

 

 

 

I'm liking it so far.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2017 by mikiek

[mikiek]

In Memorium – Joel Sanborn (JBSHAN)

 

It's hard to find words for someone you never met. Never shook their hand. Never looked in their eyes. Words don't come easy for me anyhow.

I never did any of that with Joel Sanborn (JBSHAN) and yet in this screwy electronic age none of that seems important. A few keystrokes and you're making exchanges with just about anyone. So many of them you will never meet.

Thanks to the forums here at MSW I did get to know Joel. It's funny what you can pick up about someone if you try. His first few responses to me were somewhat terse. In hindsight I think direct would be a better descriptor. And Joel was direct to a fault. You were never left wondering how he felt on a topic. But that also meant honesty, the thing I cherished about him most.

An encyclopedic mind. Seems like he knew any and everything nautical. Probably other subjects as well. From this came all his comments, pointers and tips and I always looked forward to getting his thoughts on questions I raised. Something that I miss even today.

A dry sense of humor. If you weren’t paying attention, you might miss the pun entirely.

Joel helped me along on my first build – Niagara. He was one of the first to pass along opinion rather than “nice work” or “keep it up”. We both had the same ideas about how the build should look – historical rather than contemporary. Thanks to him I began to think beyond just the gluing of wood parts. What was going on at during the original build? Why was it built? Where? All questions that have an impact on the outcome.

When I got to the rigging stage of the build I resisted. I really didn’t want to do it. Niagara went to the back burner and I moved on to other builds. I’m sure this must have been a disappointment to Joel. He seized every opportunity for a friendly jab to get back to work and finish Niagara. And I resisted.

Then came a short few weeks back in April when I realized I hadn’t heard anything from Joel in a while. A search of the forums showed no activity for his username. This was odd. Joel loved this site and was always active. A few weeks more and I got concerned enough to try to reach out to him. Surely some Google searches would turn up a phone number or address. Unfortunately the first thing I came across was his obituary.

Quite distressing to say the least. But that’s another quirky thing with the internet. You get to know someone and then they “disappear” and you may have no idea why.

At that time, I decided to dust off Niagara, put my head down and finish her – for Joel. It was the least I could do. It was also the first time I’ve ever done something like that for someone else. So I’ve rigged and I’ve grown from the experience. Thanks to Joel. His spirit lives on.

Sharing this was the last task for this build. I'll be changing the log title to FINISHED now. I hope that'll put a smile on his face. I know he's still checking in to see what's going on.

 

So this Niagara build is done and is dedicated to Joel B. Sanborn..........

[Tom E]

Beautiful build,

Beautiful dedication.

 

Well done Mike

I hope you and your family enjoy the ship for years to come. 

 

Tom E 

[Canute]

Mike, well done on both the ship and it's display. And that was a first class dedication to Joel. He's definitely missed.

[donrobinson]

Hi Mike , the stand, case and ship look wonderful. I have followed your build from the beginning always looking forward to seeing the next update and Joel's comments. He was an amazing man, always there willing to share his skills and experiences with you and others. His guidance and constant prodding resulted in you now having a masterpiece in your home. I am sure he is now looking down with one huge smile on his face. Beautiful dedication, Mike  

[mikiek]

Ken, Don - Thank you both. I recognize that both of you have ridden along since day 1 and I appreciate that. That was one of the hard things in posting something for Joel - I don't want to slight the fact that others (you guys included) have contributed to this project. The MSW family is an amazing group of people!

[mikiek]

I hope this doesn't sound big headed. I was in the dining room today - that's where Niagara is docked now. Couldn't help but wander over and pull up a chair and just gawk for a while. A good 10-15 minutes. Sometimes I amaze myself How in the world did I do all that?

 

I'm glad I can still have an interest and be proud  of past projects....That may be tougher to say when I have no more room for them

[Jim Rogers]

You earned the “gawk” and we all do it. I plan on gawking at my Syren tomorrow when I put her in the ships case.