Effie M Morrissey by allanyed

[allanyed]

   I wanted to build a schooner fully framed and found as detailed a set of plans as possible for a Gloucester schooner on the US Library of Congress website.  I started building the Effie M. Morrissey (renamed in 1948 the Ernestina) about 3 years ago and have been back and forth on her as a couple other projects intervened.

 

The building sequence is nothing unusual, starting with the keel, stem, and stern post, which are made of Costello Boxwood.  Note the angled piece under the keel.  This was temporarily glued to the bottom of the keel so it would stand at the proper angle during the framing process.  The frames were hung at ninety degrees to the building board, not the keel.  This was shown clearly on the drawings although hard to see in the photos. 

 

Next up, framing.

 

Allan

[allanyed]

The frames are doubles and the framing plan is quite detailed on where they lie on the keel.   The isometric drawings were a big help in framing the stern area and the bow area.   I used poplar for the frames.  After planing to the proper thickness I glued two sheets of wood together with the grains running at 90 degrees to each other.  The frame drawings were printed on label paper then adhered on the laminated wood sheet and cut out on my scroll saw.   I am no draftsmen compared to Wayne K, Druxey, and so many others here.  I downloaded the plans from the L.O.C. in TIFF so was able to insert them into my Turbo Cad drawing with very high resolution.   I then used the body plan to make the frame drawings, including the frames between the stations.  It was just a matter of dividing the space between the body plan lines at 5 or 6 points along the curve then using arcs to draw the frames.  Not necessarily the way they did them in real practice, but it worked out well with minimal fairing needed.

 

The keel was marked for each frame location.  The square assured the frames were set at 90 degrees verically in relation to the building board  and 90 degrees to the keel horizontally.  Spacers were used between each frame to maintain spacing and to give some rigidity.

 

 

 

Allan

Edited March 8, 2016 by allanyed

[Omega1234]

Hi Allan

 

Nice start, especially with the frames. I can see that she's gonna be a beauty when finished!

 

Mind if I tag along?

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[allanyed]

Thanks Patrick, fire away with any questions.

 

Scale of the build is 1/4" to the foot.  I inserted the L.O.C. drawings in TIFF format into Turbo Cad as they had the best resolution.  It was then easy to take the drawings up to full size with the CAD program using the scale on the drawings and then scale down to 1/48.

 

More photos from earlier on in the build follow.  The first is framed with keelson and deck clamps in place.  The second shows the hull planking partially sanded with a "window" to show the framing.   Planking is poplar.  The color of poplar can vary but as it was later painted, it was of no concern.  Some Plastic Wood filler was used before final sanding and painting, mainly at where the planks were not a perfect fit at the rabbet.  With painting, I did not feel the need to be quite as careful as I would normally be when I am not painting the hull. 

 

Allan

[Chuck]

You have been busy......less time on the golf course.   That is looking just great Allan.  Looking forward to seeing progress.

[druxey]

Nice to see you back building, Allan!

[Omega1234]

Beautiful work, Allan.

[allanyed]

Thanks folks.  Feels good to be working on Effie Druxey.  I have been researching 1719 Establishment 50's as well as quietly building the Gjoa for about 6 months as there was a deadline so I have not been totally idle in our model building arena. This is a fun build, but I am at an impasse on the Gloucester steering wheel.  My lathe is down and out until it gets replaced or repaired so I am looking for a good way to make one.  Even at 1/4" scale I have not found a solution to date. I am wide open to suggestions.   I just need to make one good one using  any materials that work then can make a mold and cast a few in pewter but so far all efforts have been rather poor.  As small as the metal ring is, I am looking at trying some stiff card stock and brass rod next. 

 

Allan

[allanyed]

Next up is the deck framing.  The mast steps were added before hand.  I did plank the trunk cabin  as I had considered furnishing it at that time. The lodging knees were only added where the deck planking was left off for viewing. 

Allan

[Omega1234]

Wow! Very nice work Allan!

[allanyed]

Thank you Omega, and to everyone for the "likes", it is very much appreciated.

 

Deck planking and bulwark stanchions came next.  Once the bulk of the deck planking was complete the stanchions were made and glued in place.  They are shown clearly on the isometric drawing so it was pretty clear on how they looked and were placed.  Deck filler pieces between the stanchions was a hassle, but time and patience work wonders.

 

Allan

Edited March 13, 2016 by allanyed

[EdT]

Nice work, Allan.  Good to see you back.

 

Ed

[albert]

Beautiful work, Allan.

[druxey]

Very neat, Allan! That row of stanchions must be very satisfying to look at now. Of course, there's the other side of the ship to do yet....

[bigcreekdad]

Very impressed!  Keep going.

[allanyed]

Thanks again to everyone for the compliments and likes. I will try to post more pics when I return next week from traveling on business.   No golf and no ship modeling for over a week,  the withdrawal systems are already cropping up!  

Allan