US Brig Niagara by 6ohiocav - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64

[mikiek]

You've no idea how many attempts I made at squaring off the companionway. When Joel mentioned that the original probably didn't have any structures, it didn't take but a second for me to get on that wagon.

 

Nice idea!

[jbshan]

Well, for one thing, look at your deck plan.  How were you going to work the capstan?

[mikiek]

Ah yes, the capstan.

 

Just out of curiosity, do they use it in the modern version?

[jbshan]

They probably have an electric winch to handle the ground tackle, and possibly had a windlass forward on the original.  Apparently making capstans was kind of a specialized skill.

The kit capstan is kind of skinny and might not work very well.

Edited June 22, 2016 by jbshan

[6ohiocav]

Companionway

 

Finished the second skylight and began working on the companionway. Even though I have already built one of these, I worked most of the night just to get to this point. I still have to build the slide brackets and top, and then get it all to fit, then the door and the trim.

 

I truly believe I could build a full sized companionway in a shorter time. At least I could see what I am doing. This darn thing is small.

 

Interesting observation on the capstan Joel. You are spot on. With all of these deck structures, and the capstan wedged inbetween the salon skylight and the companionway, you can't. While the capstan bars appear to be mounted above the tops of the two structures, unless the men are prepared to step onto the roofs, it would be impossible. As I look at my build, I am not sure that my companion way will be low enough to clear the bars, making this even more of a problem.

 

I am sold. CASE CLOSED. The skylights and companionway are clearly a modern anomoly. Great point Joel.

[mikiek]

Your structures look great Darrell.

[mikiek]

They probably have an electric winch to handle the ground tackle, and possibly had a windlass forward on the original.  Apparently making capstans was kind of a specialized skill.

The kit capstan is kind of skinny and might not work very well.

I wasn't overly impressed with the kit capstan either. I thought about dressing it up with some "ironwork" but simple is the mantra. Darrell, the capstan is  something you might have some fun with. If you could get some pics of capstans for that period.

 

Joel do you really think there might have been a windlass?

[jbshan]

I wasn't overly impressed with the kit capstan either. I thought about dressing it up with some "ironwork" but simple is the mantra. Darrell, the capstan is  something you might have some fun with. If you could get some pics of capstans for that period.

 

Joel do you really think there might have been a windlass?

Might have been, yes.  This vessel is of a size which could have had one.  It has a tiller rather than a wheel, also characteristic of a small vessel.

I believe there is an appropriate size of barrel for the size of cable.  This kit version just looks small in diameter to me.  Purely my take on it, without any particular documentary evidence.

[mikiek]

Your take is good as gold to me.

[6ohiocav]

Guys,

 

This discussion begs a question - Are there any period documents, diagrams, plans, wood cuts, paintings etc of either the Niagara or her sister ship the Lawrence?

[jbshan]

Guys,

 

This discussion begs a question - Are there any period documents, diagrams, plans, wood cuts, paintings etc of either the Niagara or her sister ship the Lawrence?

There is a painting which shows the stern of the Niagara and a side view of the Lawrence, but nothing of the interior details.  Had there been any official records they would have gone to Washington Navy Yard which was burned later on.

[mikiek]

Joel posted links to a few write ups he put together in my log. A lot of that and my thinking is formed by some common sense and putting 2 & 2 together. In my mind some of the determining factors were:

 

1. Erie (the assembly point) was a small village/town barely accessible by land. There was access by water. It was primarily just subsistence living there, no real trade or industry. All shipbuilders and associated crafts were imported for the construction.

 

2. The boats built there were built for 1 fight, not long term usage. Follow up battles by either side were not anticipated as the losing squadron would either be captured or decimated. This would make one assume that only the items needed for a battle would have been built/installed. Also items that might be detrimental to a battle - i.e. deck structures - were likely left out.

 

3. Other than wood, almost all materials were either imported or improvised, again leading to the assumption that only what was absolutely needed was installed.

 

4. Since sorties were of short duration and usually some shoreline was nearby, a lot of items required for long term voyages would be left out i.e large food and water stores.

 

Just my W.A.G.

[mikiek]

Guys,

 

This discussion begs a question - Are there any period documents, diagrams, plans, wood cuts, paintings etc of either the Niagara or her sister ship the Lawrence?

 

See if this works. Interesting history and some good artwork. Of course this is only one mans rendering after a lot of research. I do keep the pdf in my library.

[6ohiocav]

Mike and Joel,

 

Again, thanks for the research. I am going to find a great bottle of Lake Erie wine and read that wonderful link that you sent this weekend.  I need a break from working on buildings the size of a nickel.

[6ohiocav]

Companionway II

 

Well I finally finished the companionway and the captains quarter skylight. I trimmed out the windows in cherry stripwood, I built the hatch rails and hatch frame out of holly. I finished the hatch roof and door out of cherry strips.

 

This was a chore, and for those of you that have the Niagara plans, you will note a big mistake in the structures, Not a real big one, but since I made the same mistake twice, I had to reveal it.  I created the companionway with three windows per side, BUT, the plans only call for two windows per side. The salon skylight callsefor three windows, and I only put in two.

 

If you have followed this log, you will remember that I REBUILT these structures.  The first time, I made the same mistake, and when I decided to rebuild them, I figured I would fix this.  Well........ In my haste to get these things done (like trying to hurry doing a chore that took three days), I made the very same mistake again. Arghhhh. I have to keep reminding myself to look at the plans once and a while.

 

Here are some photos.  I had to see what they looked like on deck, so I simply put them in place.  

 

Up next, pin and fife rails.

 

 

[mikiek]

They look good Darrell. When you drop your deck in for a look have you pressed down around the deck edges? When you do that, the deck should end up with a crown that runs down the centerline. Highest at the centerline, lowest at the waterway. I mention this because you will need to sand the fore and aft base of your structures to fit over the crown.

 

I feel your pain re the nickle and dime sized parts. Unfortunately, there seems to be no getting around it at this stage. You have the right idea by 'walking away'  for a day or two.

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

Good points all.  The plans call for baseboard trim pieces around all of the structures, so I may be able to hide any gaps created by the crown.

[6ohiocav]

Jackstays

 

I worked on the masts today, trying to get everything ready to paint. I had an idea to make a jig for drilling all of the holes for the jackstays. Iplaced a round tip bit into the router table and cut a half circle bead on a piece of scrap.  I would use that to seat the masts. I then marked and drilled a series of guide holes a centimeter apart as per the plans.  Once the masts were secured to the jig, I used the guide holes and with my diamond tipped bit on the dremel, plunge drilled the jackstays holes in the masts. It worked on all of the masts.  Once done, I used the small eyebolts from the kit, cut them to size, and glued them in place with medium CA.  The jackstays came out straight and evenly spaced.  I also saved a good amount of time.

 

Here are some shots of the process.

 

 

[6ohiocav]

And here are some photos of the completed masts.

[6ohiocav]

Umm.  Not the "masts" dummy.  These are spars.

[jbshan]

Ummm.  They're all spars, some are masts some are yards.  ;-)

[6ohiocav]

 Fife and Pin Rails

 

​I worked on the fife rails yesterday.  I made them from my cherry stock. My wood joinery skills were put to a real test in the micro size of these things. I also made the pin rails.  I used bass wood strips and spray painted them with my airbrush.

 

I have also given consideration to the kit supplied belaying pins.  They are made of brass, and of course must be painted or blackened (or browned, but I don't have that product). So last month, while on business in Sandusky, I had the opportunity to stop in the local hobby store, and to my surprise, they actually had a rack of model shipway parts and such. I picked up 4 bags (all they had) of wooden belaying pins. They are already stained dark, but I don't have enough of them.  I suppose I could order some to complete the set, but decided to consider another alternative.  I found some decorative toothpicks, with a head, when cut and shaped, works pretty well as a belaying pin. I have attached pictures of all three. At some point, I will decide which ones to use.  The size is an issue, since the wooden ones, especially the model shipway pins, look a bit out of scale (large).

 

Any suggestions?

 

PS. Please forgive me for my sloppy use of sailing terminology. I am learning.

 

[mikiek]

I went back & forth - wood or brass as it didn't appear that I had enough kit supplied brass. Was going to go wood but a comment in a post I made said the wood can break. I ended up ordering more brass from Model Expo. They don't need any sizing just coloring. Tamiya has a Deck Tan that is about the color of a light wood.  So I've ended up with the kit brass pin, painted. You gotta consider that once there is a big coil of rope hanging off, the actual pin will barely be visible.

[mikiek]

Forgot to ask - Darrell how did you cut the camfers in the posts for the rails? I have really struggled to get 4 consistent cuts.

[6ohiocav]

If you are talking about the vertical chamfers (half moon shaped), I used a micro half round file and did it by hand.  The size of the file fit perfectly to the design. As long as you start it in the right place, and monitor the depth, you have a chance to get them even.  The top chamfers were done by hand with a flat file. Neither was easy, and I have a pile of scrap pieces to prove it. Trying to keep the sizes consistent at such a small scale is a chore.  Hope this helps.

 

Have you painted your pins yet?  Has the paint held to the brass well? Good point on the rope covering them up.

[6ohiocav]

Boat Davit

 

Worked on the boat davits.  Traced the laser cut template onto some cherry and cut them out with the band saw. I Carefully sanded them into shape and then marked the sheaves.  I drilled then carved out the slots with the x-acto knife. Then drilled a small hole through the side and inserted a pin with some medium CA.

 

I did all of that - took most of the evening - and then realized I put the sheaves on the wrong end.... Soooo, I did it all over again.

 

Very soon, I will have all of the deck component parts done.  I already finished the masts, yards, bowspirits and spankers.

The guns are all done. Therefore, it may be time to glue down the deck and begin the process of attaching all of these parts to the ship. A daunting task.

[mikiek]

 

Have you painted your pins yet?  Has the paint held to the brass well? Good point on the rope covering them up.

 

Posted a pic in my log. One coat white primer, 2 coats Deck Tan.

[GuntherMT]

My opinion - I think the brass ones are closest to the correct scale.  I'd use them and either blacken them, or paint them, whichever you think looks the best.  

 

Other than that, looking good!

[6ohiocav]

​Ships Bell and Bowsprit Bitts

​

​​I worked on the frame for the ships bell. It attaches to the octagon sides of the bowsprit. It is actually suspended above the deck. It has a crown and block that the bell attaches to.  The block has a mortised handle used to ring the bell.  Both the crown and block have curved tops and bottoms. all of the parts are chamfered, and the entire structure is smaller than a dime.

 

Getting the proper length for the crown and block is critical.  In order to get that measurement, and make the entire structure square, I decided to make a simple jig to mount the actual bowsprit in.  Since the frame sits above the bottom of the bowsprit, I measured some strip wood and glued it down for the frame pieces to rest on.  Once the frames were clamped in place, I was able to measure the distance between the two and cut out the crown and block. The curves were cut by hand with a half round file (inside diameter) and my bench sander (outside).

 

I cut a very small mortise for the wee little handle and glued it in place.

 

I also made the bowsprit bitts.

 

All of the pieces were made out of cherry.

 

Here are some photos of the process and final results.

[mikiek]

Darrell - going back to your post #18, are your cathead shapes identical to the laser plywood parts? I'm asking because I just cut out the laser parts and they don't even begin to fit in place correctly. I did file out a notch for the rail. If the upper part of the CH sits flush on the rail then the lower part extends out and away from the inner bulwark. If I make the lower part sit flush on the bulwark then the upper part angles up a little and doesn't sit well on the rail.

 

I'm trying to decide if I need to file out a big chunk at the inner elbow of the CH. Or maybe make one that's shaped to fit.