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

[GuntherMT]

Looking pretty good.  Has to be nice to get all that repetitive work done!

 

The only suggestion I would make is to tighten up the breech line loop around the cascabel on the long guns.  In the real world this is an eye-splice I do believe, so it should be quite tight when using a loop like this to simulate it.  I just soaked the section of line in white glue & water mixture and pulled it tight, and they seem to be holding up fine.

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

Did you notice that the 3/32 blocks are about half the size of the wheels, just like your photo.

 

Yes to the pin rails.  I did them months ago.  I also have to add the additional eyebolts, and as soon as I figure out how to color the Brittania cleats (paint or brown blackening product), I will be dressing up the bulwarks.  Then I have to work on the rudder and tiller. Then add the deck furniture. The only thing I still have to build is the capstan.  All of the rest are done waiting to be installed. Should make some significant progress in the next couple of weeks.

[6ohiocav]

Brian,

 

Thanks for the tip.  I put a drop of glue on top of the cascabel to hold the loop in place but I know I can tighten it up some. I'll give the glue mixture a try.  I need to mix some up anyway for the rope coils. 

[Deperdussin1910]

I like your work.  "...I had the chance to construct and rig the two 9 pound long guns..."  I have the plans from the Erie Maritime Museum and they show two short 12 pounders??

[mikiek]

Actual guns historically were 12 pounders I believe.

[6ohiocav]

Gents,

 

A quick check of the plans and some research and I stand corrected -  12 pounders it is. I will have to send my barrels back to the Brittania foundry to be recast.

 

Just kidding of course. Proper syntax suffers when I work on the build log away from build project with all of the plans. 

[mikiek]

Welcome back - Is the Union safe?

[6ohiocav]

I am back from Virginia.  It was quite hot, and we faithfully recreated the Battle of Bull Run - the Union Army got whipped badly. I commanded the Union Army (as Maj. Gen. McDowell) and President Lincoln will soon relieve me. Here are a few photos taken over the weekend. I am on the black horse with the yellow breast strap.

 

http://www.joshellerphoto.com/p498058465/h7b155761#h7b155761

 

http://www.joshellerphoto.com/p498058465/h7b155761#h72d9394e

 

http://www.joshellerphoto.com/p498058465/h7b155761#h739b3f44

[jbshan]

Cool photos, Darrell.

The farmer on whose land this transpired, Wilmer McLean (thanks, Yahoo Search) decided he didn't like the neighborhood and moved to a nice quiet spot at Appomattox Court House.

[6ohiocav]

Indeed he did.  He figured he had had enough of war, and decided to move to the quiet little town of Appomattox where he figured he would never have to experience the horrors of the battlefield ever again. It is said the war started in his parlor and ended there. How ironic. This could only happen in history. No one would think of making this up.

 

By the way, bringing this period of history into perspective for us fans of the age of sail, the Confederate Army's advance north towards Manassas caused panic all along the coast. In reaction (perhaps OVER reaction) the US Navy decided to burn the USS Pennsylvania (140 guns), USS Columbus (74 guns), USS Delaware (74 guns), USS New York (74 guns) and a host of other smaller ships in order to prevent them from slipping into Confederate hands. What a terrible loss to posterity, all in one day in April 1861.

[mtaylor]

That whole album is excellent.  I particularly like the B&W shots.   

 

Well, when the battle was over, did you have the problems with the gentry headed back to DC as they did in 1861?  

[6ohiocav]

Mark,

 

We did.  We had period civilians in horse-drawn carriages follow the Union Army to watch the battle unfold.  When we routed, we swept them up and we all "headed back to DC."  Very authentic. 

[6ohiocav]

​Rope Coils

 

​I decided to clean up the deck of all of the loose tackle ropes and create rope coils.  I perused this forum for techniques and found a bunch of different approaches.  I pretty easily discarded the notion of rolling the existing lines on the deck. They will not stay rolled without a solution of water and glue, and the deck is not the place for that mess.  Besides, the intricate locations for the lines made it nearly impossible anyway.

 

I therefore decided to roll them off the ship.  I used a 50/50 solution of white glue and water.  I thoroughly submerged a 3 inch piece of rope, using inverted sharp point tweezers to grip the very end.  I rolled the rope on a glass plate.  I found that as long as the rope stayed in the small puddle of glue solution, it would stay down on the glass, and it would allow me to roll the rope and stay flat.

 

Extracting the tweezers without pulling the inside rope end out of the coil was a challenge. I accomplished it by using the back end of an x-acto knife and slipping it gently between the two ends of the tweezers and holding the coil down as I pulled the tweezers away.

 

I also learned that you CANNOT touch the coil until it is completely dry - and I mean 5 hours dry. The watered down solution takes forever to dry, and it is so sticky, any attempt to touch it before so simply ruins it. Patience, patience, patience.

 

By the way, I will say again that the Syren rope is an outstanding product. It rolled very well.  The kit supplied rope was too stiff and would not stay rolled, even when soaked with the glue/water. Of course, I ran out of rope again, and will be placing another order to replenish my shipyard stores.

 

Laying them on the deck wasn't easy either. I placed a medium drop of medium CA on the deck, and carefully positioned the end rope of the tackle in such a place that made it look like it merged into the coil.  I then dropped the coil down on the end of the rope. Not always an easy task with all of the enclosed places.

 

What I reasonable thought would take an afternoon took most of three days. Here are some photos of the finished product.

[mikiek]

You've got them all? Wow!  That has to be a big relief.  Not sure what the bigger milestone is - deck planked, hull planked or guns rigged. And we haven't even given much thought to general rigging yet.

 

Congratulations on getting that completed!

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

That's easy.  If it is based on time, Gun rigging takes the cake. Deck was one day, hull planking was three days. gun Rigging was a month.

[mikiek]

I wouldn't argue with that! Nice job

[jbshan]

Coils look really good, Darrell.

[scott larkins]

Looks nice

[mikiek]

Hey Darrell - I was reviewing your pix again and wondered what eyebolts you used on the sleds. Maybe just because the the pix are close up but they look bigger than the small eyebolts in the kit.

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

Home made twist ups using 26 gauge black wire.

[mikiek]

So size wise, how does the eye hole compare to the 2 sizes of kit supplied eyebolts?

[6ohiocav]

About the same size as the large ones.  I used the same homemades for the bulwarks. Did about 160 of them. Here are some photos that I posted earlier on my log

[mikiek]

Heck of a lot easier to put a hook on those than the little ones from the kit.......

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

My kit did not supply enough anyway. Using the mini bead pliers quickened the process significantly. You also don't have to paint/blacken them.  I am using these throughout the project.  I used all of the kit supplied small eyebolts on the yards.

[ca.shipwright]

Great work! Love the coils.

[6ohiocav]

​Installation of Fife Rails, Pin Rails, Catheads, Boat Davits and Forward Bits

 

​​I finally got around to installing some of the deck furniture that I created over the months and have been storing at the shipyard.

 

I built the Fife Rails out of cherry months ago, and somehow during storage, I lost one of the cross sections for the foremast fife rail. I will have to rebuild it. I pinned and glued the posts with medium CA. It was quite a chore to position them to keep them plumb and square. All by line of sight. 

 

I scrapped my initial pin rails that I built out of basswood and painted red.  I did not like the paint finish. So I rebuilt them out of cherry and finished them with poly. It took a while to scrape the paint from the bulwark. I glued them on with medium CA.  I still have to add the wire support brackets.

 

I glued the catheads in place with medium CA.  I have to add the wire support and knees.I also installed the stern Boat Davits.  All were made out of cherry 

 

I temporarily put the bowsprit in place, and glued the forward bits that hold the bowsprit in place.  I pinned and used medium CA. Getting them to line up plumb and to fit the notch at the end of the bowsprit was a challenge.  I realized that I will have to work on that notch some to make it fit right.

 

I finished all of the cherry parts in a flat poly.  I also finally put a coat of finish on the main rail. I cut them out of cherry as well and I am very happy with the look. 

 

Then I ran into a bit of an issue.  I placed the three stern skylights in place and realized just how cramped the rear portion of the deck is. It reminded me of a tip that Josh sent to me a while back about the interference these structures will have with the capstan. Now that I have positioned them in place, I can fully appreciate this point.  How on earth will my 1:64 scale crewmen operate the darn thing with all of the braces in place. There is absolutely no room to turn it.  Also, the rear skylight is only about 1/4 inch from the rear of my stern carronades, which gives me no room at all to install inhaul tackles.

 

I don't know if I am going to simply lay them down as is, or perhaps only use two, and if so, which ones, or eliminate them altogether. I set them on the deck in the following photos.

 

I will say this.  It is starting to look like a real ship, at least without masts and yards.

[6ohiocav]

Thanks Mike for the note on the rope coils. just another technique that I picked up on this forum.

[jbshan]

I used a couple of Lil Pins, in one of the parts bags, to reinforce the stern davits to the rail.  They're in a good place to get bumped.  After they're in, just paint the heads black.

[6ohiocav]

Roger that Joel,

 

Good idea.

[mikiek]

You could add a motorized winch to replace the capstan

 

Seriously, it looks great Darrell. That raw cherry really stands out!

 

Something that worked for me as I am fitting the guns, to tame the breech line (and any other rope) give it a good dab of flat lacquer then shape it or weight it and let it dry.