19th Century 31-ton Revenue Cutter by CharlieZardoz - Scale 1/64 - building as USRC Active based off Doughty plans and BlueJacket Shipcrafters kit

[CharlieZardoz]

Here's a neat pic of the rudder.  The top will eventually be rounded and the edge tapered.

 

Added the beak which is a separate piece now.

Edited September 25, 2017 by CharlieZardoz

[CharlieZardoz]

Then we have the cabin itself. The finished piece will have a thinner cover. You can see I took the shape directly out of the old Italian kit plans, that said I am wondering if the back should be widened a bit? Maybe a bit less triangular?  Also might move the top skylight window back a bit feels close to the edge? Also I'm not liking the flat skylight I'm thinking the sloped roof was probably how it was done? Also wondering how the edge of the cabin roof should be finished. I imagine historically it would have a frame. The top is supposed to be planked like the deck so itll have holly planks, maybe a cherry frame boarder? If that's the case then widening won't be necessary. Any thoughts or opinions, comments are always appreciated.

Edited September 23, 2017 by CharlieZardoz

[Cathead]

Hard to say for sure what's "accurate", but I agree that a sloped skylight set back from the edge a bit makes logical sense.

[CharlieZardoz]

I agree. Ultimately I feel these old kits tend to have alot of historical details wrong some are educated guesses but we know so much more now via the internet sharing of information. Also and I will get to this in another post but im realizing that these doughty cutters were highly modifiable. They probably started out in 1815 looking pretty much like the builder plans however by 1825 they likely had changed quite a bit looking closely like the Morris/Taney class with built up bulwarks and increased armament. I have a chart on this I will post tomorrow. 

 

BTW this is what I did tonight. Made a boxwood grating using Chucks Syren kit. Discovered using a glass nail filer to remove the burned part from the laser. It worked amazing check it out!

Edited September 24, 2017 by CharlieZardoz

[CharlieZardoz]

Ok so wanted to do a research update. Bottom line is I've decided that the 3 Doughty cutters will be named Active-31, Monroe-52 and Vigilant-79. My decision for this is based off a passage on page 76 of Irving King's book "The coast guard under sail" which states that the 3 of them sailed together on the Cheaspeake Bay. It also states that in 1824 Active was replaced by Vigillant a ship twice her size, this imagery got me stoked for how I want to portray these ships. The year is 1824 and the Active after years of noble service sails the Chesapeake for the last time joined by Monroe and Vigilant to be decommissioned. I might be taking a bit of creative license but hey I like the idea of the small model with a bit of wear and tear (even though she was fully renovated in 1819) while the bigger ships can show a level of transition to their designs giving me a lot to work with as far as model building I can work with different style bulwarks, alternate detailing's rather than just build the same boat in 3 sizes. 

 

I also did my best to make a chart of the various revenue cutter built around the time of Doughty's design 1815-1830 before the Morris/Taney class took over. I wanted to do my best guess regarding what ships were what tonnages since info is sketchy at best. What I am seeing is that they pretty much were in charge of defending piracy in several areas the Chesapeake Bay Maryland/Virginia, the St Mary's Savannah Georgia, the Charleston South Carolina, the New Orleans area and then Northern ports of Maine, Rhode Island, New Haven and New York. There were about 15 names recorded.

 

The northern ships while based off the doughty design, they all had odd measurements slightly larger than the official draughts. The Alert, Search, Detector and Eagle, were all used in northern waters so these names were crossed off my list for what I could name my model's since their dimensions suggest they were their own variation on the class. Also I may one day build more famous ships named Eagle so wanted something more unique.

 

Next were the ships furthest south. The Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. We know the first 2 were the 52 ton design and Florida likely the 79 ton however I just didn't like the idea of naming ships after states and wanted names very unique to the revenue cutter service.

 

That leaves 7 names to choose from. The Surprise and Dallas both 52 tons according to the official records anyway (could maybe be 79 tons). Surprise's draught was apparently too deep for the Charleston and was transferred to Chesapeake Bay but sounds like she wasn't used and sold after 2 uneventful years. The Dallas had a much more eventful history fighting pirates and was stationed in the St Mary's along with Crawford a 79 tonner. That said both ships wouldn't have served long together since Dallas's career ended in 1821 same year Crawford started.

 

I have Gallatin marked as a 31 ton ship. This is guesswork however if the Surprise was too heavy for her station at Charleston and if the records of her being 52 tons is accurate then I'm simply assuming Gallatin was a smaller ship than Surprise. Y'all still with me?

 

 So this brings us to Active, Monroe and Vigillant. We know Active was 38 tons. We also know she was purchased in Baltimore and while Irving states she wasn't based off of Doughty's design, Chapelle makes the argument they she very well may have (he calls her the Alert but he mentions a 38 ton ship so I think he just confused the names or the official record changed). At any rate I'm going to assume that a small 1 gun Baltimore clipper style ship built in those days probably looked so similar that the design will work fine as the Active. As the ship had a very busy life (vs the Surprise or Gallatin which did nothing noteworthy), I like the idea of building a model with an interesting history. As Vigilant was reportedly twice the size her being a 79 ton design seems logical. Monroe has very little information but seeming that 52 ton ships were the most common built I imagine she was a mid sized design. So there it is hope that sounds exciting. More updates shortly!  

Edited September 25, 2017 by CharlieZardoz

[CharlieZardoz]

And last image for the weekend (got a busy work week ahead! ).  I drilled in the mast holes (slightly smaller than they will be but showed me where they will be placed in relation to the deck fittings.  The way I positioned them was to take a cutout of the plans put a piece of wood behind it and line them up. The front mast leans about 85 degrees while the main mast about 80 degrees. Next ahead is building the larger grating, placing the garboard plank ooooh and a surprise! Stay tuned!  

[Omega1234]

Hi Charlie

 

I keep forgetting how small this hull is; until, that is, I saw the photo of your hand behind it.  Lovely, lovely, lovely. 

 

Cheers  

 

Patrick

Edited September 25, 2017 by Omega1234

[CharlieZardoz]

Hello everyone! Thought I would take the holiday lull as an opportunity to do a quick update. A lot of little things have happened so let me take a moment to show you what I've been up to. First we have the garboard plank which I did through spiling. The garboard is about 1/8" wide while the others are 7/64". This was my first time planking and while there needed a bit of sanding at the edges overall I think it's started out well.

[CharlieZardoz]

Next up is finishing the coamings for the gratings. Iv'e found that glass files do a great job sanding down such small details. The interior is boxwood while the exterior is cherry. Even unfinished I think there is a very nice contrast between the two. The funnel stack is from Bluejacket which has nice detailing however I feel it's probably too high and I may cut it down a bit. The connecting point between the galley stack and the grating will probably have a cloth over it. Either that or paint it black like the stack in a manner Ive seen as with the armed Virginia schooner however I am open to suggestions regarding how the stack/grating spacing should be covered.

Edited November 22, 2017 by CharlieZardoz

[CharlieZardoz]

So here is my little surprise. In working with the smaller model(s) I felt I now have sufficient experience to take the 80 ton cutter and create a plank on frame shell. This model won't be built any time soon but having the 3 lined up together helps me to understand the nature of how they changed as they got bigger. As a study model I used that Dallas AL kit I purchased and then took the parts and fitted them to the scale and shape of the doughty plans like so. The parts were cut out with the laser cutter I rent and now I see how easy it actually is. Look at then all lined up imagine that it's 1824 and the middle one is the old Active being escorted down the Chesapeake bay to be decommissioned with the much larger Vigilant alongside to take her place and the Monroe behind.  

 

Edited November 22, 2017 by CharlieZardoz

[CharlieZardoz]

Taking second look I removed the panel piece and instead going with the tarp.  But this way the stack is the right size now and looks much nicer  

Edited November 22, 2017 by CharlieZardoz

[Cathead]

Everything looks good. Glad to see you back at work on this.

[CharlieZardoz]

Thank you I appreciate that. I work on it constantly but wait until ive something worth showing. I made several gratings and combings before perfecting these.

[mtaylor]

 Nice work, Charlie. All three are looking great.

[CharlieZardoz]

Thanks Mark! Ultimately I wont finish the other two until I finish the first (promise ) but I realize that since I am not a seafaring person understanding variations in ship designs actaully helps me in judging things like keel drag, draught, waterline placement, deadrise etc. When I finally return to Sultana I will use Halifax and Chaleur to help me understand that hull shape as well

[CharlieZardoz]

So another little quick update while I figure out the galley stack thing is the carronade carriage. I decided on the Caldercraft carronade 22mm over the Al carronade 19mm even though it's slightly larger I found the design more accurate plus I can't seem to place the breech bolt on AL version. The copper ring will be cut to provide a front sight. So pretty much I cut a veneer 3/128" piece and attached it under the carriage and shaped it around the laser cut ring added an axis and it spins quite nicely now. The parts aren't glued yet but Ill do that after the deck is finished.

[CharlieZardoz]

And I also painted the areas where the hatches will be. The Vallejo paints work great and looks lovely only issue is there have a slight gloss to them so im going to try a flat paint over them.

[CharlieZardoz]

Yesterday put together the sled piece for the carronade.

[CharlieZardoz]

[CharlieZardoz]

And I made the final cabin with cherry. The back will be raised a bit so the little guy can go in.

[CharlieZardoz]

Also taking a look on the inside you can see I made curved support struts to keep the cabin at the same camber as the deck.

[DocBlake]

Great job on the deck details, Charlie!  She’s coming along nicely.

[CharlieZardoz]

Thanks Doc! That means a lot I hope my model reaches the level of quality and detail Ive seen in yours. I am quite proud of what Ive accomplished so far looking forward to the challenges ahead

[Omega1234]

1 hour ago, CharlieZardoz said:

Thanks Doc! That means a lot I hope my model reaches the level of quality and detail Ive seen in yours. I am quite proud of what Ive accomplished so far looking forward to the challenges ahead

Hi Charlie

 

...and so you should be proud of what you’ve achieved so far!

 

Mighty fine job!

 

Cheers. 

 

Patrick

[shipmodel]

Hi Charlie - 

 

She's coming along nicely.  The pivot circle for the carronade is a difficult piece, and you have done it well.  

 

On the deckhouse, I don't know what you mean by "The back will be raised a bit so the little guy can go in."  It looks good to me.  The companionway hatch cover will slide forward on a pair of rails, which will give the man the room he needs to go down the companionway steps.  There were probably a pair of doors that closed off the aft end of the deckhouse when not in use.   Something like this - 

Hope that helps.

 

Dan

[CharlieZardoz]

Yes Dan exactly! The model "plans" show the companionway hatch to look flat or let's say level to the deck house. But since the ship is small I figured it should be a bit slanted upward just like the model you showed above and the black and white image below. I'd actually like to make the hinges work if possible lets discuss at our next meeting.  

Edited November 27, 2017 by CharlieZardoz

[CharlieZardoz]

 Hi everyone! Here is just a quick update in addition to painting the negative space for the hatches black I painted the lower part of the cannon carriage. I tried using a brush but the strokes were killing my ocd so figured itd be good practice for my airbrush skills and anything that didnt look good would be covered anyways ;). The vallejo paints when thinned out looked pretty nice. I also used a carbide scribe on a microscope slide so I can make little windows for the cabin. Last I stained the hatches and carriage so the have a finished look now.

Edited December 9, 2017 by CharlieZardoz

[CharlieZardoz]

Hi all! A quick progress report im realizing it's time to fully plank the hull. Otherwise I cant add anything onto the deck so getting over my fears and getting it done. Here it is so far. The lower part will be coppered so not much detailing needed. The top strip is the first piece of the wale a 1/64 by 1/64" strip of boxwood. If you look at the pics you'll see my plan on how the wale will look. Basically its a 1/8 by 1/16 boxwood strip with a holly 1/32 by 1/32 above it. The wale itself will probably be painted black with the upper works left boxwood color and the lower cherry colored. I chose boxwood for the wale because I wanted a less grainy type of wood to make the wale stand out a bit more. The design for the wale is my interpretation of the AL Dallas plan pictured below.

Edited December 18, 2017 by CharlieZardoz

[CharlieZardoz]

Today I shaped and sanded a test rudder. The shape looks about right but want to work on accuracy ie. a tool to sand on an angle and making the upper part perfectly round. But overall a nice first attempt.

Edited December 20, 2017 by CharlieZardoz

[trippwj]

Progressing nicely.  As to your last post, are you referring to keel (horizontal), sternpost (vertical) or rudder with rudder post?  Keel would not be rounded on upper surface and taper bow to stern so slight as to be imoerceptible at this scale (fraction of a mm total taper).