Restoration of Bassett Lowke "Albertic" by michael mott - FINISHED - Scale 1:100

[druxey]

Please take care of yourself first, Michael!

[Jim Lad]

Michael first - model second, please!

 

John

[KeithAug]

Michael - hope you are better for Christmas day - its miserable when you can't ask for more pudding.

[michael mott]

Thanks for the well wishes, Dinner was great Keith.

 

I have made a start on some of the damaged derrick rigging, I also decided to leave the earlier repairs alone until I bring the client in to see the progress I will then discuss it with the client. I had to make a couple of special hooks to thread the new lines through the winches and the block at the base of the mast. this work is making me think a lot about the sequences of the production because I know that these were commercial builds and that time would have been a  determining factor.

 

The first picture shows retrieving one of the snapped lines on the starboard aft derrick, I only replaced the single line from the block to the forward eyebolt on the top of the derrick as the lower portion was still in good condition.

 

 

 The other lines was a bit more difficult because it was tied to the winch, threading it under the drum needed a small bent hook, easy enough to make but fiddly to manipulate and pull the line under the drum. I tied the new line exactly the same as the port winch, it looks a bit strange to me because I would think that there would be a few turns on the drum, but all the other winches are a single turn and I don't have any desire to change them all in any case.

 

the next picture shows the starboard derrick fixed except for clipping off the end of the hitches.

 

 

The next picture shows a serious problem, the lines to the aft flag at the top of the mast were snapped and once the flag was removed it basically fell apart.

 

 

I think that I am going to need to make another and I have no experience with this so any suggestions would be of great help. I have a feeling that the flag is silk.

 

Michael 

Edited December 27, 2017 by michael mott
additional comment

[cog]

If you are using silk and want to stain it, use the lightest colour silk, and dark stains, go from light to dark, thin dyes, or stains will spread easily, like "wet in wet" in water colours. You could try to use liquid mask to counter the spreading, but I do not know if that will work. A somewhat thicker dye would be my preferrence, another option would be a decal you can iron on the silk or whatever tissue you will be using

[druxey]

Consider replacing the flag using SilkSpan, Michael. Pre-stretch it on a frame rather like watercolor paper. (I know you know all about that!) I use acrylic paints on SilkSpan.

[michael mott]

Carl and Druxey, thank you for the information. I shall make a trip to the hobby store for some silkspan, i have acrylic paints.

 

Thank you again

 

Michael

[michael mott]

The good news is that one of the hobby stores in Edmonton has ordered some for me. should be in in a couple of weeks.

 

I shall play with some alternate tissue to get more familiar with the process.

 

Michael

[Landlocked123]

Hi Michael,

 

On Chuck’s build log for the Cheerful (pg.33) he goes over a technique for printing flags on tissue paper using an inkjet printer.  I have been experimenting with it and have gotten some very nice results.

 

Best,

John

[Chasseur]

Hi Michael,

Things are really progressing nicely for you and the model is going to be brand new when you’re done. I can’t wait to see it back in the Library from where it came from full of it’s former glory.

Just getting over the nasty bug that's been going around as well .... Jeff

[Jim Lad]

The restoration is coming along very nicely, Michael.  It's strange that the original builders rigged the cargo runners like that.  The originals would, of course, have been steel wire (grey) and with the hooks up on deck, the runners would have been wound around the winch drums.  In spite of the anomaly, I agree entirely with your decision to re-rig exactly as the original.

 

John

[cog]

On 27/12/2017 at 2:35 PM, druxey said:

Consider replacing the flag using SilkSpan, Michael. Pre-stretch it on a frame rather like watercolor paper. (I know you know all about that!) I use acrylic paints on SilkSpan.

 

Question druxey, just curious, but won't the silkspan loose it's stretched shape when it "hangs loose" I know water colours get wobbly if they hang in moist surroundings ...

[popeye the sailor]

super progress Michael........glad to see your back at it.  hope your over the bug......terrible to feel miserable during the holidays   

[michael mott]

Thanks for the likes and fine remarks.

A couple of updates regarding the flags and the cable stays.

First the flags following the link to Chuck's method of making the flags from wrapping tissue I did some tests After following exactly the method Chuck described I wondered about printing on both sides of the paper. While waiting for my Silkspan to arrive. I also tried some tracing paper.

First i needed to set up two pages in Corel Draw showing each side

The next set of tests to print on both sides followed the first steps by printing the flag on a single sheet of letter size paper then cutting out a window where the flag was and taping a small rectangle of tissue paper with some "magic tape" printing the image again. Then switching to the next page and reinserting the paper to print the revers side. the first time the register was off by about an 1/8th of and inch

 

so a bit of adjusting and a new page new window etc and repaeated the process it took a couple of tries to get it perfectly matched .

 

 

 

Next I did the same for the tracing paper then took them out to get sprayed with the Krylon UV resistant matte

 

 

The next picture shows the re wet flag being draped over some paintbrushes

 

 

The next picture shows both flags the paper one on the left and the tracing paper one on the right.

 

 

So when the Silkspan comes I will see how that looks, the one thing that I notice with the papers so fare is that the white area in just a bit too transparent.

 

Next we move on to the cable stays, Seem I am still tinkering with the look of them especially where the new stay is mixed in with the old ones, The funnels will have a complete set of new stays and they look pretty good I'm OK with them.

 

First I needed to make some more jump rings these were done by wrapping some .028 brass around a former then slicing them off with a jewelers saw

 

 

 

The old broken stay was unwrapped from the turnbuckle and a new ring fitted to the eyebolt on the deck, the new cable made by twisting 4 sets of 3 .006 wire 240 times clockwise, then grouping all 4 sets and twisting them 150 turns anticlockwise to produce the final cable this was then coloured with the hot air soldering gun set to 480F

 

 

following the Basset Lowke method of winding the end, two sets of the three strands are folded down and the other two sets are wrapped around.

 

 

Mine is a tad shorter but that is OK some of the others will need to be reset so I will match them up.

 

The last shot shows the stay before it was completed and the sorry state of the red ensign. 

 

 

 

Michael

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EdT]

The flags look great, Micheal.  I have not used Silkspan - except perhaps unknowingly in the long past on a model airplane.  It should be much more durable than tissue.  I have used finely woven drafting linen from the days before polyester films.  The wax has to be removed first.  One thought on your printing: Hopefully your printer uses non-fading pigmented inks suitable for archival photos and not the short lived dyes used in some printers.  Worth a check.  If you're not sure, I'd use Druxey's advice of acrylic paints.

 

Ed

Edited December 30, 2017 by EdT

[thibaultron]

To get a more opaque white star. perhaps a light coat of white paint, overall? don't know how that might interact with the printer, or ink, though.

[michael mott]

A little more work on the rigging, After seeing the small clip clamps I cannot remember where I thought that I would make myself one out of the scrap box

 

 

 

 

 

 

This clamp was very useful in holding the soft rigging lines which have all been repaired now on the two masts and the associated derricks.

 

Michael

 

[Landlocked123]

Michael,

 

I agree with you on the “white transparency” issue on the the flags made from tissue paper.  But I have found that when mounted and viewed from a distance of 1+ feet it seems to go away.  To me, the realistic scale thickness, ability to create life like furls and the wide availability of flags to get from the web compels me to utilize Chuck’s technique.

 

I am also going to try Brian’s idea of first giving the paper a thin wash of white, probably using an airbrush.

 

John

[michael mott]

John, one of the things that occurred to me is that I made a new flag, I need to make one that looks like it was made a long time ago but not so rough that it looks bad. I think it needs to be just a little faded. I will see how I get on with the ensign which turned out to be a blue one not a red one. And I am not sure about the flag protocol I thought that the blue ensign was a navy one.

 

Michael

[michael mott]

It was not rocket science to sort this out the ensigns are listed here

 

Michael

[popeye the sailor]

she's coming along splendidly Michael.

[colinmaclock]

Mott old boy,

Yes, I would like to see your progress on the "Albertic".

I have been quite busy on some smaller ships this past year, haven't had time to put anything on my MSW page yet.

Cheers,

Colin

 

[colinmaclock]

Michael and Johjn,

It has been my experience that shipping lines usually have their builders models featured in their head offices or ticket offices, occasionally when a ship gets decommissioned, sold or sunk, the model reverts it's name to a sister ship or given a new name altogether. It would be interesting if the two names you refer to are indeed the same ship. Just a thought.

Colin

[michael mott]

Hi Colin

Happy new year to you Sir.

Colin I have just finished reading a a fair bit of information regarding the ship and shipping lines that are associated with this model.

Turns out that it was a rather interesting. source information from Wikipedia

1. keel laid in Germany in 1914

2. halted construction during WW1

3. launched in 1920 as München

4. handed over to the British as a war reparation before entering service

5. she was immediately sold to the  Royal Mail Steam Packet Company

6. She was renamed the Ohio and began service in 1923

7. in 1927 she was sold to the White Star Line , and renamed the Albertic

8. she served the north Atlantic route between Britain and Canada from 1927 until 1930

9. The Albertic was laid up in the River Clyde

10. she was eventually broken up for scrap in japan in 1934

 

One of the things i am curious about are the flags that were on the model, the masthead flag on the foremast although almost completely faded to white appears to have been an American flag

the one at the masthead of the aft mast was the disintegrating blue flak of the white stare line, although the white star lines official flag appears to have been red

The flag on the small staff off the aft mast was a very faded blue ensign

and the flag on the stern flag post is a red ensign that does not appear to be of the correct proportions

 

My guess is that all these flags have been put on this model during various repairs by well meaning people to make it look "good" I somehow doubt that this combination would have been carried out by Bassett Lowke, but I could be completely wrong in my hypothesis.

 

What to Do?

Michael

 

Edited January 2, 2018 by michael mott
spelling

[Jim Lad]

Curious use of flags, Michael.

 

The following link is to an actual Oceanic Steam navigation Company house flag at the NMM at Greenwich - I think your blue version must be an incorrect addition by an earlier restorer - I can't see Bassett Lowke making that error!

http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/408.html

 

The American flag would be a 'courtesy' ensign.  The ensign of the country that a ship was visiting.  This is also, in my opinion, a later addition, unless the model was built for an American company office, in which case they may have included the courtesy ensign.

 

The blue ensign is definitely in the wrong place - again, I can't see Bassett Lowke making this error.

 

The red ensign is in the correct place flying from the ensign staff at the stern and is the correct British Merchant Navy ensign, however the blue ensign would have been flown if the ship's master and a certain proportion of his officers were Naval Reserve officers.  It was the practice of many major shipping companies to insist on their officers being in the naval reserve, but I'm afraid I don't know whether this was the case with White Star (some companies thought that the flying of the blue ensign gave their ships a bit of extra 'swank'.

 

John

[michael mott]

John, thanks for your thoughts on this and for the link.

I just found this image from the digital museum and checking it is in the public domain

 

At the link it is possible to blow up the picture and the flag at the foremast is a US flag the one at the masthead of the aft mast is the flag of the R.M.S.P. I cannot make out what the flag on the short staff off the aft mast is.

There are a few others of the same image one claims to be the Albertic which we know is the same ship.

I wonder if this image was used by Bassett Lowke when making the model this ship was photograph was taken in 1923.

 

Michael

 

[Jim Lad]

A good reference photo, Michael.  She is obviously arriving at a U.S. port - hence the courtesy ensign forward.  She is flying her ensign at the gaff as she is at sea - when she gets alongside the ensign will be shifted to the ensign staff aft.  She wouldn't fly two ensigns at the same time.

 

John

[wefalck]

Liked that luxury long-nosed clamp in brass to catch rigging lines etc. There used to be something similar with a slightly flexible 'nose' (like a Bowden cable) about 10 cm long for electronics people to catch wires for testing in old-time wired boards.

 

 

Concerning printed flags: as not all ink-jet printer dyes are permanent (as mentioned by someone further up), I retraced the printed designs in acrylics with very fine brushes. The draw-back is that you loose (some of) the transparency.

[michael mott]

Wefalk according to the technical data original HP ink Cartridges are permanent. I like the principle of the clamp that you show.

 

michael

[druxey]

I'd be inclined to show the correct house flag and ensign rather than the presumed replacements. Otherwise you'll continue to confuse future folk looking at the model!