Charles W Morgan by texxn5 - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:64

[GLakie]

I don't think anybody gets bored with these pics John. All I can say is keep 'em coming! 

[popeye2sea]

I agree.  She looks spectacular in the sunlight.

[GMO2]

Getting close. I am not too far from tackling the davits myself,although at a different point in the build sequence. I am considering just how to go about getting a triple sheave system in the ends of those kit supplied basswood davits. I think thatI m going to toughen the wood by saturating it with thin CA and let it harden up before drilling 6 little holes,and then maybe another shot before enlarging them. Does that sound reasonable?.I have made some really small bulleyes by end drilling some small birch dowel using that approach.

[Salty Sea Dog]

Sorry guys, I didn't word my post very well. We're not leaving until May. It's just that I won't be working on the ship that much inbetween. I have a lot of work to do around the house and to get the RV ready to go. I'l post pictures and keep the websites up to date as to any progress I make. I'll also be working on the whaleboats in the RV. So - I'm not gone yet. Thanks for all the kind words though.

Oh boy, whaleboats!!

[Piet]

How did I miss your post yesterday John?  Oh yeah, I was in the kitchen cooking 

Everything looks splendid my friend and love those outdoor pics, she's looking real!

 

Cheers,

[texxn5]

Thanks Guys for all the likes and views. Gary, (GMO2), I was able to control the drilling by using a sharp pencil to poke dents into the thin wood in the proper places, then when the bit would come down it would walk around a bit until it found the indention and then settle into it and drill the hole. I also found that if I moved the center holes outboard about 1/32" or less that it was easier to drill without jeopardizing the other holes. The only way I could control this was with the great tight tolerance of the Proxxon TBM Drill Press and the use of the Compound Table & vise which allowed for easy and accurate movement of the workpiece to keep everything uniform and in place. This worked great and really allowed for the repititous drilling of 6 holes in 10 davits. The .02" drill bit made a hole that was big enough to handle the .010" rope used to rig the block to the davit. You can click on this picture and it will blow up the picture to where you can probably see the holes I drilled into one of the davits. Hope this helps.

[texxn5]

Hi Buck, thanks for stopping by - yes - whaleboats! I'll be referencing your log a lot once I start on these things

[texxn5]

Hello Henry, thanks for stopping in. Hope you guys dig out soon and don't get caught in a flood once that stuff starts to melt off. Your Soleil Royal is really looking good - I guess you have more time in the shipyard now. I love taking pictures outside - it seems to give these things life..

[texxn5]

Hi Piet, thanks for the kudos..greatly appreciated...

[texxn5]

Well, I did sneak into the shipyard for a little bit and built the Spanker Gaff and Boom. Every little bit is a little progress. Still have much to do out of the shipyard to get ready to leave in May, but I'll sneak some time in here and there....

[GLakie]

Nice! That pretty much completes her broadside profile! 

[GMO2]

Thanks for the picture John.Unfortunately my drill press is not precise enough for so delicate an operation. I had to do mine by hand with a pin vise with a magnifier on a stand. After having to cut a couple of new davits from scrap I finaly got the hang of it .Hardening up the basswood with thin CA helped with keeping it from coming apart on me.Dubz,in his syren log summed up my opinion of using basswood for such a purpose. He said~This wood sux imo~.Eloquently put,that. Part of the trouble I have to admit comes from having to try to line up three little tiny holes with these 70 year old eyeballs.Hard to do even with a magnifier. But close enough that it will do. Your Morgan is looking really good,especially in the outdoor shots.Cant wait to see her fullyrigged out.Yours is the first Ive seen get that far. Anybody finishing a Mofgan deserves a medal for perseverance.

[texxn5]

Hi George, yes, that almost finished the broadside. That's really why I chose this point to work on.

[texxn5]

Hi Gary, I totally understand that part...my hands are steady and my eyesight is going quickly working on these small parts in poor light....I seem to be losing my depth perception using "cheaters" from Walmart....things just don't work like they used to...almost 66. The compound table allowed me to do it without having to reinforce the sides. The CA "paint" should do the trick. Not breaking a bit really amazed me...I'm glad since I only have 2 more of that size bit.

[texxn5]

Yeah Gary, I agree on the perseverence part....this is not a Mickey Mouse Build. If I would have known some of the things I Know now I probably would have looked for another model since I've never built a wood ship before. But now that I'm at this stage I wouldn't trade it for the world...I absolutely love doing this thing. I don't know what I'm going to do when this thing is finished because I don't have room for another one....I guess I'll just give everyone a hard time and be envious...As for Basswood, it has it's purpose in some areas, but hardwood should be used for many others, and this is one of them. It does sux. A problem I encountered is the Hoops that go on the Gaff - the laser didn't cut all the way through the wood - I had to cut them out with a knife. I broke many of them, I needed 10 I got 8 out of 20 and I'm not going through the re-order ordeal with Model Shipways again....too far along with the build and 8 will be just fine. As for finishing it probably won't happen until we return from our RV trip in September.

[GMO2]

What to do next is something needing some thought. The Morgan is a tough act to follow,and being such an interesting subject with sm many challenges to overcome makes many of the other possible choices sort of ho~hum by comparison. Im mulling over the idea of going in an entirely different direction,and doing something from the pre ww2 Navy. My father served a hitch in the Navy before the war and served on a number of interesting ships including BB35 Texas and an old 4 piper,DD130 Jacob Jones. I wish Iknew something about the Bluejacket outfits 4 stack destroyer kit.Ihate to send off 350 pieces of green paper not knowing whats gonna show up at the ktchen door in return.

[texxn5]

Hi Gary, that's an interesting era to model. I've been on board the Texas many times. Bluejacket is a very reputable company, but I've never bought anything from them, but can't say I've ever heard any complaints. I served on the USS Havre PCE 877 on Lake Michigan and the USS John F Kennedy CVA 67 and the USS Lexington CVE 19 and always wanted to build models of them - especially the JFK. I've seen models of it in 1:96 scale before and it's like almost 15' long. At one time I almost started doing it and had the room, but divorce took care of that and now I'm too old, to poor and don't have the room for anything like that now...oh well - As for Bluejacket, if they have the ship you want you can always corrupt it or just build it from scratch...eeewwww I said that word...

[MrBlueJacket]

What to do next is something needing some thought. The Morgan is a tough act to follow,and being such an interesting subject with sm many challenges to overcome makes many of the other possible choices sort of ho~hum by comparison. Im mulling over the idea of going in an entirely different direction,and doing something from the pre ww2 Navy. My father served a hitch in the Navy before the war and served on a number of interesting ships including BB35 Texas and an old 4 piper,DD130 Jacob Jones. I wish Iknew something about the Bluejacket outfits 4 stack destroyer kit.Ihate to send off 350 pieces of green paper not knowing whats gonna show up at the ktchen door in return.

 

Hi,

 

Please call me up and I will be glad to discuss what's in our kit and even take some photos if you like.

 

Best regards,

Nic

800-448-5567

[texxn5]

Hi Nic, welcome aboard. I'm assuming from your message that you are Bluejacket? I will PM you in the next few days to discuss something for my website on the Morgan. I'm short time today, so don't have much time to discuss anything. Have you been to my websites?

[GMO2]

There are a few websites dealing with that sort of thing. Scaleshipyard.com offers fiberglass hull sets in several scales,mainly 1~96.They have some destroyers at 1~48. These are mainly directed at builders of operating models. Check out the guy holding up the 1~96 Nimitz. I might go that route. A 1~48 4 piper would be doable. At the other end of the scale spectrum is Modelshipgallery.com. These lads are working in 1~350 and 1~700. Some of the 1~350 stuff incorporating aftermarket PE sets are incredibly detailed,and some of the 1~700 looks nearly impossible to me. Fnally have a look at Navsource.org for pictures and specs of any ship you wish from about 1900 on, maybe a little earlier. Now,back to the last pair of Morgans davits,ten its on to the lashing posts and cranes. Sooner or later I ll have to square off against that accursed skylight. Have a good trip.

[texxn5]

Yesh, I'm familiar with most of those. When Scaleshipyard came out with that hull back around 1997-8 I almost bought it. That was when I was contemplating the Kennedy. Nimitz was then next carrier built after Kennedy, so I thought I would use the hull and build the flight deck and Island of the Kennedy. The basic hulls were the same. I had a 35'x16' workshop at the time...ahhh - divorce....sure changes things. I had a kit of the Enterprise in 1:350 and all the brass photoetch also, but never built it and no longer have it either. When do we get to see pictures of your Morgan????? How about a build log???

Edited March 30, 2015 by texxn5

[GMO2]

Well, thereby hangs a tale. Idont have a computer. I have this thing that someone was ,shall we be kind and say,careless enough to call a ~smart~tv.. My commentary regarding my experience with it would probably get me banned from this site. It serves well enough as a web browser and for communicating like this,and email. There is no capacity to upload and transmit pictures or anything like that. Iwas planning to rectify matters,until Mr.Murphy managed to get wind of it.Ill have to put that off awhile. Maybe we could rig up a threeway deal whereby Icould send you some pctures through my aughter s computer and you could post them in the full profile of current builds section. Would that be workable as a stopgap until I can get loose from Mr. Murphy again?

[texxn5]

Hi Gary, absolutely, I'd be glad to do that for you. I could also post them in the Gallery section of my website if you want. Preferably the pictures should be around 500k size and .jpeg - for ease of transmitting and space. Mr. Murphy can get testy at times, know him well...

[GMO2]

That would be really good. I would especially enjoy having it on your website. I know less than nothing about how to go about formatting digital photograghs for such. I will talk to my daughter about it next time I see her. She is a golly~gee ~whiz at anything to do with computers,wheras her father is totally baffled by computers~for~dummies.Although Idid get to be a fair hand with auto~cad back in my coal mining days,Iwas a lot like one of the apes over at the Yerkes primate facility. If I punched the buttons for bananas and apples,and a grapefruit appeared, Ihad no clue.

[texxn5]

Hi Gary, no problem, you might send me one to the address I sent you in the PM, I can tell from it if it will be ok or not. I assume these will come from a digital camera??? Phone pictures don't work too well for me. My AOL address can handle about 20 MB uploads at a time.

[texxn5]

Snuck in a couple of hours today so I managed to rig the Boom Topping Gaff and Boom Sheet. Aft end is shaping up, more to go maybe I'll catch a couple of hours tomorrow.

[md1400cs]

John,

 

I posted a link on General Nautical Discussion. I thought of you when I saw it. It has to do with the C W  Morgan.

 

Cheers,

[GLakie]

Been going over one of the books I picked up today and found a pic of the Texas under way during WWII. Remembered you saying you were on her at Galveston where she's berthed and thought you might like to see a pic of her on the job.

[texxn5]

Hi George, thanks for the picture. I've seen these before on board her. She's actually on the Houston Ship Channel at the location of the San Jacinto battleground (about 40 miles north of Galveston), which is where Sam Houston defeated Generalissimo Santa Ana and the Mexican army for independance from Mexico in March of 1836 when Texas became The Republic of Texas an independant nation. I always love to see the Texas - she's a WWI Dreadnaught Battle Ship. She took a 16" shell during WWII to the Bridge which they have on display as it didn't blow up. Cool museum with many model ships on display there. I've been on her about 4-5 times. Cool picture.

[texxn5]

Thanks for posting that Michael, she worked with my friend Lester on rigging the Morgan - tough lady - don't get in her way for sure.....