Centerboard Schooner C. Chase 1846 by Maury S - FINISHED - Scale 1:48

[jdbondy]

Hey Maury, I am glad I have happened across your build. It's my own fault for not finding it sooner! Will review your progress so far. You may remember that we are virtual neighbors: I am over in north Dallas.

[Maury S]

Thanks, Justin for the comment about scale of the shrouds and the throat seizing (in Masting and Rigging section). I found my shrouds were over-sized (.035" instead of .025").  Back to serving.  I re-did the fore most (single) shroud and attached it to the deadeye on the port side, following the illustration Justin provided, using a throat seizing first, then two round seizings.  Takes a bunch longer and looks better.  The first throat seizing was just 3 - 4 wraps, then after the round seizings were in place, I came back and added a few more wraps (not visible in this pic.).

.

Starboard side next, then more serving. 

Maury

[druxey]

Throat seizing looks great. I find that a couple of finishing turns between the legs of the round seizings 'bite' the line in and make the seizing ultra-secure, just like the full-size version.

[Maury S]

Working on the shrouds, which means serving.  A tedious process that I can only do for an hour before eye fatigue sets in.  Foremast shrouds are done and working on the starboard side of the main mast.

Maury

[Maury S]

The shrouds are done.  Time to take the model off the building board.  That means I need to design and build the cradles.  First step is to pull the frame plan for the frames nearest the mounting bolts.  The top shape of the cradles drawing comes from those plans.

The space between the bottom of the keel notch and the bottom of the cradle is 3/4", which matches the thickness of the building board, so the same mounting bolts will be used.  Since the centerboard will be in the "down" position

the model needs to be held high enough to accommodate this. 

I transferred the drawings to a piece of scrap bass wood (I prefer this to using card stock for patterns) and sanded the upper edges of the cradles to very closely match the hull at the mounting points.  A test was done to insure the model sat flat (fore to aft) by using a level connecting the two pattern blanks.

Once satisfied the fit was good, I traced the pattern to the final 1/4" boxwood blanks.  The holes for the mounting bolts need to be drilled in the keel slots.  Once I'm satisfied everything fits well with bolts in place, I'll cut the arms and legs.  I think I'll put some carving on both the fore and aft edges.

Maury

[Maury S]

After some more tweaking to make sure the feet of the cradle are even on a surface and the model is plumb, I finished the rough cutting of the arms and legs.  Now that everything lines up, I'll start on the finishing.  Lots of filing and sanding to do.

Maury

[druxey]

Nice and elegant design, Maury!

[Maury S]

Thanks Druxey, simple and elegant was what I was shooting for.  Wipe-on Poly three coats.

Boat in the cradle

Maury

 

 

[Mark Pearse]

The stands are very nice Maury, they look elegant & suit the boat. Do they need anything further to stabilise the model, or just the two parts are enough?

[Maury S]

Mark, The cradles have a hole through which the mounting bolts screw into the nuts built into the top of the keel.  The space between the top of the lower arch of the cradles and the bottom of the slot for the keel matches the thickness of the building board so the same bolts used to hold it to the board will hold the cradles to the boat.

Maury

[Maury S]

I can't believe it's been weeks since the last update.  Traveling, chores, etc.

The masts are stepped and wedges inserted.  I start with 4, make sure the mast is not atilt, then fill in all around, tap them firmly in place and it's ready for trimming with the micro chisel.  The chain is for the centerboard lift.

 

The foremast is trimmed (below).

Maury

[Thistle17]

Maury I lived at the "Top OF The Golden Triangle" for a short period too many years ago. It would have been an honor to have met you in person. Your works are spectacular!

Joe

[Maury S]

Thank you Joe.

Maury

[Maury S]

Lots of experiments with different cloth, silkspan, etc for the mast coats.  I think this was a beige "Land" cloth (I think from a Hawaiian shirt.  Cutting to shape many times to get it to fit to the mast on top and cover the wedges on the bottom.

I saturated a small piece of cloth with "Pouring Medium" on a board, let it dry and cut to shape (Big "C").

Tweezers and a brush with more Medium to get it to fit.

Texture looks like canvas.

Maury

 

[druxey]

What, pray tell, is 'pouring medium'?

[Maury S]

Druxey,  "Pouring medium" is what Janet had in her studio that looks / acts like "Matte Medium" but  a bit more glossy. 

 

Working on the sheer poles.  Chapelle describes them as 1" iron rods, served and wired to the outside of the shrouds.  I cut some very thin (.025") box strips, rounded the edges and served them.  They are tough to get / hold in place while lashing to the shrouds.  The ends of the lanyards get in the way.

  Speaking of lanyards, they have been tightened up.  After they reeve through the deadeyes, the working end is brought up to the throat of the shrouds, fed through from back (inboard) to front (outboard), fed back under itself and brought up the shrouds where a "taut line hitch" (like a "midshipman's hitch"...look them up) is tied.  (I think the taut line hitch looks cleaner for my purposes and my scouting background won out).   The ends will then be tied up with "yarn".

Maury

[druxey]

Thanks for the explanation, Maury! Starting to look shipshape.

[Roger Pellett]

I haven’t checked in your project lately.  It’s really coming along nicely!

 

Roger

 

 

[Maury S]

I can't believe it's been two months since I posted last.  I've been working off and on towards finishing the rigging.  Jib halyards, main and fore sheets plus some minor things left to go.  Pictures later.

Maury

[Maury S]

Rigging:  All of the running rigging is installed and most tied off to pins or cleats.  The lanyards are finished off with three cow hitches and the tails tied with "string" (thread).  Working on the ratlines.  Real world they are 3/4", so I'm using Syren's .015" dark brown line.  I set up a background plan with horizontal lines every 16", held in place with tweezers).  For the main mast, there are only two shrouds plus the top mast backstay so the ratlines only go across the two shrouds (except for the lowest).  Chapelle's American Fishing Schooners says that often there were ratlines on one side for the fore and the other side for the main.  Lots more to go.  Once all are tied, I'll put a bit of matte medium on them to keep them shaped properly.

Maury

Edited October 26, 2020 by Maury S
missing text

[Maury S]

I've finished the ratlines and started cleaning up lines, cleats, etc.  While the weather is mild, I started on the display case.  It's the same as the last two I've done.  I highly recommend Wes Marden's booklet "Build Your Own Model Ship Case".

I started with a piece of cabinet-grade ply, cut to the size I want (+ 2" on all sides).  Decorative molding is cut and installed around the ply, which creates a jig for the rest of the construction. 

Frame pieces are cut (mitered) to size for the base and top.  Stanchions are carefully cut the the proper identical length.

That's assured by taping all four together before cutting.

Grooves are cut into all the pieces to accept the glass and test-assembled.  Lots more details to do it right...so buy his little booklet.

I will put a mirror on the bottom, maybe add some decorative strips.

(Admin...feel free to relocate this post if appropriate).

 

Maury

[druxey]

Remember to leave a hole covered with gauze or cheesecloth for ventilation under the model's base with a small air gap between it and the case baseboard. Does your booklet address that point?

[Maury S]

Druxey,

Good Point.  The booklet does not mention this and I have always put two holes in the frames of all my models as you suggest.  Never used gauze but it's a good suggestion.

Maury

 

[druxey]

Helps keep lil' critters and dust out!

Edited November 22, 2020 by druxey

[jdbondy]

I need to look up Wes Marden's booklet. The case that was made for my Pride of Baltimore 2 took altogether too long for the parts to be manufactured by an outside party. Then the glazier I hired to assemble it did a horrible job. My neighbor and I imagine that we could have done a far better and faster job.

[Bob Cleek]

4 hours ago, jdbondy said:

Then the glazier I hired to assemble it did a horrible job.

 

I have found the best, and most economical source of glass for model cases is a picture-framing shop. (I go to "Michael's," a crafts store chain in the US, which has a framing department.) Give them the exact size of the panes you want and tell them they have to be exactly cut. What you want, and they will have, is UV-filtered art framing glass. This glass has an ultra-violet light inhibiting feature that reduces damage from UV exposure. (Which isn't to say you can then display the model in front of a sunny window!) Ordinary window glaziers aren't ordinarily used to dealing with assembling fine furniture pieces like ship model cases.

[Maury S]

I use "Museum Glass" which protects against UV intrusion.   Mounting is crucial as the protection is one-way.  The full sheet has a laser marking showing which side faces the art.  On the cut pieces, the glazier usually marks which side is which.  Not sure I would put any artwork in front of a sunny window.  Quite expensive ($300 for all the pieces of the case).  Hobby Lobby's picture framing department is my source and this time they cut the glass EXACTLY to my specifications.  

 

 

[Maury S]

One more thing...searching for gauze or cheesecloth to cover the ventilation holes (1/8"), I found the micro-thin layer of a "band-aid" that covers the gauze is perfect.  It has VERY small holes and is so thin that it wont get rubbed off when assembling the frame.  Gauze and cheesecloth "holes" are almost as big as the ventilation hole.

Maury

[druxey]

I use several layers of material because, as you point out, the holes in gauze/cheesecloth are quite large. Your solution sounds more efficient!

[Maury S]

Making rope coils, tightening up some lines, working on the display case.

THe bottom of the case is a mirror.  I'm making a "decorative" banding on top of the mirror.  3/8" band set into 1/8 thick ply.  The slot for the banding was done on the mill.

One has a choice of hundreds of patterns.  We chose one that will compliment the boat, not detract.

I did this on a previous model case and it looks very nice.

Maury