Albatros by Dr PR - Mantua - Scale 1:48 - Revenue Cutter kitbash about 1815

[Gregory]

I remember someone mentioning a CA that is not as volatile as most.  I’ll see if I can dig up the reference.

[Coyote_6]

Really makes me want to experiment more with shellac as it seems to penetrate really well compared to other options.  I would guess the tensile strength is nothing compared to super glue though. 🤔

 

Glad you're sharing your experiences Phil.  Thanks as always.

Edited March 11 by Coyote_6

[Dr PR]

I decided to test several "glues" to see which was best for bonding polyester rope.

 

I used Syren Ultra Brown 0.018 inch (0.45 mm)scale rope in these tests. It is a medium size rope that provides a good surface area and volume to test the adhesives.

 

The "glues" were:

White glue - Office Works acid free school glue. It was used full strength, undiluted.

Sig-Bond  - an aliphatic resin.

Duco Cement - an acetone solution of nitrocellulose.

Loctite Super Glue Gel Control - cyanoacrylate (CA).

Zinsser Bulls Eye Shellac - from spray can. I sprayed into a small bottle and then painted the shellac onto the rope with a brush.

 

I twisted two strands of rope together and clamped both ends. Then a liberal amount of the adhesive was painted onto the strands. I used a metal needle to work the liquid between the two rope strands. Then the rope was pulled tight and twisted to keep the strands together while the glue dried.

 

 

 

After the glues had set for 12 hours I clamped the ends of each strand with forceps. One of the forceps was clamped to the edge of the work table. On the other forceps a line was looped around the handles and the other end of the line was attached to a plastic bucket hanging above a small waste basket. The waste basket was there to catch the quarters when the bucket fell - they tend to "splash" out of the bucket when it lands.

 

I have a box full of US quarters (25 cent pieces) for spare change. Quarters weigh 0.2 ounces or 5.6 grams. These were my test weights.

 

 

 

With the bucket suspended from the lower forceps I added quarters to the bucket until the weight was enough to break the glue bond. Or that was the plan. Here are the results.

 

Shellac - 0 g - The rope strands separated before I got them clamped into the forceps.

White glue - 1187 g - With 2 lb. 9.9 oz. pull the cement failed.

Sig-Bond - >2080 g - With 4 lb. 9.3 oz. pull the rope unravelled and pulled from the forceps before the glue bond failed. *

Duco Cement - 2196 g - The glue bond failed with 4 lb. 13.5 oz. pull.

Super Glue - 1410 g - the rope broke with only 3 lb. 1.7 oz. pull before the glue bond failed. The rope strands were tightly glued together but I could pull them apart by hand. *

 

* The Sig-Bond and Super Glue failures were due to experimental design. When the rope was clamped in the forceps it tended to unwind. With the Sig-Bond the unwound strands pulled out of the forceps. With the Super Glue the strands frayed and cut along the edge of the forceps jaws. To do the experiment properly some means must be developed forholding the ends of the rope strands securely without damaging the rope.

 

It is clear that shellac alone does not bond the rope strands together. It does serve to stiffen the rope. White glue was easily the weakest of the four glues. Sig-Bond produced a strong attachment between the rope strands, but it dried with a thick off-white crust on the ropes.

 

Duco Cement and the Super Glue did not leave a noticeable residue on the ropes and both were better than white glue. Duco smells like acetone - it is the familiar "glue" smell from my childhood, and I don't find it objectionable. So little is used it isn't a hazard. Super Glue has an odor that really bothers some people. It makes my eyes burn if I use it a lot.

 

I think I will use the Duco Cement from now on. Duco starts getting sticky in 20-30 seconds and sets in a minute or so, leaving plenty of time to tidy up a seizing. Even the "slow" Superglue gel starts to harden before I have time to finish the turns in a seizing, without reworking them, leaving a lumpy seizing.

 

Edited March 13 by Dr PR

[Coyote_6]

Wow Phil!!  That is impressive.  You have done your fellow modelers a profound service with keen findings.  Thank you very much.

 

I had procured Duco on previous recommendation from you.  I have used diluted white glue previously and liked how it soaked in and dried with little indication - so the million dollar question:

 

Does Duco soak in and cure to a nice flat sheen, or do you find we will need to use Duco sparingly and possibly dullcoat afterwards?

 

Your tests are compelling!

 

Edit -  I see my million dollar question was asked and answered above - "Duco Cement and the Super Glue did not leave a noticeable residue on the ropes and both were better than white glue."  

 

The Duco soaks in nicely then?

 

Edited March 13 by Coyote_6

[Dr PR]

Steve,

 

I have been using Duco or something like it since I was a kid (1950s). It soaks into and adheres to anything that is porous. In the test I used a metal point to work the glue in between the rope strands. But I think it is fluid enough to soak in on its own.

 

The polyester rope tends to unravel after it is cut. I always stick the freshly cut ends into the opening of the Duco cement tube to get a drop on the rope end. Then I twist the rope end between my fingers and the glue soaks in. When it dries (a few seconds) the end of the rope is stiff enough to push through holes in blocks and such.

 

Even though I wipe my fingers immediately on a paper towel, I do go around with dried glue in my fingerprints! But unlike CA it wears off quickly.

 

Duco does leave a dried film on anything it touches. In the case of the ropes it isn't noticeable because the surface isn't smooth. But if you look closely with a magnifier you might be able to see traces of the glue. Where it soaks into wood surfaces it can change how stains appear so use it sparingly. For most wood to wood jobs I use Sig-Bond aliphatic resin. I think Titebond is about the same.

Edited March 14 by Dr PR

[Coyote_6]

Thanks Phil.  I am very thankful to have your Albatros build log as reference for the Prince.  The Albatros looks great and is just well thought out.

[Dr PR]

Well it has been "thought out" many times. Each time I think I have the final solution I run across more information that makes me think it out again!

 

I have a bit more progress to report.

 

 

 

I finally got the fore course yard in position with all the rigging (I think)! After failed seizing, broken hooks, adjusted sling, and I don't remember how many other hassles it is hanging in the right place!

 

There were other reasons for delays in continuing with the model. I traded in my 15 year old car for a new model. It has more bells and whistles than the US Navy! I have spent much of the week reading about 950 pages of the User Manuals to figure out how to make all that stuff work! And I had to wire a new circuit in the garage so I can plug it in for charging. Lots of fun!

 

And the non-profit I am Treasurer for learned that the Federal funding for a three year project has been cut off! That has left us scrambling! We have contracts with a couple of businesses for the project, and some materials for the project that are already paid for. So we may have an unfinished project, wasting a lot of taxpayers money for the work already done. I guess this is the new "government efficiency." I wonder how many unfinished bridges there are in the country now?

 

So it has been a hectic week. I am glad to be back at ship modelling!!

[Dr PR]

More progress, sort of ... Two steps forward and one step back.

 

 

The fore topsail has sheets, clew lines and buntlines attached, along with the blocks for the clew tackle. This is the aft side where the bolt ropes are attached.

 

Here is the sail installed on the fore mast. The bunt lines attach to cringles on the foot of the sail. They run up the forward side of the sail through wooden thimbles lashed to the topsail yard and up through single blocks attached to the top of the fore topmast. They lead down through fairleads on the mast top crosstrees and then belay to the fife rail at the bottom of the mast.

 

 

Another picture from the rear.

 

 

Things are getting crowded around the fore masthead! The topsail yard halliard, clue lines, topsail yard lifts and fore course yard lifts also run through the crosstree fairleads and down to belay at the fife rail or the bulkhead pin rails. So far the lines are running clear with no chafing. I may not need to reroute any of them!

 

While rigging all of these lines the halliard slipped a bit, lowering the topsail yard - probably while I was rigging the buntlines. I didn't intend for the sail to billow out as if there was a strong following wind! Fortunately all of the lines are belayed with just one turn around the belaying pin, and held in place by water soluble white glue. So it is pretty easy to place a drop of water on the glued area and readjust the length of the lines.

 

Pretty obvious are the dangling topsail yard brace pendants and locks. I have discovered that I didn't order enough of the 0.012 inch (0.30 mm) tan rope from Syren. But I did order one extra dark brown 0.012" package! I made the order calculations with my rigging spreadsheet, and I may have mixed the tan and brown ropes when selecting rope length cells. Or maybe I just used more rope than I calculated - I need about four feet more! I have ordered more. Work doesn't have to stop though. I have all the rope I need to finish the foresheets.

 

The topsail yard braces will be some of the last lines to belay. I don't look forward to that! They belay on the rail at the base of the main mast, and that is one of the most inaccessible places on the model! It took me one hour each to rig the main topmast staysail halliard and sheet on that rail! The topsail yard braces belay inboard of those two lines. I'll have to devise some tool to improve my chances of rigging these lines!

Edited Wednesday at 04:33 AM by Dr PR

[John Ruy]

As always, impressive work Phil…

Steady as she goes. 🍺
John

[Dr PR]

One more! The fore staysail is pretty simple. One author said that fore staysails were not used on merchant vessels, but were only used on warships. I don't know if this is true, but it likely applies only to square rigged vessels. But you can see from this photo why the fore staysail and the main course would not be flown at the same time. The clue of the staysail extends back behind the fore mast, passing through the space where the fore course sail would hang.

 

Schooner sails were mainly fore-and-aft with the occasional square topsail, topgallant and maybe a fore course. So the fore staysail was probably used in most cases, with the course rigged only when there was a good wind from astern.

 

 

I had to find a place for the halliard block pendant to attach to the mast top. Rather than tie it to the stay as is sometimes done I lashed it to the front crosstree, similar to how the main boom topping lift pendants are attached to the aft crosstree on the main mast top.

 

I attached the fore staysail and jib block pendants to the crosstree before attaching the topsail. The topsail hangs down over these blocks, making it a bit harder to rig the sails. In hindsight it would have been a bit easier to rig the fore staysail and jib before adding the topsail!

 

The staysail tack is lashed to the port side of the bridle for the lower forestay open heart. The staysail downhaul block is lashed to the starboard side of the heart bridle. The downhaul is belayed to a pin on the starboard bow pin rail.

 

I have tied all of the hanks to the sail, but the glue is still drying so I haven't trimmed the loose ends of the lines.

 

The sheets are not rigged yet. The sail interferes with getting to belaying points on the fife rail at the base of the fore mast. With the sheets loose I can pull the sail back forward to open access to the fife rail.

 

I have learned that good access to the fife rail is important. Each of the many lines to points on the fore mast interacts with all the others. I did haul the topsail yard back to its highest position, and this put some lift on the fore course yard. That in turn loosened the fore course yard truss lines and the fore course yard lifts. So those lines had to be tightened.

 

 

 

Again, it was wise to use white glue to secure lines after they have been belayed. Adding a drop of water loosened the glue so I could pull the belayed truss and lift lines tight again. And I had to adjust the fore topsail buntlines after raising the topsail yard.

 

I would be willing to bet this won't be the last time I need to adjust lines before the model is finished!

Edited 16 hours ago by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

I found time today to install another sail - the jib.

 

 

The jib halliard is rigged like the fore staysail halliard - through a block that is tied to the forward crosstree on the fore mast top. The tack is fastened to the jib preventer stay just above the bees on the bowsprit. The downhaul runner block is also belayed to the preventer. The downhaul runs through this block and belays on the starboard bow pin rail. The sheets have not been rigged so the sail can be pulled forward to provide clearance to the bow pin rails.

 

Only one sail to go!

[Coyote_6]

Man Phil - the sail color is just spot on.  Looking very good!