USS Tennessee 1869 by Keith Black - scale 1:120 - Wood Hull Screw Frigate - ex Madawaska 1865

[GrandpaPhil]

Keith,

  Tennessee is looking amazing!

 

[FriedClams]

The rigging is looking wonderful Keith - as expected.  Clean, neat and everything done with care and craftsmanship. Nice.

 

 Gary 

[ChiefClanker]

Keith,

Your craftsmanship and workmanship is an inspiration to the rest of us.  Keep up the good work.

Mark

 

[Seventynet]

Wow I just caught up on this fascinating log and beautiful build. Thanks for sharing your wealth of information.

 

Ian

[Keith Black]

On 4/12/2022 at 9:08 PM, lraymo said:

Wow, Keith!  Absolutely breathtakingly beautiful!  I am really amazed at the incredible detail, from everything on the deck to the massive work on the rigging!  Fabulous!  I can't even imagine getting to the level of skill you have, but its inspiring!  

 Lynn, thank you.

 

On 4/12/2022 at 9:18 PM, GrandpaPhil said:

Tennessee is looking amazing!

 

 Thank you, Phil

 

On 4/14/2022 at 11:54 PM, FriedClams said:

The rigging is looking wonderful Keith - as expected.  Clean, neat and everything done with care and craftsmanship. Nice.

 

 Gary, thank you.

 

On 4/15/2022 at 10:55 AM, Chief Mark said:

Your craftsmanship and workmanship is an inspiration to the rest of us.  Keep up the good work.

 

 Thank you, Mark

 

On 4/20/2022 at 9:06 PM, Seventynet said:

Wow I just caught up on this fascinating log and beautiful build. Thanks for sharing your wealth of information.

 Ian, thank you.

 

 A quick update.....I have all the mizzen channel deadeyes stropped and a starboard side mizzen channel shroud in place. Because there is no room to lace the deadeyes on ship, I have to lace the deadeyes off ship using a third hand and then install. It's a bit awkward to do it this way but I can't see another way of doing it. It's fiddly but it works.

 

 I had to get a box to sit the Tennessee on to work at eye level. I tried sitting on my little stool but but it was too hard on me ole backside. A lift would make it much easier but a box is a lot cheaper. 

 

 I can't thank you enough to all of you for the likes and most kind comments. Thank you, Ian for stopping by and thank you to all for following my journey. 

Edited April 22, 2022 by Keith Black

[KeithAug]

A true labour of love Keith. 

[Glen McGuire]

6 hours ago, Keith Black said:

A quick update.....I have all the mizzen channel deadeyes stropped and a starboard side mizzen channel shroud in place.

As my son and all the millenials say, "picture or it didn't happen!"  😄

[Keith Black]

Okay, you got me, Glen.   I'm busy tonight and tomorrow but I promise to post photos by Sunday morning no matter how undramatic. 

[hollowneck]

On 3/25/2022 at 8:49 PM, lraymo said:

Love the pictures of the officers and the crew!  These are great (although there must've been a rule to look "serious" for the camera!)  I know you were using these as construction photos, but I think its equally fascinating to see the crew!

Nice looking model, Keith. Congrats.

On the old photos from the 19th-century (and even early 20th): most people look so "stiff" (even joyless,mostly super- serious), is because the photographer would coach his subjects by asking them to take a deep breath and hold it since the exposures on glass plates (tech of the era) were quite long, even in bright sunlight. Also, try to hold your breath and smile at the same time...can be done, but it's not natural.

Edited April 23, 2022 by hollowneck
spelling

[Keith Black]

Keith, Glen, and Ron, thank you for the comments and thank you to all for the likes and for following along. 

 

 Here are a couple of photos, disregard the clutter as I'm knee deep in it. 

 

 Box to get the channels to eye level. 

 

Lacing the deadeye lanyards on the third hand as there's no room to do it on model. 

 

 Starboard.

 

 Finishing up the second one on port side. 

 

  

Edited April 27, 2022 by Keith Black

[mbp521]

Amazing work as always Keith! The pictures were well worth the wait and the tease. 😀

Still looking for the clutter though. 
 

-Brian

Edited April 24, 2022 by mbp521

[mtaylor]

Jaw drops... closes mouth.... drops again.    Wow.

[BANYAN]

You're making great progress Keith, all looks nicely done.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[lraymo]

Wow! Absolutely beautiful work!

[mcb]

Looking good.

Be careful with the box.

 

Good Luck,

mcb

[TBlack]

Looks good, bro. Never thought about lacing deadeye lanyards off the model. Gotta try it!

Tom

[FriedClams]

Very nice work Keith - they look terrific!  And like Brian, I don't see this clutter you speak of either.

 

Gary  

[BrianK]

 

Another great tip Keith! Thanks. I think I may try to integrate laced deadeyes onto a ratliner so the deadeyes, shrouds AND ratlines are done off model. Anyone have experience with that? The length would be critical since the slack would be at the top......maybe the last couple ratlines go on at the model.

 

BrianK

[ChiefClanker]

Your progress looks excellent, Keith.  The photos and suggestions for how to do deadeyes are very helpful.  

[wefalck]

Yep, pre-rigging can be a useful strategie, particularly, when the shrouds are not too much fanned out - otherwise one would need to make oneself a jig or mock-up of the ship's side to get the top dead-eyes nicely lined up.

 

I have done this also with tackles and then stiffended them with varnish.

Edited May 1, 2022 by wefalck

[rwiederrich]

Good move Keith....lacing those lanyards with the deadeyes so close to the hull would have been a challenging thing.

The only concern would be to prevent the shrouds from pressing hard against the hull if the channel and deadeyes were not of their proper dimensions and in their proper locations.

 

You're just cookin along.  She looks wonderful.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

I wanted to show an image of the Constitution to show you that the channel needs to be wide enough to accommodate the angle of the shrouds, so they do not rub along the gunwale.

 

Rob

[Keith Black]

 Sorry to not have responded to you folks till now but time gets away from me so easily these days. 

 

 

On 4/24/2022 at 4:10 PM, mbp521 said:

Amazing work as always Keith! The pictures were well worth the wait and the tease. 😀

 

Thank you, Brian. 

 

On 4/24/2022 at 4:59 PM, mtaylor said:

Jaw drops... closes mouth.... drops again.    Wow.

 Mark, thank you, you're too kind. 

 

On 4/24/2022 at 8:02 PM, BANYAN said:

You're making great progress Keith, all looks nicely done.

 

Thank you, Pat.

 

On 4/24/2022 at 10:02 PM, lraymo said:

Wow! Absolutely beautiful work!

Lynn, thank you. 

 

On 4/24/2022 at 10:03 PM, mcb said:

Looking good.

Be careful with the box.

MCB, thank you and yes, I keep track of every move with the model up on the box.

 

On 4/25/2022 at 9:29 PM, TBlack said:

Looks good, bro. Never thought about lacing deadeye lanyards off the model. Gotta try it!

 Thank you brother Tom.  

 

On 4/26/2022 at 9:47 AM, FriedClams said:

Very nice work Keith - they look terrific!  And like Brian, I don't see this clutter you speak of either.

 Gary, thank you for the support and thank you for not looking too close. 

 

On 4/27/2022 at 6:35 AM, BrianK said:

Another great tip Keith! Thanks. I think I may try to integrate laced deadeyes onto a ratliner so the deadeyes, shrouds AND ratlines are done off model. Anyone have experience with that? The length would be critical since the slack would be at the top......maybe the last couple ratlines go on at the model.

 You're welcome and thank you, Brian. Rigging the deadeyes off model is awkward enough, I can't imagine trying to so with the shrouds attached and done off model as well. 

 

On 5/1/2022 at 7:56 AM, Chief Mark said:

Your progress looks excellent, Keith.  The photos and suggestions for how to do deadeyes are very helpful.  

 Thank you, Mark. I'm pleased I was able to help. 

 

On 5/1/2022 at 8:59 AM, wefalck said:

Yep, pre-rigging can be a useful strategie, particularly, when the shrouds are not too much fanned out - otherwise one would need to make oneself a jig or mock-up of the ship's side to get the top dead-eyes nicely lined up.

 Eberhard, thank you for your support. 

 

14 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

You're just cookin along.  She looks wonderful.

 Thank you, Rob. So much credit goes to you and your Great Republic build. 

 

14 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

lacing those lanyards with the deadeyes so close to the hull would have been a challenging thing.

The only concern would be to prevent the shrouds from pressing hard against the hull if the channel and deadeyes were not of their proper dimensions and in their proper locations.

 Rob, yes I've pretty much a dogs meal on the channels, deadeyes and shrouds. This hasn't been my finest hour.

 

 This is my first real attempt at building a model ship. My very first attempt was when I was eight years old and was given a Viking long boat and a bottle of Elmer's white glue and told  "have fun".  I was so frustrated trying to glue that plastic model with Elmer's glue I never gave modeling a second thought till six years ago. I guess my dear Mother thought if I had been given airplane glue I'd have glued my eyelids together. 

 

  Four and a half years ago when I attached the channels I didn't have the experience/foresight to know the downstream repercussions by not making the channels wider. If I were building a kit the designer would have taken care of that small detail. Working without plans and solely from photographs, I goofed and goofed badly.

 

 I'm not going to redo at this point, it's live with it as is. I'm feeling pressed (a little voice inside my head) to bring closure to this build so its move forward and let the devil take the hindquarter. 

 

 I've got the ratlines done on both sides and am finishing up the remaining mizen shrouds. I'll post pictures this coming Sunday, hopefully I'll have the mizzen completed, we'll see.

 

 I can not thank each of you enough for your kind comments and support. Thank you to all for the likes and for following me along on my journey. God bless each of you.........Keith

 

[rwiederrich]

Keith, I remember when we first began talking about your build.   It has been a learning curve but you have progressed and matured all along the way. Being your first real ship build you can be very proud of yourself. She is actually well made and you put in the hours of homework to make it so.   It is your model and as such , you and you alone are it’s master.  I’m just happy to have been able to watch and see her come to life 

I can’t wait to see her finished coming down the ways.  
 

Rob

[Glen McGuire]

8 hours ago, Keith Black said:

This is my first real attempt at building a model ship.

Seriously?  Wow.  I would have never imagined that.  Based on the quality of the build, I assumed you had been doing this for many, many years. 

 

I was impressed before, now I am in awe!! 

[mbp521]

Keith,

 

I second Glen’s comment above. I feel as if I am getting the proverbial leg pull that this is your first attempt at a ship build. What amazing work for a first-timer!

 

-Brian

[Keith Black]

10 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

Keith, I remember when we first began talking about your build.   It has been a learning curve but you have progressed and matured all along the way. Being your first real ship build you can be very proud of yourself. She is actually well made and you put in the hours of homework to make it so.   It is your model and as such , you and you alone are it’s master.  I’m just happy to have been able to watch and see her come to life 

I can’t wait to see her finished coming down the ways.  

 Thank you, Rob. Yes, I remember that PM well. You saying no left me but one alternative, to do the research, learn, and to build them myself. 

 

 To flesh out the story a bit..... I was so taken with Rob's work on his Great Republic's mast and yards that I PM'd him asking him if he would consider custom building the mast and yards for the Tennessee. He replied no and in hindsight I'm so thankful he said no as it was the very best answer he could have given me.  His refusal  forced me to make them myself but if you compare my mast and yards for Tennessee to those of Rob's Great Republic you'll see where I got my inspiration. 

 

2 hours ago, Glen McGuire said:

Seriously?  Wow.  I would have never imagined that.  Based on the quality of the build, I assumed you had been doing this for many, many years. 

 

I was impressed before, now I am in awe!!

 Glen, thank you. That means a lot coming from a SIB builder.

 

2 hours ago, mbp521 said:

I second Glen’s comment above. I feel as if I am getting the proverbial leg pull that this is your first attempt at a ship build. What amazing work for a first-timer!

 Thank you, Brian.  

 

 Looking back, I wonder how different my life might have turned out had I been given a simple tube of airplane glue when I was eight years old. i've come to this wonderful hobby so late in life that I fear that all i've learned will be for a 'one and done'.  I hope the Lord proves my fears to be unwarranted as I would like to try and make so many models but if it is just the Tennessee, thank God for the opportunity, thank God for MSW and my MSW family and friends. 

[rwiederrich]

1 hour ago, Keith Black said:

To flesh out the story a bit..... I was so taken with Rob's work on his Great Republic's mast and yards that I PM'd him asking him if he would consider custom building the mast and yards for the Tennessee. He replied no and in hindsight I'm so thankful he said no as it was the very best answer he could have given me.  His refusal  forced me to make them myself but if you compare my mast and yards for Tennessee to those of Rob's Great Republic you'll see where I got my inspiration. 

Indeed my final answer was no...but the caveat was that you could build them yourself....you can do it...all you needed was an encouraging nudge in the right direction.  It was not that I didn't want to help....but that I wanted to help/teach you how to fish....not just to feed you fish.  
And look what you've done...look what you've accomplished, and the kudos received from all of your followers and admirer's is proof in the pudding.

 

You are gaining so much more then me simply building your masts...you're gaining the experience and skills to do it magnificently for yourself.  The Master of all you survey.

 

I'm proud Keith.  You've learned skills that equipped you to identify scale errors and attention to ever elusive details..   Powerful skills that you can employ in your next modeling adventure...if you choose to go there.

 

Great job for sure.

[rwiederrich]

1 hour ago, Keith Black said:

Looking back, I wonder how different my life might have turned out had I been given a simple tube of airplane glue when I was eight years old. i've come to this wonderful hobby so late in life that I fear that all i've learned will be for a 'one and done'.  I hope the Lord proves my fears to be unwarranted as I would like to try and make so many models but if it is just the Tennessee, thank God for the opportunity, thank God for MSW and my MSW family and friends. 

Occupy till the Lord comes.....

 

Rob

[mtaylor]

I didin't realize until recently that this was your first model.  Not even a kit under your belt.  Pretty darn amazing  by any stretch.