Germania Nova 1911 by KeithAug - FINISHED - Scale 1:36 - replica of schooner Germania 1908

[wefalck]

Oops, have to check this out. The binnacle was made in about 1990, when such detail research possibilities and my library of period books were more limited. I would have thought that these compensation balls were in use from around the mid-1860s or so, when iron ships became common. Indeed, in earlier days they put the binnacles on long 'masts' above the deck.

 

I cannot change this anymore, so we assume the tug was still in operation in the 1880s   In fact, the design is from the mid-1860s, but the lines etc. were published as a worked-through example in the first German textbook on iron shipbuilding of 1869.

 

 

[Jim Lad]

Yep, he came up with his quadrantal correctors (more commonly known as Kelvin's balls) in the 1880's.

 

John

[BANYAN]

Hi all, from my limited research so far I believe that in the RN (Service ships) it was preferential to 'box' the compass until later in the 19th century (once the quadrantal correctors had been proven proven)  - this meant applying a known 'error' for each of the compass points (as well as allowing for magnetic deviation for the heading) when steering. 

 

Note: this term is more commonly known to mean "To know, and be able to recite the 32 points and quarter points of the magnetic compass from North, both clockwise and anticlockwise." BUT it is also the term applied to determining the magnetic compass' error for each of the 32 points and requires swinging the ship through 360 degrees around her anchor or a buoy - a practise still used in the 'Service' today for magnetic compasses.

 

In the mid 19th century, mercantile ships 'commonly' used iron pieces implanted into the decks and deck furniture in an attempt to correct the compass on each compass point.  Another earlier correction (I think from 1850s - but stand to be corrected) was the use of the "Flinders bar" a metal rod fitted within the pelorus/binnacle as a vertical rod?  For the 'Victoria' (1855) I am reasonably confident that she was fitted with at least one, possibly 2, Gray’s prismatic azimuth type compasses with internal compensating bars.

 

Sorry to hijack your thread Keith.

 

cheers

 

pay

Edited April 14, 2019 by BANYAN

[Mark Pearse]

the hull really looks lovely Keith. At this point in the process, what are you using to sand back between coats? 

[KeithAug]

17 hours ago, Mark Pearse said:

At this point in the process, what are you using to sand back between coats? 

Mark - Thank you - I am using wire wool.

[druxey]

If steel wool, I hope you run a magnet over the surface between coats!

[KeithAug]

 

23 minutes ago, druxey said:

I hope you run a magnet over the surface between coats!

Druxey - no, but I do wipe the hull over with a damp cloth.

[vossiewulf]

1 hour ago, KeithAug said:

 

Druxey - no, but I do wipe the hull over with a damp cloth.

I use tack cloths from Liberon, no wax or silicone and tacky while leaving no residue. Not that a damp cloth won't work, I just prefer not to get any water on wood once I have started a finish.

 

OTOH we should probably just leave Keith alone to finish his finish before digressing on another discussion of finishing techniques

 

[Keith Black]

2 minutes ago, vossiewulf said:

probably just leave Keith alone to finish his finish

Before he throws the lot of us out the door!

[wefalck]

Quite right so - I use steel-wool too and no magnets. By the time you get to steel-wool, the hull will be very smooth and the flicks of steel can be brushed off quite easily. It is a good idea to change the pad of steel-wool frequently, before it begins to to crumble.

[KeithAug]

I have to say I don't find steel wool to be a problem, nor is the damp cloth for that matter. By the time I am using wire wool it is basically just buffing the dried poly surface. The first couple of sealing coats are sanded with fine sandpaper so any raised fibres area removed at this stage. I have a huge roll of wire wool and I rip off a handful before I start and discard it at the finish. As for the damp cloth, I wipe the surface with paper kitchen towel and then leave it for half an hour or so before I do the following coat. The biggest watch out with wire wool is that it sits on the workbench and other flat surfaces and if left will pick up on clothing and drop on the hull during the painting process.To avoid this I find it beneficial to vacuum up any residue after using the steel wool.

[KeithAug]

Thank you all for your continue interest and comments. I quite enjoy the discussions on finishes so don't feel inhibited. 

 

I have lost count of the number of coats but I think its about 6. The previous coat refused to dry in the workshop or in the boiler room. After 36 hours it was still tacky and unfit for further treatment. In desperation I stuck it on a table in the garden and a few hours later it was bone dry. I'm not sure wether it was the breeze or the sun (UV?) but what ever it was it did the trick. I took the opportunity of giving it a good rub down with wire wool before returning to the workshop for the next coat.

Here is coat 6 (or something like that). Still some way to go!

Otherwise I continued to busy myself with the binnacle - making the support bracket for Mr Kelvin's spheres. I didn't think I could make and mount individual brackets so I made both in one piece - this will pass through the pedestal. The bracket is .075" thick and was cut from .025 wide brass strip - shaped on the mill. It is currently too deep at .025" and will be reduced to .150" later. 

To create the bracket webs I cut a slot at each end with a 0.6mm (.024") slitting saw.

The top of the bracket will be soldered on later.

 

I tried 2 versions of the pedestal - the first was a more accurate interpretation of the original and had inserted panels (although 6 rather than the 10 the original seems to have). I turned the pedestal and then milled out 3mm (.118') wide slots to take the panel inserts. 

A strip of wood was cut to 3mm thickness to form the basis of the infill panels. This was then shaped to semicircles on the ends before being slit down to .025" thick on the table saw (using a 0.6mm (.024") blade).

To be continued-----------

[wefalck]

This looks like an elaborate procedure ! The idea of milling both brackets of the regulation spheres in one piece sound like a good idea - makes the whole thing more solid. I gather you will have to slot the binnacle then for this. I remember me struggling with this part in the days before I had mill ...

[michael mott]

Hi Keith, just catching up I have been busy off site for a while. Beautiful work on the hull, and clever solutions on the binnacle.

 

Michael

[KeithAug]

On 4/16/2019 at 6:25 PM, wefalck said:

I gather you will have to slot the binnacle then for this. I remember me struggling with this part in the days before I had mill ...

Yes Eberhard I will slot the binnacle on the mill. I agree that making accurate narrow slots is much easier using machinery.

 

20 hours ago, michael mott said:

Hi Keith, just catching up

Welcome back Michael. I too am about to enter the silly season for excursions.

[FriedClams]

Beautiful work on the compass housing Keith - so very tiny.  Your hull is coming alone wonderfully.

 

Gary

[KeithAug]

Thank you Gary.

 

So to continue with the binnacle. The next step was to slot out the end of the pedestal to take the bracket.

I finished the bracket by soldering on the top web and I also glued the 6 panels in to the pedestal. I compared the result with an alternative version of the pedestal made by scoring on simulation panel. The scoring was done on the lathe. I liked the alternative but decided to go with the more accurate panelled version. 

 I then needed to make the the balls so hunted through my ball bearing jar for the correct size (.160"). I couldn't find any but then in a flash of inspiration I decided to check the diameter of the ball on the end of dressmakers pins that I have. It turns out to be .158" - pretty amazing really.

The pins required collars (.060" diameter by .050" tall) - turned on the lathe.

The shanks of the pins were cut off and the balls painted and glued in place.

The base of the pedestal was cut, drilled and 4 simulation mounting studs inserted. 

I have included the pin in the photos for scale.

Edited April 18, 2019 by KeithAug

[wefalck]

Very well done ! Dressmaker pins, that's what I used too. In the unpainted state and with the brass collars, they looked a bit like Christmas-tree ornaments ...

[Jim Lad]

That looks very nice, Keith.  No Flinders bar?  they have been in use since the second decade of the 19th century.  By the way, in merchant ships (no idea about gentlemen's yachts), it is (or was) common practice to paint the balls red and green a la sidelights.

 

John

[BANYAN]

Beautifully crafted Keith; if I didn't know better I would have thought it the real thing.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[KeithAug]

18 hours ago, wefalck said:

they looked a bit like Christmas-tree ornaments

Eberhard - thank you. I'll recommend them to "The Borrowers".

 

13 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

No Flinders bar?

A very interesting question John and no doubt worthy of further debate.

The next photo is of Germania Nova as built. I deduced this because of the unusual skylight structure just in front of the small table. This is a reproduction of the skylight on the original Germania. You will also see that Binnacle has the Flinders bar.

At some time the skylight structure was removed to accommodate a much more practical deck table. As part of this conversion the flinders bar seems to have been removed - see photo.

Not sure why they would have done this - but clearly they did. 

The earlier version with the skylight is an interesting modelling challenge but I personally think it looks like a bit of a carbuncle so I am building the modified version - hence no flinders bar.

 

14 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

it is (or was) common practice to paint the balls red and green

John I did think of doing this, its just that the original builders got a good deal on a can of black - so that is what they painted it - as per photos above.

 

11 hours ago, BANYAN said:

Beautifully crafted Keith

Thank you Pat.

[wefalck]

The binnacle discussion almost makes me going back to my 30 year old model ...

 

It seems to me that the Flinder's Bar is still there. One can vaiguely discern the brass capping in front of the wooden body.

 

These fancy skylight were not necessarily permanent installations, but could be removed and stowed before rough sea-passages. There would be the coamings left and a simple cap that could be made watertight with a canvass cover like any other hatch. It looks, as if there was a removable section in the deck planking. I quite like these Victorian or perhaps one should say here Wilhelmenian structures with the panelling and brass bars.

[KeithAug]

50 minutes ago, wefalck said:

It seems to me that the Flinder's Bar is still there. One can vaiguely discern the brass capping in front of the wooden body

Eberhard - here are another 2 views.

If you look at the first of the 2 previous photos you can see the Flinder's bar in profile. In the profile view below it does not appear.

Probably more conclusive however is the next photo.

The brass plate seems to be over where the top bracket of the Flinder's bar would have been.

[wefalck]

I seem to have seen arrangements, where iron masses to correct the compass inclination were located inside the binnacle. They could be moved up and down.

 

On a yacht this is probably not so critical, but on commercial ships with varying loads of different magnetic properties it can be important. On most roadsteads there used to be an area set apart, where ships could turn a full 360° circle before setting out on their voyage to check the compass movement against a set of landmarks. There is also a flag signal for ships doing this compass correction, giving them right of way, so that they can proceed without being disturbed.

[Chasseur]

Hey Keith,

outstanding work. Using the heads on the pins was a slick idea!

Black is beautiful. I like the wood colour pallet you chose, very realistic.

Jeff

 

[KeithAug]

4 hours ago, wefalck said:

These fancy skylight were not necessarily permanent installations, but could be removed and stowed before rough sea-passages.

Eberhard - that would make sense. The skylight is over the "owners" cabin and it is going to be quite claustrophobic with only a couple of small port holes.

On the other hand if you look at the recent deck in this area it isn't exactly obvious where it would fit - the hatch that replaces it seems to be quite small in comparison.

Edited April 19, 2019 by KeithAug

[KeithAug]

2 hours ago, Chasseur said:

outstanding work.

Thank you Jeff.

[wefalck]

Yes, that hatch-like area doesn't look too big. Nevertheless, it may be that the boat can be arranged in different configurations, depending on the type of charter, or if the owner is on board - but I I don't know anything about the actual ownership arrangements, of course. Perhaps some catalogue could tell you more.

[KeithAug]

21 hours ago, wefalck said:

Perhaps some catalogue could tell you more.

Eberhard - I had a quick trawl of the internet but didn't turn up anything relevant. I will keep a look out.

 

 I think I am now on coat 9 and I'm starting to get happy with the finish. I'm pretty pleased with the surface which has none of the dints and dimples that sometimes occur with a natural wood finish. The coat is still wet in the following pictures.

The transom isn't right because the top line needs sanding back. I will do this when it is removed from the building board.

 

I needed to sort out the mounting of the rudder. The plans I have are not very clear in  this respect. However I am pretty sure there are 4 mounting points plus the top and bottom bearing.

Anyway I scaled the gudgeons as best I could - 0.275" long x 0.200" wide x 0.100" thick. I made them from  0.250" round bar - turned down to 0.200" diameter with a hemisphere turned on the end with a profile tool. The last operation on the lathe was to drill 0.060" hole along the axis. I then moved to the mill and milled off 0.050" from each side to give a thickness of 0.100". Finally I drilled another 0.060 hole at right angles to the axis for the pintle. I then did a bit of polishing.

I then soldered on the pegs which will attach the gudgeons to the keel.

 

 

[druxey]

Nice!