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

[FriedClams]

Wonderful work Keith!  I love the below deck interior work and the care and precision you put into it.  And the image of your grandchild is really sweet.

 

I agree with Roger - who knows what technological advancements the future will bring.  Maybe a drone the size of a pea will fly down for a look around in a decade or two.

 

Gary

[KeithAug]

Pat, Roger, Michael, Gary thank you for your comments.

 

I am moving on to the deck cabin. I have a selection of reasonable photos and a plan lacking in detail.

 

A few decisions to make though as follows:-

In the next 2 photos the side wings are of interest.

On this the port side view the top of the wing is seen to be planked.

 

Whereas on the starboard side view the wing top has skylights protected by brass bars.

 

The plans while being a little indistinct seem to show skylights.

It is also apparent that the life rafts are sometimes hidden neatly under seats.

 

 

And sometimes not.

 

I am going with the skylight version (in sympathy with previous deckhouses) and with the life rafts hidden under seats.

 

I also have some decent interior shots which I hope to put to good use.

 

The cabin has very limited space around the instruments and seating, the whole interior being compromised by the dominant stair well and solid banister. However looks can be deceptive.

 

The clue I think lies in the gas strut highlighted with a blue arrow in the next shot.

 

I am fairly sure that this strut is to control the closure of the right hand bannister which folds down to close the stair well and create an extended floor.

 

I have stated by drawing up the internal plan and noting on it the heights of the various desktops etc.

 

 

I have started building up the interior but will cover that in my next post.

[Retired guy]

What a fantastic cabin, the wood work is so exquisite and the person who took the pictures did a great job 👍 will look forward to what you come up with.

 

Regards

Richard  

[Keith Black]

This is gonna be special. 

[Bedford]

That's one hell of a comms/nav station, can't help but wonder how you're going to pull that off.

 

[KeithAug]

 

Richard / Keith - you set such high expectations I fear I may disappoint.

 

17 hours ago, Bedford said:

That's one hell of a comms/nav station

Steve - excessive if you ask me. 4 large computer screens plus a smaller laptop size screen. I can't even begin to think what they are all for. GPS, Radar, Internet - and after that I run out of ideas.

 

 

[Keith Black]

3 hours ago, KeithAug said:

I fear I may disappoint

Keith, I've yet to be disappointed by anything you've made and I bet a dollar to donuts this next time won't be any different. 

[Bedford]

4 hours ago, KeithAug said:

 

Steve - excessive if you ask me. 4 large computer screens plus a smaller laptop size screen. I can't even begin to think what they are all for. GPS, Radar, Internet - and after that I run out of ideas.

 

 

Yes I have to agree, what ever happened to "A tall ship and a star to steer her by" 

Bark Endeavour has a comms&nav room in one of the small cabins by the aft companion way and it has one large screen mainly dedicated to wind and a few smaller ones for gps, depth etc but nothing like Germania

[KeithAug]

10 hours ago, Bedford said:

Yes I have to agree, what ever happened to "A tall ship and a star to steer her by" 

She also has 3 radio phones:-

 

1 - Ship to ship / ship to shore,

2 - Direct share dealing line,

3 - Direct private line to mistress.

[wefalck]

Direct line to 'mistress' ? Does the owner have a mistress and what does his wife say to that ? Or did you mean 'distress (centre)' ?

[KeithAug]

5 hours ago, wefalck said:

Does the owner have a mistress

Eberhard - Not sure it may be wishful thinking.

[KeithAug]

The deckhouse build commences.

 

I started by building up the core for the various internal fittings. The first piece was cut from 3/8" ply.

 

On to this was built up the various shapes to form the seating / desks etc.

 

 

With the core complete I started on the internal surfaces. On the port side is a cupboard unit which I can't really see on photographs. Given its adjacency to the stairs I decided that the cupboard doors were probably slide to open.

 

I cut a bottom channel as a runner and overlapped two fronts to give the impression of 4 sliding doors.

 

 

I then moved on to cladding over the seat and creating the other cupboards.

 

 

 

Doors handles and desktops were then installed before sanding.

 

 

[wefalck]

Interesting way to build the deckhouse around the furniture, inside-out  👍

 

[Keith Black]

On 7/22/2020 at 5:04 PM, KeithAug said:

4 large computer screens plus a smaller laptop size screen

 

12 hours ago, KeithAug said:

She also has 3 radio phones:

All that and not a coffee pot in sight. 

[Roger Pellett]

The steward brings coffee from the galley, called via the intercom.

[vaddoc]

Very nice Keith! Isn't that a latch on that panel that drops to hide the staircase? Another thing, that panel seems very heavy, how is it supposed to be lifted up?

[Bedford]

Vaddoc, there is a gas strut at the forward end of the hatch to assist in the raising and lowering

[vaddoc]

I saw that but it is not beefy enough and not attached in the right place to raise this massive panel. Also there are no air or oil lines going in, it looks more like a simple dumper. Maybe there is another mechanism hidden within the panel.

[KeithAug]

6 hours ago, vaddoc said:

not beefy enough and not attached in the right place to raise this massive panel

I agree - i think its just the damper to stop prevent it closing too quickly.

[Keith Black]

Raising the panel is the job of that steward (Arnold) who's constantly bringing coffee up from the galley. 

[BANYAN]

Keith, I think there would have had to be a slide on the door side of the strut - as the door went up and down it would slide to maintain the right angle.  In the raised position it is correctly positioned, but as you lower the hatch door the door end of the strut, probably on a hinged sliding plate in a track, would move closer to the upper side of the door?  I am not a engineer so may be shot down in flames on this suggestion   All guns to bear - fire when ready!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Guest]

Wish that i could shrink my self like Pan Tau does 

then i could sail on your ship !!

 

Absolutely beautiful done !! 

[John Allen]

Keith,

 

Been out of the loop for sometime, caught up on your masterpiece. I appreciate your inquiring mind and always needing to know. Building backwards to go forward very cool.

[KeithAug]

Dear friends - thank you all for your comments and gas strut speculations, it all adds to the fun.

 

I have made a start on the cabin sides.

 

 

The detail around the window prompted me to build the walls out of 4 laminations of wood, each 0.0315" thick giving an overall wall thickness of .125" or 4.5" at full size.

 

To make the following description more understandable I am going to identify the layers as follows:-

 

Outer layer - layer 1

Next layer - layer 2

Next layer - layer 3

Inner layer - Layer 4

 

As usual I started with a sketch - the wall is 4.7" long and each of the 4 windows is pitched at .84" with the windows being .50" wide. The window height reduces from aft to forward but are circa .8" high.

 

 

I transferred the dimensions on to ply (layer 3) and then cut out the apertures with a jewellers saw to take the perspex windows.

 

 

 

The next job was to complete layer 2 starting with the window top profile. This was cut accurately on the mill using the side of a .080" diameter end mill.

 

 

5 off .031" thick strips were then slit off from this. 2 for layer 2, 2 for layer 4 and one spare.

 

 

The strips for layer 2 were glued on to the the ply (layer 3) and then the window vertical sides were attached.

 

Once dry the vertical strips were cut back to length.

 

 

And finally the bottom strip was applied.

 

 

The foremost frame is fitted with louvers. .063" thick strips of mahogany were attached to a piece of steel with double sided tape. A dove tail cutter was then put in the mill and the "louvers" were machined. The pitch of the louvers is .06".

 

 

 

 

 

The louvers were then shaped and installed.

 

 

 

I got a bit further but that will have to wait as I am being summoned to dinner.

Hope you are all keeping safe.

 

[BANYAN]

What a clever way to do louvers Keith; I'll tuck that idea away also!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[druxey]

Nicely executed louvres, Keith. They look great.

[Retired guy]

Another fine piece of design and machining Sir 👍

 

Regards

Richard

[KeithAug]

Thank you Pat, Druxey and Richard.

 

I am catching up my log with progress (such as it is).

 

This is how far I got in the last post.

 

I cut the perspex windows from a .025" thick sheet.

 

 

Because of the roof slope all the windows are of a slightly different size. I masked the windows (in preparation for later poly application). The following picture shows the recess into which the windows fit.

 

 

The windows were glued in with a dash of CA pending retention by inner mahogany layer (layer 4).

 

 

The next step was to mill the sculpturing of layer 1 above the windows. The cut outs were made with a .160" diameter end mill.

 

 

.030 thick planks were cut from this (roughly placed in the following photo).

 

 

They were then glued in place and the vertical strips cut and applied.

 

 

 

Followed by the bottom strip.

Vertical cuts were then made using the Byrnes saw to represent further detail.

 

 

I added the panel detail at either end of the run of windows. Before completing the panelling below the windows. This doesn't need detailing as it sits behind the cabin wings (excepting the fore end on the port side which is not hidden.

 

 

The sides were fairly accurate relative to the 4.7" target.

 

 

 

 

[Keith Black]

Keith, it's always a pleasure to see an update of your beautiful work. Your explanation of how you got from point A to B is always informative and instructive. 

[Bob Cleek]

Beautiful work, as always. This is such an inspiring build log!

 

Now you've got me going. I can't for the life of me understand how that half-bulkhead drops down to cover the stairwell in the deckhouse. I suppose it could easily be broken down and set in place, but what about the round newel post? How does that fit flush into the sole? And it's got to weigh plenty. That gas strut, if that be what it is, seems way too small. Stranger still, when it's down, the stairwell is closed. One would have to go forward to another hatch and then work their way aft. That steward bringing the coffee and cocktails certainly can't be happy about that folding stairwell hatch! Obviously, in a vessel as well-conceived as this one, they must have done it right, but how do they do it?