Schooner Germania (Nova) by KeithAug - FINISHED - Scale 1:36 - 1908 / 2011

[Retired guy]

Absolutely brilliant Keith 👍

 

Regards

Richard 

[KeithAug]

On 1/20/2022 at 8:34 AM, Retired guy said:

Absolutely brilliant Keith 

 

Thank you Richard - I see your Bluenose log has been quiet for a while. I trust all is well with you?

[KeithAug]

I'm still working on the main and foremast booms.

 

The sheave for the reefing line was fitted. The boom was slotted on the mill, a small sheave was inserted and then the wooden closing piece was glued in place. The closing piece is a lighter coloured wood on the original and this was reproduced on the model. The end boss was turned and glued in place.

 

 

 

The cleats at the fore ends of the booms were made. These were made from wood and brass as per the original.

 

 

 

The vertical hinge pin was made with an upstand drilled for the attachment of the sail. The horizontal pin is obviously a temporary arrangement.

 

 

The fore mast boom followed a similar process.

 

 

 

 

[BANYAN]

Absolutely stunning detail yet again Keith.  How on earth do you polish up these small parts to such a high quality finish, and then maintain that finish?

 

cheers

 

Pat

[mcb]

Outstanding. 

I meant to mention a few posts back that the mahogany hull planking really looks good.  It looks lively (right word?)

MCB

[Retired guy]

13 hours ago, KeithAug said:

 

Thank you Richard - I see your Bluenose log has been quiet for a while. I trust all is well with you?

 

Hi Keith all is well and staying safe, I know Bluenose is sitting there waiting for me to re-hire Mo & Jo they quit on me saying I was not paying them enough though the pandemic  !! 

 

See you are giving us more eye candy with your latest pic's, your daughter is going to have one very special keep sake when you give it to her 

 

Regards

Richard 

[KeithAug]

Thank you Pat, Richard and MCB for your comments, and thanks to everyone for the likes.

 

On 1/21/2022 at 11:29 PM, BANYAN said:

How on earth do you polish up these small parts to such a high quality finish, and then maintain that finish?

 

Pat - I think i have not been as good at polishing of late however my general process is machine finish, polish with 600 grit wet and dry, then polish with 1200 grit, then 2400 grit and then finish with Brasso liquid polish. I generally tend to accept that brass ages however if I really want to prevent this I use Renaissance, Micro-Crystalline  Wax Polish. A bit expensive but excellent for maintaining the shine for years.

 

Update:-

From an earlier post, Eberhard thank you - modified radar.

 

 

You may also recall that I doubted the strength of the shackle attachment to the turnbuckles. That is the lower end in the next photograph.

 

 

I proved they were not strong enough when rigging the bowsprit - Pinnnng!!

 

Although not as accurate I modified all of them as follows - old version top - new version bottom.

 

 

The mod involved using a vey small split pin made from .020" x .040" section brass strip.

 

 

They are now much stronger and when not subject to close inspection they look fine.

 

The bowsprit was rigged with .024" Beadalon clear coated multi strand steel wire. I bought wire guards to simulate thimbles and keep things neat.

 

 

The end of the wire was stripped, threaded through a 1mm ID by 1.2mm OD tube then through the wire guard and then back through the tube. The loop was secured with a drop of CA and then heat shrink tube was used to simulate the leather protective sleeve. The "large" file in the photo is a standard needle file.

 

 

I rigged the port side bowsprit shroud very tight to correct a slight bow in the bowsprit. This worked very well.

 

 

Until --------- after about an hour ----- pinnnng. The attachment to the hull was too weak and parted company. The small bracket had been soldered to a 1/16" spigot and then inserted to a hole in the hull. The solder failed. The bracket was attached to a 3/32" spigot and reinserted. Thus far this has held despite the tension in the cable.

 

 

 

 

The starboard bowsprit shroud didn't quite need as much tensioning and in consequence the hull bracket held (thus far).

 

The bobstay was rigged next, again with a fair degree of tension.

 

 

 

 

[mikegr]

great combination of wood and brass

[ccoyle]

Keith, your work never ceases to amaze me. Some of us are modelers, but a rare few are miniature ship makers. I think you fall into the latter category.

[FlyingFish]

Wire guards for thimbles - great idea! It's coming along very nicely.

[druxey]

Lovely. We wish you no more 'pings'!

[Retired guy]

Not nice to hear pinging, could you put a small bow in the bowsprit so you don't need to tighten the rigging as much 🤔 you might get this pinging again 1 month or a year or two later, just a thought.

 

Regards

Richard

[KeithAug]

2 hours ago, Retired guy said:

pinging again 1 month or a year or two later, just a thought.

 

Hi Richard - True, but it might keep some excitement in my life.

[KeithAug]

I moved on to gaffs. They were again made from mahogany dowel turned to the correct maximum diameter (the taper being left for later).

 

The gaffs have features which in the majority lie on 0, 120 and 240 degree radial orientations. To make rotational location easy I drilled 3 location holes on a extension to the finished boom and then used these holes for location.

 

 

I needed to cut 2 x .040" wide slots along the lengths of the gaff ad i did this on the table saw using a simple jig. A square cut out was made in a piece of scrap wood equal to the diameter of the gaff. A hole was drilled for a locating dowel. The gaff was mounted and the slot was cut with the saw fence bearing on the jig.

 

 

 

 

With the slots cut the ends were milled to take the gaff saddle brackets.

 

 

The .040" slots are for the wear strips - made form .040" brass wire.

 

The wear strips are not continuous so I inserted thin strips of mahogany (cut to the correct length) to segment the slots.

 

 

With this done I then sanded the tapers on both ends of the gaffs (the slots were deep enough not to be removed by the tapering). The brass wire wear strips were glued in with CA.

 

 

The second gaff was made in the same way.

 

 

Straps for locating the gaff hoist lines are positioned at the 120 and 240 degree rotational positions. The straps were cut from brass sheet and when drilled were inserted on pins so that the end radii could be filed in one operation.

 

 

The gaffs were drilled to take the pins for the straps and the straps were mounted.

 

 

The straps for the saddle were cut and shaped to fit the previously machined slots. The hoop and the end boss was also turned and milled.

 

 

 

The straps were blended to the shape of the boom using a file and then the hoops were fitted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by KeithAug

[wefalck]

Interesting, I have never come across such wear-stripes on a gaff. How are the sails attached to the gaffs then, with hoops ?

[Keith Black]

 Absolutely amazing workmanship, beautiful. 

[KeithAug]

26 minutes ago, wefalck said:

Interesting, I have never come across such wear-stripes on a gaff.

 

Eberhard.

 

Yes I agree, it is a bit odd.

 

 

 

 

[druxey]

Oh, my. Never make a gaff simple if you can make it complicated! Well done, Keith.

[FriedClams]

Beautiful - inspirational - love it!

 

Gary

[B-Ram]

Wow! Beautiful work Keith.

 

Bill

[Jond]

I quietly come over here many times to get inspired, and then like today with freezing rain and sleet hitting the windows get overwhelmed.  You workmanship is a joy especially on a winter’s day.
 

please keep sharing

 

jon

[KeithAug]

Druxey, Gary, Bill and Jon, Thank you all for your kind comments. It seems amazing that I started this build 3 years ago - how time flies. My hope is that some time this year I will get started on another build. As I get older I find myself rejecting long duration projects!

[KeithAug]

I finished off the other ends of the gaffs before moving on to the saddles.

 

 

I started the saddle with a strip of 1/2" wide x .040" thick brass. This was milled along its length to a depth of .020"

 

 

I marked out the ovals for the saddle on a piece of card and then attached it to the brass strip with double sided tape.

 

 

I then cut out the ovals with a jewellers saw before finishing with a file.

 

 

 

I then annealed the brass and bent the ovals around scrap lengths of steel bar of the same diameter as the masts.

 

 

 

I then made the attachment brackets for the gaff out of strips of .020" brass. These were bent to the correct radius with the ends turned out to form the hinge brackets. The piece of aluminium is a spacer to get the brackets correctly positioned.

 

 

The brackets were then soft soldered to the saddle.

 

 

The stirrup for the gaff lift was then made. A piece of 3/32" tube was part turned to mark the cutting locations. Holes were then drilled and a piece of shaped .040" wire was bent, inserted and soldered.

 

 

Finally the small bridging piece was soldered to form the eye. The tube was then cut away.

 

 

The saddles were then mounted on the gaffs.

 

 

 

[druxey]

What a delightful and complex piece of work, Keith. Closer to jewelry than model making.

[Keith Black]

2 hours ago, druxey said:

Closer to jewelry than model making.

I'd wear it.

[mtaylor]

4 hours ago, Keith Black said:

I'd wear it.

I'd be afraid to wear it.  Might get damaged or lost.

[michael mott]

Absolutely lovely, do the saddles have leather on them or are they just metal?

 

Michael

[KeithAug]

Thank you Druxey, Keith and Mark.  I don't think my wife would wear it which is the most telling test.

 

10 hours ago, michael mott said:

Absolutely lovely, do the saddles have leather on them or are they just metal?

 

Michael - thank you. I don't really have photos that show that detail but there are a couple of fuzzy shadows that suggest the inside of there saddle has some form of covering so I guess that will be leather. I may try lining the face but it will depend finding something suitable to do it with - perhaps a visit to my wife's glove draw?

[michael mott]

If you can find a piece of ladies leather skirt clothing at a thrift store, it is really nice fine leather very thin and flexible. it is what I used on my bowsprit traveler

You can always tell the clerk that it is a gift for your daughter😉

 

Michael

[druxey]

I simply painted the traveller ring with raw sienna acrylic to resemble leather. Saves you having to 'chase skirt'! (What a suggestion, Michael!)