18th Century Armed LongBoat by Dr PS - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:24

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Arther, I am waiting on getting some dowels. Also, this weekend is filled with activities so I may not get a whole lot done. However, I do plan to work on the Oarlocks next. I will make a template of metal to use as a drill guide so that I get all the spacings the same. I still don’t know exactly what size or color. Do you have any suggestions?

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

The Oarlocks were turned from 1/16”x1/16”x3/4”basswood with a Dremel to 3/64” round.  They were cut at 5/32” height after gluing in place and then painted red to match the cap rails.  I used a block of scrap basswood with two holes drilled in it as a template to position the Oarlocks.

Edited June 24, 2019 by Dr PS - Paul Schulze

[CPDDET]

Excellent workmanship

[Arthur Wayne]

That looks great Paul! How did you turn those down, with an emery board or....? 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Arthur, I chucked the wood pieces tightly in the Dremel so they would not wobble and then used Squadron course sanding sticks. Usually when they first turned round, they would be 1/16”.  Then I would go to medium grit sticks and finish them to 3/64” which seemed to be the next step in sanding. This size would be 1-1/8 inches in diameter prototype which seemed reasonable. They probably would have used a real hard wood. I think 1/16” would have been okay as well but 3/64” just came out well as a finished product. 

 

BTW, I used a Dremel drill press work station to hold the Dremel. 

[Arthur Wayne]

Awesome thanks! I'm going to go the same route. 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

3 hours ago, Arthur Wayne said:

Awesome thanks! I'm going to go the same route. 

I think the kit oarlocks looked to be too large and, in my opinion, seemed to dominate the scene. I like the looks of the smaller oarlocks painted the same color as the cap rails.  They don’t draw attention to themselves. 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Dr PS - Paul Schulze

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

The Boom was made from 1/4" round birch dowel.  A piece of dowel 15" long was cut and marks made at 1.5 inches from each end and 5.5 inches from one end.  The end nearest the 5.5 inch end was turned down to 3/16" at the 1.5 inch mark and the the other end at the 1.5 inch mark was turned down to 1/8 inch.  The former will be the hook end.  The 1.5 inch pieces on both ends were used to clamp the dowel in an electric drill and were cut off after finishing. 

 

Both tapers were started by cutting around the dowel at the 1.5 inch marks and then making slicing cuts towards the cuts moving around the dowel as well as away from the 1.5 inch marks.  In this way a rough taper was cut.  The dowel was then put in the electric drill and brought to final shape with 50 grit sandpaper.  The dowel was clamped in the drill with the chuck nearest the end being worked on so that chances of the dowel breaking were reduced.  Finally, 250 grit sandpaper was used to finish the piece. 

 

Initial slicing cuts to form end of taper were made from the downward cut at the 1.5" mark backward towards the 5.5" mark - -

Rough cut taper and coarse grit sanding done on one end - -

Finished Boom before cutting off chuck holding ends - -

The finished Boom (not shown) is 12 inches long and has a shoulder notch cut at the 1/8" end for the Topping Lift Rope.

 

As a note in passing, I made the mast from basswood and the boom from birch and I think that the birch is a whole lot easier to work with.

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by Dr PS - Paul Schulze

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Finished shaping and painting the Mast, Boom, Gaff and Bowsprit. All of these were shaped using the technique described above. Also, all small parts were blackened using Jax Pewter Black. The Horse was blackened using Birchwood Casey Brass Black.

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Working on rigging but undecided as what to do with the chainplates and strops. I am looking at various options which also includes those offered in the kit. 

[Arthur Wayne]

I'm copying as best I can, the way the Medway Longboat is rigged. I'm using the kit chain plates but lopped off the "Y" and I'm making metal strops for the deadeye and will attach via hooks. Hopefully I can post some progress tonight. Also I picked up rigging from Syren Model Ship Company which just arrived, I think the kit supplied tan 1.5 mm rigging is way too big for running rigging, it's quite a bit bigger than the standing rigging which doesn't make sense to me. I think something got crossed up between the prototype and the kit. And the kit model doesn't look like it's using that large of rigging either. I noticed this when Dwight rigged his boat. 

 

Lastly, have you looked at the traveler on the bowsprit? As rigged, it can't travel. LOL While I don't think most folks will know the difference, it bugs me so I'm continuing with my theme of ripping off ideas and designs from Chucks Medway Longboat. Like they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery so.... I may be imitating, I'm certainly not capable of duplicating. 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

I think Chuck is happy when boats are improved in any way. I have slowed way down as I ponder what I am going to do next. 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Arthur, I have not looked at the bowsprit Traveler at all other to make sure it fit and slid. Can the rigging be made to reflect reality?

 

With regards to your rigging, what size are you considering? Chuck on his rigging plan uses 0.45 mm and 0.63 mm. I have some of both and some other sizes leftover from my Cutty Sark build. Also, are you using wire or brass for your strops?  I tried using 1/32” brass rod but it is way too hard to shape and also I think it looks too large. I think 20 gauge wire might be the ticket. 

[Arthur Wayne]

Paul I'm updating my log in just a minute that should answer most of your questions regarding the strops. Also for the bowsprit traveler I copied Chuck's design on his Medway Longboat. After reviewing the instructions again, I see now that the kit arrangement actually will work. 

 

For rigging I have .88mm brown for the shrouds, and some .20mm brown for seizing etc. I also have light brown .63mm, .45mm and .20mm (for seizing etc). The .63mm is for the haliards and .45mm seems to be used anywhere the rigging is going through a block. 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

I have adopted Arthur’s approach to chainplates and deadeye strops as we are both on an approach of modifying our boats using Chuck’s design. 

 

I tried forming strops from small brass rods but found it difficult to create the small curves. I experimented with various wire and decided copper would work well. I settled on 20 gauge thermostat wire. I used small round nosed jewelry pliers to form the bends and curves.  In order to create a black color, I used Brass Black Metal Finish on the copper parts. Holes were drilled in the deadeyes to receive the eyebolts.  The bands and hooks were glued with thin CA. 

 

I would refer readers to Arthur’s fine detailed description, but basically there are four parts: modified kit chainplates, strop rings or bands, strop eyebolts and strop-chainplate hooks. In the first photograph below, the parts are shown with the strop bands appearing as unbent straight wires.

 

Finished assemblies  -

 

[CPDDET]

Fine looking work there!

[Sea Hoss]

I like it! Will try to use the same method...

[Arthur Wayne]

Nice work Paul, we are running neck to neck on this build now and the end is in sight! 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Thanks all for the comments. I don’t think Arthur and I are in a mad dash to finish rather we want to do the best we can. Actually I find it interesting and fun to make modifications to the kit plans. Both of us have been in a discovery mode and we hope it will give others ideas and help as they work on their builds. 

Edited June 29, 2019 by Dr PS - Paul Schulze

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Before proceeding to the rigging, I decided to redo the canon mounts. I cut them from 3/8” dowel. The stem starboard gun mount was carved to fit between the bow Thwart and G bulkhead/frame, then come up inside and over the cap rail. 

 

[Arthur Wayne]

Gutsy move Paul! I thought about doing something along these lines but chickened out. LOL

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Do it Arthur.  It took about 2.5 hours at most. If you don’t you’ll wished you had later. Now is the time. Carve the front one before you take anything off and then you can decide from there. 

Edited June 30, 2019 by Dr PS - Paul Schulze

[Arthur Wayne]

I've already started the rigging, but I may see how much effort it will take to gin something up. 

[Sea Hoss]

Looks way more sturdy, I'll do the same, a little more research first though. It's all coming together very well Paul.

 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Rigging underway- chainplates, deadeyes and shrouds.  

 

I used the Kit supplied black rope to string the deadeyes but went with a smaller non-kit tan shroud rope. I installed the modified chainplates along with the home constructed hooks and stropped deadeyes. The deadeyes were strung off the boat, as shown below, and then moved into place. Next, the backstays were strung. All this went without much difficulty. Finally, I installed the bowsprit brace and post. I decided to install the bowsprit post in the center of the forward thwart as was done for the Medway version. I was concerned about making a rectangular hole in the deck as it was to be located under the thwart. As it turned out it was a piece of cake. I drilled a 1/16” hole through the thwart down into the deck. Next the hole in the thwart was shaped and the post inserted. I pushed a bit on the post to mark its shape and to my surprise it popped through the deck. Viola! Easy peasy!

 

[Arthur Wayne]

Another patented DR.P jig! Looks great Paul, I wish I had as good of results with the square hole as you did! 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Arthur, just a possible solution, use Elmer’s Pro Bond Wood Filer, redrilll the hole and cover the patch with the coiled rope.  I think you will find the wood filler does a pretty good job matching the unpainted wood. 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Just a few shots of the rigging which is almost finished.  No real problems were encountered although I decided to use a thinner tan line than the kit supplied rope for the running rigging. The line I used was 0.7mm. Also, instead of using the kit supplied horse traveler, I opted for a rope loop attached to a block. 

 

Edited July 8, 2019 by Dr PS - Paul Schulze

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

I’m not done with the rigging yet but I  decided to spend time and get the oars done. I carved and painted 13 oats just in case one didn’t turn out. They all turned out fairly well so I tied two bundles of six as per instructions.  I’m not sure what to do with the thirteenth oar. Maybe I’ll mount it on the display base I want to make. 

After painting, I sprayed the oars with the matte finish in order to seal them. 

Edited July 11, 2019 by Dr PS - Paul Schulze

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

In order to make uniform rope coils, I used this simple construct. The side wood pieces glued on the dowel keep the coils from sliding down. The enlarged hole facilitated tying the rope off.  After coiling, diluted white glue was applied. After the glue was dry, the knot was cut away. 

 

Edited July 14, 2019 by Dr PS - Paul Schulze