Agilis by jct - FINISHED - Steingraeber - 1:60 scale - slave ship

[GrandpaPhil]

Basswood is good.

[jct]

New basswood is on order...gonna focus on deck furniture and the like till it arrives

[popeye the sailor]

well then.......I'm just in time.   no bin for that momma sun........we're build'in them.....I don't care what scow we come up with.  {the viking funeral in the end will be fantastic      }.  too bad you ordered wood......I could have sent you some Obechi.  since I posted the pictures on my log,  I figured it would be good to post them here too.  this is the Clotilda,  but I think that the layout will do well for this ship too.  note that there is no tiller, but a ship's wheel,  and that it utilized a windlass.  other striking features can be  seen.

the stern bulwarks do sweep upward slightly.......interesting aspect to include........and check out the waterline.   I've never done copper,  so it's either bite the bullet or paint {lots of patina}.  they sailed into a secluded cove near three mile Island and off loaded the slaves onto a river boat,  which took them inland to a holding facility.  there they would be sold and divvied up later on.  the Clotilda was then sailed to a more secluded spot,  where it was set afire to get rid of the evidence.

they were transported naked and shackled to the deck.  after the war and they were free,  they settled in the very spot where they toiled.  they called their settlement,  Africatown.   the article is very good reference.

    they went through a lot to get what they { you might as well say } worked for.   the remnants of Africatown can still be seen......only a few of the original ramshackle huts remain......time and progress took the rest.

[jct]

Thanks for the info and thanks for the wood offer...I'm gonna replace all the kit planking, all to dry and brittle to work with and more trouble then its worth. then again it is a 50 some year old kit...so I guess it should be expected.   What is Obechi, don't think I've ever seen any

[popeye the sailor]

Billing Boats sells it......they used to supply basswood planking in their kits.   they started substituting Obechi some time ago.   it'a a rough wood,  not very dense........when wet it does have some flexibility.  it does sand fairly well....doesn't give the hairy appearance that basswood sometimes gives.......I'd have to rub the hull down with a soft cloth to remove it,  then a fine paper sanding after that.   I also have some thin strip called annegre......it's something like mahogany,  but it's not as brittle.  I keep a fair stock of both in various widths.   I would say that if you were building a larger hull,   this stuff could be put to good use {could be used without milling it},  but for small models,  it's just plain too large.  it would clinker all over the place!  the amount of supplied wood in a kit is usually matched to the surface area that it is to cover.......this stuff I highly doubt it.  that orange stuff is interesting though.......I love to plank a deck with it,  or wall up a structure                                                                                                                  

[jct]

I can see why...prices on basswood are a bit nuts for what it is, looked at lime as well but the shipping was more then the material.  Ya it might be I'm gonna try to use the decking material and possibly the inner bulwark, so it should not be a total loss

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by jct

[jct]

So while waiting for the new planking to arrive I set to work with some of the  deck furniture subassemblies 

 

The skylight is a kit provided piece...it's made of some kind of coated card, set up like a sheet metal fold out

had to lightly score the fold lines and add glue

turned out fairly nice...if you forgive the color, maybe it's meant to match the orange wood strips

 

  From there I moved on to the main deck house, more a covered access hatch really...it's a mix of wood parts and card, again all kit parts(except the trim)

added temporary glue blocks till all 4 sides were set up

Then popped them out

The roof is an angled piece of reinforced card...I soaked it and camped it to a roll of tape to get the correct curvature 

and started to add some strips to simulate trim

Here she is with all the trim completed and with the access hatch set in place...the hatch still needs a little more refining before it secured to the roof

Well that's it for today...still have the capstan, anchors, and ships boat to work on...the planking has shipped, hope it's here soon

Thanks for stopping by and for the likes and comments

 

[popeye the sailor]

look'in good J  

[jct]

Thx

[popeye the sailor]

good morning J...........just took a break from my dog's breakfast.   Andy is being very uncooperative........finding faults all over the place with regards to faring the hull.   two other thoughts I have is the termination of the planking at the bow and stern.   there should be some sort of bow bulkhead that will support the bow spirit..........and at the stern,  where are the posts for the transom?  I'm thinking that my curved transom idea has gone out the window.....show my idea soon.   I'm also having to reshape the bulkheads......some are too wide.......some are not in line.  it's a mess.   more on her soon my friend......I hope your faring better than I.

 

fare the frame.....very important!!!!!

[jct]

I here ya...I’m still waiting for the hull planking so I’ve just been focusing on the deck furniture.   Haven’t started to fare yet...I’ll be posting later today

[lmagna]

28 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

.just took a break from my dog's breakfast.

What are you doing eating your dog's breakfast Denis. That's not very nice of you!

[jct]

A little more to add today, I'm still waiting for the planking to arrive so I've been able to postpone the faring nitemare Denis expressed above, time enough for that heartburn later.

 

I'm still planning to follow the kit as much as possible but some things are just unacceptable...one of which is the supplied hatchways, least that's what they are supposed to be, just flat pieces of square flat wood!  Since I still have the hull open I decided to add a little more detail and open the forward hatchway

 

Started with a hole in the foredeck

from there I built a box that would enclose the opening simulated the bulkheads and deck below

squaring up

building the floor

and installing same

and planking the bulkheads

By now the most observant of you may spot a rather large fubar...

 

I forgot to allow for the narrowing of the bow between the frames...so the forward section was narrowed

and the deck reattached

and the fwd bulkhead reattached

Next a ladder was scratched to allow access below decks

The paneling and decking will receive a natural finish and be left bright and the ladder will receive a coat of paint prior to install.

Thanks for the likes and comments, that's all for today

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

a little added detail is always good     you could put in lower deck platforms,  like other models....plank it over.   where did you see a forward hatchway.......in the picture?   the picture shows two hatchways......one before and after the main mast.  it shows a forward cabin.  what type of ship are you modeling it after?

[jct]

It shows on the plan layout...just afore the main...I'm going for your basic Baltimore Clipper, kinda, sorta, gonna try to make the most of the kit parts and layout...have you looked at the ship's boat yet??   Seems really over large to me, I was gonna try to use it but now I'm not sure...started to fare, lots of plywood delam and broken timberheads, thinking seriously about just cutting them off at the deck and replacing them with square stock.

 

She does seem to bulge out a bit at midship, but it could be the nature of the beast...here's a bulkhead plan for the Harvey and it seems to follow the same lines though a bit more subtly.

 

  i do think we could have benefited with an additional bulkhead or 4.  Based on what we are seeing, kits from the good old days don't seem to be that good...just old  

 

 

[GrandpaPhil]

Chapelle’s Search For Speed Under Sail has great drawings of the Baltimore Clippers, including full sail and rigging plans.

[jct]

Thanks Phil, appreciate the info

[popeye the sailor]

yea...it's like I said on my log.......the hull frame doesn't seem complete.  so far,  I've added the part for the bow {whatever it's called},  a more revised stern transom bulkhead,  and of course,  those two extra bulkheads done as halves.   older kits haven't had the input that the more up to date kits have...the more up to date kits have improvements from customer service and complaints.  I looked at the other stuff and the boat......hopefully,  that ink stamping can be sanded off.  the boat does seem large,  which is typical of a majority of kits out there......parts are supplied with no thought to scale.  I got to look in my inventory and see what I got.  it's still early for me...I want to see what the hull looks like.  I'm leaning towards a schooner though.  I have the extra parts......who knows what I might do 

[Dr PR]

I came across this build and it was deja ju all over again! The picture on the kit box and other details strongly resemble a kit I bought back in 1969 in Long Beach, California. It was called the Brigg Freya um 1840, and was supposed to be a Rhine River brig. There was no manufacturer's name on the box or the single sheet plans, but it was made in West Germany. It was supposed to be 1:100 scale.

Here is a picture of the kit box. Notice the resemblance of the model photo and the logo on the box? This is the second plank-on-bulkhead kit that I have built. There were quite a few kits that were more impressive, but I picked this one because it was cheap, about $30 as I recall, and I was living on an Ensign's pay of $334/month.

Here is a photo of the finished model. I think I built it in 1972-74. Right after I bought the kit I was shipped out to WESTPAC and spent the next two and a quarter years pumping bullets into the jungles of North and South Vietnam. A few months after I got back I started work on the kit. It had extremely tall masts!

The horizontal bowsprit was very unusual - not something you would see on a deep sea ship. That and other details look a lot like the kit you are building.

The deck plan is a bit different. I don't remember much about building it, but I took a lot of time making the fiddly bits. The first ship I was on was a small minesweeper with wooden decks. We recaulked the decks and I saved some of the tar. I think that is what I used for the grout between the deck planks on this model!

The kit had a crummy pot metal boat. I built a new one plank-on-frame using HO scale railroad ties for the planks. It also had the crummy pot metal "blocks" that are shown in one of your photos. I used wooden blocks that I got somewhere.

 

Your kit isn't exactly the same as this one, but it looks a lot like Freya and apparently was produced by the same company. The Freya hull was 14" long along the top rail. How does this compare to your kit? I thought you might find this interesting.

 

There was some discussion earlier about a Baltimore clipper. The Freya hull has very little resemblance to the Chesapeke topsail schooners. They had a lot of drag (deeper at the stern than the bow), and were broadest just aft of the foremast (I am currently working on a Baltimore clipper).

Edited February 20, 2020 by Dr PR

[jct]

Hey Phil...thanks for contributing to the log, you are correct there is a strong resemblance in your Freya and the Agilis.  The Agilis is 18 inches long and claims to be 1/60th scale...the deck details are different but the overall shape and mast height are very similar.  The plans look to be of the same style and the ages of the kits are close too.   Let me add that your Freya is an outstanding looking model, very nice workmanship, how have you kept her so clean all these years

 

 

[jct]

Hi Denis...the ink stamps have all sanded off on mine, hope you have the same luck.  She will look good as a schooner, all I've decided so far is Jumbo will have two masts, I've yet to decide how I'll rig them...I ordered Chappelle’s Search For Speed Under Sail that Grandpa Phil mentioned, I want to review that to see if it sparks anything...As to the boat I may just cutdown the stern and display it under a tarp,  cheating I know.

[jct]

Well bit the bullet and finished the faring...what a pita, the kit only has 9 main bulkheads and 5 had issues, 4 of those had an easy additional 1/8 inch that needed removed.  That would be chore enough but with the old plywood any amount of cross sanding caused a lot of delam

tried gluing some of the worst of it back

you can see how much excess there was on frames 4&5 in the pic above...that was typical, but the deed is done. but boy is she UGLY

#3 still needs tweaked toward the keel, you can see here I whacked off the timber heads, they sucked anyway, new ones have been made,

my plan is to plank the deck then attach the new timberheads with pins in predrilled holes.  It's a technique I've used on previous builds and it works ok.

 

I took some time and clear coated the paneling and deck for the hatchway and painted out the ladder in it's finished color,

after clear is applied the orange wood looks like fir to me...hard as old fir too!

Well that's it for today...thanks for the likes and following along

Edited February 20, 2020 by jct

[Dr PR]

jct,

 

The trick is to not post photos clear enough to show the dust! Actually, every few years I take the models outside and blow the dust off. I use a small pant brush to dislodge dust from the rigging.

 

Your model is significantly longer than the Freya, so they aren't variations of the same kit. But they do look a lot alike! It will be interesting to see where you go with this build.

 

Chapelle's The Search for Speed Under Sail is a very good reference as is his The History of the American Sailing Ships. Both focus on non-military ships as well as some warships. His History of the American Sailing Navy is strictly about warships, if that is your interest. And if you are interested in topsail schooners, Chapelle's The Baltimore Clipper is an excellent resource.

 

Note: A word of caution about Chapelle's The History of the American Sailing Navy. I have a newer copy that was printed in London by Salamander Books. I was disappointed to discover that the page size was a bit smaller than some other of his older books, and all of the large plans are printed on two facing pages with a significant fold between the two sheets! The first copy of this book I saw had fold out line drawings. I then bought an older edition published in 1949 by Norton & Co. in New York. It was printed on larger pages and the detailed hull lines drawings were two page foldouts that lay flat with no middle crease. This is the only one of his books that I have with the fold out drawings.

 

If you are thinking of a schooner rig Lennarth Peterson's Rigging Fore-and Aft Craft is very good for a "typical" early 19th century Chesapeake Bay rig. Harold Underhill's Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship & Ocean Carrier is mostly about late 19th century clipper ships, but it has a section about early 20th century English schooners.

 

Edit: I still have some of the scrap plywood from the 1960s kit and it disintegrates just like the photos you have shown. It isn't much of a problem for bulkheads that will be inside the planking, but plan on using different material for anything that will show.

Edited February 21, 2020 by Dr PR

[jct]

Hi Phil...I'll have to remember that...LOL...I've a copy of The History of the American Sailing Ships, and like yours mine has very small graphics, I think the last I calculated I'd have to bump one up by 211% to get up to 1/96 scale, still may be worth it as that text has some very interesting vessels.  I agree with your assessment of Rigging Fore-and Aft Craft, I only wish it covered more than the three ships it does.  

 

I'll have to look into Chapelle's The Baltimore Clipper, AbeBooks always has great prices and free shipping.

 

Yes the old plywood is quite unworkable, I'm doing glue ups of the kit planking to get some wider stock from which the plywood parts can be replicated, still trying to salvage as much as I can

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

jee J........I shudder to think of what mine would have looked like!    I wouldn't worry about anything under the deck platform.......but for the bulwark posts,  just peel off the delaminated areas and glue on some 1/32 sheet wood and they will look like new     already done it to a few of the original bulkheads.  while I have the original parts,  perhaps I'll make up another hull..........I really do like the brigg angle on the model.  I'm sure they got the concept from somewhere........   yea.........looks ugly right now,  but once planked and the ground work is done,  it will start to look like something.

 

I just put both books on order.......thanks for the head's up    I'm sure it will save a lot of searching

[jct]

Ya I thought about just scabbing on, but decided to just cut them off, will make deck planking that much easier 

[jct]

Speaking of decking it is all but done...

I cut down the kit wood that was intended for the second planking...had to score it all about half through its thickness before it would run through the bandsaw without running out. Then cut it to length, about 60mm, just did a two plank stagger

Once it was all laid down there we some fairly obvious gaps so I filled the entire deck...it will all be sanded down to the wood surface tomorrow or Monday

 That's all for today, thanks for the likes and comments

 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2020 by jct

[jct]

The deck fill is completely sanded and the deck smoothed, after all the sanding I'm fairly certain that this is oak...50 year old oak at that,sanding took awhile, with power tools. 

I want a lightly weathered look to this ship, like most of my builds, so I mixed a light gray acrylic with isopropyl to make a stain, then just layed it on and wiped off the access, did a couple coats to get a little depth and eliminate most of the beige...I may go back and accent the caulking lines as some have disappeared.   May even give it a light sanding to bring back more grain...trying to avoid the painted look.

 

 

Well that's all for this a.m.  not sure if I'll get to the table this afternoon...the Buccos are on this afternoon from spring training, we'll see if the new staff makes a difference this year.

[jct]

Well...Pirates are losing by a bunch, 7-3 only the 2nd game of the year, and hope springs eternal...so here we are...

 

The observant among you may notice a significant difference in the pic above and one from my previous post, if you're familiar with any of my builds you will know that there is usually at least one major fubar that results in a big redo...well here we are!

 

While completing the deck finish I noticed a severe twist had developed at the transom 

you can see some of it here, this shot is of the rear deck edge...nothing I tried would remove it...so I tore out all the bulkheads and the cut reliefs into and sanded the deck plate much thinner...with everything braced and square I'll glue it all back in...

bracing at the bow to keep it verticalditto here at the stern

additional clamp to keep the deck flat

gluing in the #8 bulkhead with wood glue and ca after assuring she is plumb and true to the underdeck...doing things little different.  I'm securing the bulkheads to the under deck while the attachment to the keel floats free, I lock this down last pulling any warp out off the keel at the same time. this will continue until everything is back where it was, I'll probably have to refinish the deck after all this

 

[popeye the sailor]

wow!  really sorry to see all this extra work you've had to do.  likely the use of the original wood was the cause.   where I've had to cut the parts for mine from newer wood...I don't have that big of a problem.  I do have a tiny bit,  but I can put the frame back in the slip with very little effort.  fingers crossed this works out for you