Charles W. Morgan by John Ruy - FINISHED - Marine Model Company - 5/32”=1’ (1/76 scale) - Vintage Solid Hull Kit

[toms10]

Nice recovery John. If you don’t fix (redo) things along the way it can only be for two reasons. 
 

1) Your perfect. 
2) You just don’t care. 

 

if your human like me number one just plain doesn’t apply. Again if your anything like me, number two is not an option either. If we didn’t care about doing things right (otherwise known as OCD which all modelers need and have) we would not last very long in this hobby.  Enjoy the journey. 😁

Keep up the nice work. It is a beautiful model. When I get started on mine I hope I can make it as good as yours. 

 

Tom

[John Ruy]

Thanks Tom for confirming my thoughts. I think you have summed it up perfectly.👍

[John Ruy]

5 hours ago, Voyageur said:

Nicely done! Looks like a great job on the battens. 

Thanks Voyageur, It took a few retries and reties, but she’s getting there. 🍻

[Papa]

She is looking real nice, John. I feel like I am a year away from starting rigging right now;  progress has been slow.

Some observations. I like your rigging thread storage unit.  Is it custom made?

also, it looks like you have one of Model Expo’s shroud/ratline  jigs but don’t seem to be using it. Is that because it is useless?

 

Ron

 

[Bob Cleek]

Now's the time when you might consider fashioning some sort of "prophylactic" for the bowsprit rigging. I usually find or fashion with duct tape something suitably "boxy" out of cardboard that will enclose the bowsprit and bows. It's more for preventing accidents than preventing damage after the accident occurs. Even just a big "box" there is enough to remind the mind that it is to be avoided. Without something of the kind, it is very, very easy in an inattentive moment to collide with, or have something snag onto the bowsprit rigging while reaching across the bench for a tool or walking past in the shop. Bowsprits are really susceptible to such damage and it can often have catastrophic "chain reaction" consequences to other parts of the rig. 

 

(Don't ask me how I know this.) 

[John Ruy]

On 8/1/2020 at 5:47 PM, ragove said:

Some observations. I like your rigging thread storage unit.  Is it custom made?

also, it looks like you have one of Model Expo’s shroud/ratline  jigs but don’t seem to be using it. Is that because it is useless?

Thanks for your compliments Ron. Your build is progressing nicely as well. I currently have 250 hours into the Morgan. As Tom just said, “Enjoy the journey”. That’s why we do this. 
 

The thread storage units are sold in Fabric section of WalMart or JoAnn Fabrics. They are used for sewing thread storage. As for the “Ratliners” they work, I used them to rig the Revell Constitution I built last year, I wanted to replace the plastic rat lines with something more realistic as I did the sails. They do work well, I did find that they use a lot more thread than hand tying on the ship. I am also finding that rigging on the Morgan will be more accurate the way I am doing it now. Particularly because of the battens. 
 

Later 😎

Edited January 26, 2021 by John Ruy

[Papa]

9 hours ago, John Ruy said:

thread storage units are sold in Fabric section of WalMart or JoAnn Fabrics.

Thanks. I will check these out. My rigging storage is a plastic box of tangled thread. 

[Moab]

Looking great...Moab

[John Ruy]

Reconstructed the Gallis Framing on the Aft Roofing. Looking much better...

 

 

Added battens to the Fore Mast Shrouds still need to lash them. Painful detail, but it’s what I live for... 

 

 

Onward and forward, it’s how we progress. 😎

[toms10]

Nice job John.  I just finished tying 2100 clove hitches on my lower and futtock shrouds for my Leopard.  With the Morgan being my next build, those battens are looking pretty good.

Tom

[John Ruy]

5 hours ago, toms10 said:

With the Morgan being my next build, those battens are looking pretty good.

Tom

Plan on lots of time. I am using scribed decking sheets to cut out battens and lashing them down. Definitely need good eyes or a lighted magnifier.  Maybe both... 😆 

[John Ruy]

Fore Shrouds completed with battens. Well worth the effort to tie them rather than simply glue them on. 
 

 

Magnification Required... Trimmed up nicely. Tip be sure the fabric glue is dry on the knots before cutting. 

 

 

Onward...😎

[Papa]

Looking good

[John Ruy]

Progress on the Upper Fore Stays. 
 

 

 

Switching to sewing thread. 
 

 

Really getting small/tiny 

 

 

More later... 😎

Edited January 26, 2021 by John Ruy

[Papa]

The Model Shipways plans for the CWM say that the roof of the hurricane house was covered in canvas. I’ve been puzzling how to duplicate that. I see you just stayed with same material as the sides. 

[John Ruy]

3 hours ago, ragove said:

The Model Shipways plans for the CWM say that the roof of the hurricane house was covered in canvas. I’ve been puzzling how to duplicate that. I see you just stayed with same material as the sides. 

In my research I have not come across anything indicating canvas roofing. I took another look at my vintage plans. 

 

 

This is the only note regarding roofing. The roofing is to resemble planking. 
 

 

The plans also indicate to place the rope tubs for the whaleboats on the hurricane house roofing. That said I also have not seen any models representing a canvas roof on the hurricane house. 

 

This photo is from one of my resources   
 

https://www.charleswmorganmodel.com/

 

Let me know if you come up with any historical reference for a canvas covering. We could use sail material over the planked roofing to represent that look. 
 

cheers 🍻 

 

 

[toms10]

Hi John

i did some checking on the canvas roof for the hurricane house. As ragove mentioned in his post theModel Shipway plans say to cover on canvas. I am not sure off the top of my head but I believe the Shipway plans are from about 1939. Unfortunately when I was aboard her last summer I did not get a good pic of the hurricane house and I don’t remember what the roof was made of. 

 

I also checked in the book “The Charles W. Morgan” by Leavitt. I could not find any reference to the roof material however, I did see a couple of pictures that lead me to believe it was not canvas. Below is a picture taken in 1903 on top of the hurricane house. Look below the kid’s left foot and you will see there are wooden planks. 

In another undated photo presumably after 1903 as it comes slightly later in the book, a man is photographed standing on the roof. If it was canvas I doubt he would be up there even if he were just walking on the framing. 

 

Hmmm.  When did the canvas come into the picture if it did at all. It must have around 1939 or why would the put it on the plans as this does not seem to be the norm?

 

I am not sure what my plan is going to be yet. Build her as she sits in Mystic or as close to “as built” as I can get. If it is “as built” there was no hurricane house so the question goes away.  I will also need to get the correct plans from Mystic. I am heavily leaning towards as she sits today.   Looking forward to comparing your plans with the Shipways plans I have. 
 

part of the fun in this hobby is the research. 😁
 

Tom

[John Ruy]

 

These drawings are very interesting in that they show planking to be used for the  “top and sides” and yet state the top being canvas covered. My plans were drawn in 1939 and have no mention of the canvas. It looks to me to be depicted here as a covering over the deck planking. 🤔

 

I think your correct, more research needed. Example my plans show Gallis Roofing over the Tri Works, where MS instructions actually state the Tri Works roofing was removed during the 1983 restoration.  Fact remains these great ships were working ships the evolved over time. We just have to pick a time in their history to depict.  Still very interesting...

 

One things for sure, it’s all an individual work of art no matter how we decide To build it. 👍

[Bob Cleek]

There's a lot of incorrect speculation about the canvased cabin tops in the above posts. The cabin tops, as well as booby hatch overheads, would almost certainly have been canvased. This practice involved laying down Irish felt (similar to modern "tar paper") over tongue and groove or edge butted planking, and then canvas tacked at the edges over the felt. The canvas was then doused with boiling water to shrink it tight and painted with thinned paint. This produced a water-tight surface that was certainly strong enough to walk on, although less resistant to puncture and abrasion that a laid caulked wooden deck. It's a common practice for decks on small craft and cabin tops on all sizes of vessels and was only replaced by similar arrangements with fiberglass cloth, canvas, and modern synthetics, such as Dynel, soaked in fiberglass resin, and now preferably epoxy resin. Traditional wooden boatbuilders still often opt for the earlier practice of painted canvas over Irish felt, as it is easier to repair when the time comes.

 

At model scales, a canvased deck or cabin top would appear as a perfectly smooth surface.

[toms10]

Hi Bob

thanks for helping out with the canvas explanation. It sure does explain a lot.   Learning as I go. 
Tom

[John Ruy]

Thank you Bob for your knowledge. Covering is what I suspected... That covering at my models scale would basically be the paint used. In this case would I be correct in assuming the covering would have been painted yellow ochre? 😎

[Bob Cleek]

1 hour ago, John Ruy said:

Thank you Bob for your knowledge. Covering is what I suspected... That covering at my models scale would basically be the paint used. In this case would I be correct in assuming the covering would have been painted yellow ochre? 😎

I don't know what they may have picked. I doubt they would have painted it anything other than white. White reflects the heat of the sun, which is a big consideration in the Tropics where she often sailed. This keeps the cabins cooler in the heat and also white paint last longer than colored paints because it doesn't fade or degrade like colors which are subject to heating and cooling cycles in the sun. It is also less expensive than yellow ochre, as its pigment at that time would have been simple white lead oxide.

[John Ruy]

2 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

It is also less expensive than yellow ochre, as its pigment at that time would have been simple white lead oxide.

This makes a lot of sense, however I think I’ll stay with what I have. I may go back and lighten up my roof tops with a few coats of lighter ochre to give it a sun faded look. This time I’ll let the scribing on the decking fill in a bit to look more canvas covered. Thanks Ron for asking the question, thanks Tom for adding to the discussion and thanks Bob for brining our modeling world to life. Ron, I am Looking forward to seeing what you do with this on your MS CWM. 
cheers 🍻 

[Bob Cleek]

1 hour ago, John Ruy said:

This time I’ll let the scribing on the decking fill in a bit to look more canvas covered.

If it were canvas covered, as it was, there would be no "scribing" to be seen. the surface would be perfectly flat. The coarse weave of the canvas would show through the paint, but at scale distance, would appear perfectly flat.

[Papa]

I seem to have opened a can of worms.  I am taking a break from modeling for a couple weeks (14 days in the Virginia Mountains) so plenty of time to think about the roof of the hurricane house. I probably will go for a “smooth” top.  

[John Ruy]

2 hours ago, ragove said:

I seem to have opened a can of worms.

The kind can of worms we like. Have great vacation. I agree on the smooth top. 👍

[John Ruy]

A few paint layers and some sanding she now has canvases roof tops. 

 

Decided to stay with yellow ochre vs white based on what I could see of the hurricane house roof in this photo taken in Boston Harbor. 
 

 

22 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

It is also less expensive than yellow ochre, as its pigment at that time would have been simple white lead oxide.

Bob, I did find an example of white oxide painting on this model in the Mystic Museum. 
 

 

This model looks to be depicting very early in her career. Besides, I didn’t want to repaint the bulwarks at this point. 
 

So that was a great detour and distraction from rigging, but now it’s time to get back to tying those tiny tiny rat lines. 
 

cheers 🍻 

[John Ruy]

One halve of Fore Shrouds completed. 
 

 

Got to celebrate 🎉 every milestone. 😎

[John Ruy]

Fore Shrouds completed...

 

 

On to the Main Mast 😎

[John Ruy]

Decided to develop my process for building yard arms. So I can switch up from the rigging process. Building jack stays from 1/32 stock. I laminated two pieces together then cutout the bottom spaces. 
 

 

Detail sanded under a magnifier. 🧐 And marked the spar to ready them for assembly. 
 

 

Using very small amounts of CA glue placed the jack stays on the spar. 
 

 

Using black construction paper created iron straps and glued them in place with fabric glue. 
 

 

Drilled out the spar for mounting of the Truss. 
 

 

 

Drilled pilot holes and mounted the eyelets. 
 

 

 

 

Checked the fit and eyelet placement prior to painting. 
 

 

 

Painted the completed yard arm white. Ready for foot ropes and blocks. 
 

 

Only 11 of these to go, now I can change up from tying all those rat lines to building yard arms and back. 
 

Onward 😎