Effie M Morrissey 1894 by allanyed - FINISHED - Scale 1:48

[captainbob]

Looks like they cut that beam to add the hatch but cut it off center, then added the hatch on center.  Interesting.

 

Bob

[allanyed]

A bit of progress on Effie. The deck is planked and scraped, but needs a bit of trimming around the various deck openings.  With no top timbers on the frames, sanding and scraping the deck planking was easier than when there are bulwarks or top timber framing in place.

 

There are stanchions between frames versus having top timbers on the frames. The frames stop at the same height as the top of the deck beams so the stanchions will be the support for the bulwark planking. 

 

When framing the model I placed small blocks between frames to give added strength.  Coincidentally, these act as a stop for the stanchions.  I have drawn these blocks in red on the attached.

 

I have started fitting filler decking pieces between the stanchions to close in the decking around the stanchions as shown on the photo.

 

Allan

[Mirabell61]

Allan

a lovely nice and clean built boat you Show us, thanks for sharing. Frames and beams arranged as it should be with These classic boats, a Little pitty that These wooden Features are not visible any more afterwards

 

Nils

[EdT]

Very nice, Allan. Very nice.

 

Ed

[michael mott]

Very clean way to do this part of the build I like the way it looks.

 

Michael

[Elia]

Allan,

 

That looks tremendous - the stanchions, the deck planking, that hull and framing, everything. I can not wait to see the bulwarks go up.

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

[allanyed]

Thanks to everyone for their comments, they are very much appreciated.

Allan

[captainbob]

 Very nice, Allen. You're building a beautiful boat.

 

Bob

[Bob Halliday]

Hello Allan,

I am interested in the Effie Morrissey because I am a Newfoundlander and an amateur ship model builder. Can you tell me where I could a copy of the line plans of the schooner. I am quite impressed with the model you have built, and I would like to build a model at the same 1:48 scale.

Bob Halliday

[allanyed]

Hi Bob  

Sorry for the delay, just now saw your post.  I got the drawings from the Library of Congress.     https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.ma1719.photos/?sp=1&st=gallery    Click on [ Drawings from Survey HAER MA-168  ] which is on the left side of the page that opens a little down from the top, and they all come up.  They are free.   There are a ton of photos as well.   She is sometimes referred to Ernestina as well as her name was changed when she was sold in the 40's.    PM if you have a problem and I can forward the drawings to you.   

Allan

[Jond]

Allan

 

thank you for this great log and providing the link source.  I have never figured out how to search there........  and Bob, thank you for finding this completed log and asking the pertinent question.

Effie, now Ernastina is here in Boothbay Harbor, Me in the later stages of a multi year complete rebuild.  I have been on her a few times and would like to share a few views.  if either of you would like to see her, I can make some contacts for you.

enjoy below. i have a few more if you are interested. My focus was Bowdoin that was next to her being re-planked last year.  all this photos are in my Bowdoin  diorama log

 

 

[allanyed]

Thanks for posting the photos Jond.

Allan

 

[Jond]

Allan

 

please see message I sent you.  For everyone looking in at this wonderful schooner I offer reference to a new series of article about her total rebuild just published by Wooden Boat magazine   

 

jon 

 

 

[allanyed]

So more than seven years have gone by since starting this model of the Ernestina/Effie M. Morrissey and it is now back on the work bench.    The hull was completed about early 2014 along with much of the deck furniture then set aside as another project came up.  Now that she has a buyer it is again a work in progress.    

 

I began making the deadeyes the past few days.  Using the drawings from the Library of Congress they are between 0.16 and 0.17" diameter at scale.  I have a drill bit that is 0.17 so began making them at this diameter.  I made a jig with a brass ring with an ID of 0.17 and a table with lines 120 degrees apart  I had a small rotary table that I made quite a few years ago and set this up for drilling.  The ring was epoxied to the square table and left to cure overnight before using it.  Using epoxy instead of CA gave some time to move the ring to get it perfectly centered on the three lines.  

 

The eyes were turned on the lathe to 0.17 diameter using castello box wood.   These were then inserted into the brass ring.  The drill bit was set in the chuck with just enough exposed to clear the deadeye.  This prevented the bit from wandering so predrilling a pilot hole or punching a starter hole was unnecessary.  

 

Once I made 30 eyes (6 more than needed, just in case) they went into the tumbler for 20 seconds to round off the edges and it also took the diameter down to 0.168, so within a thousandth or two of the diameter on the drawings.  I now have 27 eyes to work with as one is somewhere on the floor hiding and two had the holes quite a bit out of synch with each other even using the jig.   If I ever get myself a mill and rotary table the drilling should be more exact and consistent.  

 

The first photos show the hull today, boom buffer and rigging, windless.  The last is the deadeye jig set up on the mini drill press.

 

Allan

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by allanyed

[allanyed]

Found an error or omission on the drawings which meant having to reset to make more deadeyes and strops.  I had two extra, but needed four but got it done. Set up takes longer than actually making these pieces at times, thus a good idea to always make a few extras, maybe more than a few. 

The deadeye rigs include all the pieces in the photo below, so a bit of work goes into setting up each one.    The strops are made of brass rod that was heated with a torch to soften them.  A flat was formed at the end of each piece with a hammer and punch.  The punch was and old nail punch ground down to a diameter near that needed on the ends of the rod.  A hole was then drilled in these flats of each strop and the flats filed to make them round.  I tried making these eyes at the end of the strop by bending the ends into an eye, but they were far to large given the diameter of the strop, which is to scale.

 

The photo below shows the parts before assembly, including the three "bolts" that go through the strap and into the hull.  The straps were cut from copper sheet and one end filed to a narrower dimension, folded over a stainless steel pin and soft soldered.   I have never been good at getting these straps cut into strips evenly and have to do a lot of filing.     I am considering making sandwiches of wood and plate and cutting strips with a slitting blade on my small table saw similar to how Keith described doing this in his Germania build log.  If anyone has a trick to making these more efficiently and precisely, I would love to learn how you do it.   Allan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2020 by allanyed

[allanyed]

A little project for the Effie

[KeithAug]

Nice anchor Allan. I'm assuming the angular shape is a reproduction of the original.

[druxey]

Nice to see you back on this project, Allan! It has been a while, hasn't it?

[allanyed]

Keith, I took the shape from one of the drawings of Ernestina/Effie that I downloaded from the Library of Congress.  She had a bank anchor when first in service, then went to an iron stock anchor and curved arms at a later date as can be seen in "modern" photos of her  before she was stripped for her current rebuild.    The drawing from the LOC plus a drawing on page 316 in the American Fishing Schooners by Chapelle gave me what I needed for a fair representation of the anchor for the late 1800s when she was launched to fish the Grand Banks.    I think it would still be appropriate to have an iron stock anchor for later times, but along with the anchor,  the deck layout was changed dramatically for her later roles so there would be a lot more than changing just the anchor style.   

 

Druxey, yes, 7 years since I worked on her.   I am sure I would have gotten back to her at some point, but when the ship yard that ordered the BoothBay 65 model wanted to buy this model as well I was very very happy.   That yard is the one currently rebuilding Ernestina thus their interest in having a model of her.    

 

Schooners are a nice diversion from 17th and 18th century projects, but I will likely be going back to that era when this model is shipped.     Hope to have this one done in the next two to three months as masts are now under construction.     

 

Allan 

 

 

[allanyed]

Couple update photos.  The spiral is holly strip that was soaked in water for five minutes then wound round the mast and clamped to keep it from unwinding.  45 minutes  later it was dry and holding it's shape.     Once dry, I cut rings with an overlap and beveled opposing sides on each end of the rings.

PVA and a clip to hold in place for a few minutes and they were then sanded to get off any fuzz and placed on the mast.   These need to go on before the boom rest is glued in place.   Yes, I forgot and had to break off the ring and make a new one.   Thought I would have learned by now......   

The top has a few eyes to be secured in place, otherwise, pretty much done.

 

Allan

Edited December 25, 2020 by allanyed

[Jond]

Allan

 

I thought you might like a photo of the recently abandoned Ernestina anchor.   According to Ross, they had one of each when they showed up a few years back.  A wood "banks" stock [ in photo below] and loose metal "club" stock.   They will apparently be building new anchors and he is not yet sure what design.  I am sure like Bluenose II it will be more about the coast guard than history.

 

enjoy your holiday

 

jon 

 

 

 

 

 

[allanyed]

Jon,

If they were closer I'd go see Ross and Andy and ask how much they would want for that anchor!!!   Thank you very much for this information.   What a Christmas gift that anchor would make!!!  Then again, the HOA here might frown on such a large decoration in the yard, not to mention the woman in the next room that has put up with most of my nonsense these past 51 years.     

Allan

[KeithAug]

lovely job on the framing Allan.

[allanyed]

Thanks Keith!  I did leave a small section of the hull and deck exposed to show the framing.  Hate to have done all the work and then cover it totally never to be seen again.  Then again, many here, myself included,  have done fully framed models of old warships with all decks, powder rooms, magazines, wells, etc. and they are there  only for posterity and self satisfaction.   I suppose we are a strange breed at times.

 

Allan 

[Wintergreen]

Nice build Allan!

Regarding those mast hoops, input any meme of choice about age and wisdom here 🙂

It's also a consolation for us mere mortals here that even the master builders sometime have to redo stuff.

 

...and suddenly the three years I've left my small craft in the cupboard doesn't seem so long.

[allanyed]

Where do the horses go?  From photos of Ernestina in the Library of Congress there appears to be a horse about 18" forward of the main mast, and smaller horse about 18" forward of the foremast.  Chappelle describes three horses, one for the main sheet, one for the foresheet, and one for the jib.  I THINK the two in the photo I have  are for the jib (forward of the foremast), for the fore sheet, (forward of the main mast) but I have no idea where the main sheet horse would go if there indeed was one.    Any clues from more learned schooner modelers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Allan

[wefalck]

Somehow I missed this building log so far ...

[allanyed]

Eberhard,  No worries, this project started years ago then was set aside for other projects.   It came back to life just recently as the folks that ordered the Boothbay 65 schooner also wanted Ernestina as they have been rebuilding her in their shipyard the past few years.   Very glad you dropped in!!!

 

Happy New year!!!  2021 has got to be better than 2020.

 

Allan

Edited December 27, 2020 by allanyed

[allanyed]

The quarter bitts on Effie have double cross pieces.  which was a first for me.  Chapelle notes that these were used on the Philp P. Manta as well as in a few vessels in the late 1890's which fits for Effie.  Each cross piece is secured with a single bolt.

 

I made the post to the proper dimensions from the deck level upwards, but made the lower portion smaller.  This way I could cut the hole in the deck smaller rather than trying to get a perfect opening to match the post.  The larger cross section of the post at deck level then rests on the deck and there is no chance of a gap on any side.   Simple but effective.   The lower end of the post is cut at an angle to match the curve of the frame on which it rests.

 

Allan

 

 

 

[allanyed]

Masts and main boom are nearly complete.   For most of the metal work I have been using copper which is so easy to blacken with liver of sulfur, and a few instances where I need something harder I have gone to brass then treat it with Blacken It.  

 

For the mast tops, there are a series of blocks, cranes, heart iron on the main crane and bails as well the trestle trees, cheeks, and bolsters.  The fore and main mast heads are round as they went from square tops to round about the time Effie was built.   

 

The main boom was a fun project.  The only thing missing in the photos is the main sheet fairlead which will go on the starboard side and the iron strap that goes from the jaws around the mast.  There is a ring at the aft end of the boom for the topping lift eye wye and shackle and there is a clew outhaul band forward of the topping lift band with two topping lift sheaves in between.  There is a third ring about 1/3 of the way forward from the aft end with a wye on the under side for the sheet.  At the jaw end there are the jaws, clapper, tack iron, tack iron block beneath, bail, and belaying pins. 

 

On the main mast, below where the jaws go around the mast is a wooden ring with iron band.  Two belaying pins go into the wooden ring, one port, one starboard.  The fore end of the iron band has an eye shown very clearly on page 539 of The American Fishing Schooners as well as on the drawings of Efffie from the Library of Congress, but I cannot find any information on the use of this eye.  If anyone can share information on this, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Allan