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Biloxi schooner by Russ - FINISHED - 1/48 scale - POB


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Wow, you miss a few days and just look at all the work finished.

Nice job on the side margins and scarph joint, which is almost invisible.

I finally fit the last plank on the starboard hull last night on the Swift and I dont even know how long it took (now 6 more planks on the port). I seem to get lost in the sanding and fitting and then Tammy gets up from bed and I'm Like "what? its morning?"

 

Nice work, I can't wait to see more of this beautifully lined schooner.

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Thanks. It is very enjoyable working on this model. Hopefully, I can get a little more done this weekend. Time will tell.

 

Russ

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Russ,

 

I understand why you said that. In the Mini 7 club I was in, we refered to the imperial measurement system as AF. Why ... on our spanners e.a. the size was given as e.g. 1/16 A/F. My mistake.  :blush:  (sometimes that language barrier is as high as a mountain)

Carl

"Desperate affairs require desperate measures." Lord Nelson
Search and you might find a log ...

 

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Dick:

Thanks. It has been good to be able to work on it a little bit.

 

Russ

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Hi Russ,

   I couldn't remember where I left off from 1.0................So I just started at the beginning and enjoyed re-reading your thread. Just love how you aproach each aspect of your build Russ.

Thank You all...

 

Mario

 

 

:piratetongueor4:  :piratetongueor4:

"Each of us is a mixture of some good and some not so good qualities. In considering one's fellow man it's important to remember the good things ... We should refrain from making judgments just because a fella happens to be a dirty, rotten SOB(biscuit) ;) "

 

 

 

My Builds....

 

BETTEAU WAR OF 1812     BOUNTY LAUNCH(bashed)    CHESAPEAKE BAY FLATTIE

 

THE SEA of GALILEE BOAT   VICTORIAN STEAM LAUNCH(bashed)    HOWARD CHAPELLE's CRABBING SKIFF

 

LADY KATHRINE 1812 SCHOONER

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Mario:

Thanks. I really appreciate the kind words.

 

I have made some progress since the crash. Everything since the hull planking is new since the crash.

 

Russ

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Forgive my promoting this in my own log, but I have recently added some history/backgound on this build in the opening post of this log should anyone wish to know a bit more about this vessel type.

 

As always, questions and comments are wecolmed.

 

Russ

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Hi Russ.... just catching up on your build.... superb planking job..... your client will certainly be pleased.

Frank

completed build: Delta River Co. Riverboat     HMAT SUPPLY

                        

                         USRC "ALERT"

 

in progress: Red Dragon  (Chinese junk)

                      

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Frank:

Thanks. I appreciate the compliment. My client is very pleased so far. :)

 

Russ

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HI Russ,

 

Thanks for going back and adding the history of the Biloxi Schooner. I did not know the vessel had a center board, most interesting. BTW, what is the beam of the ship. The beam must be significant to keep her upright with such a shallow hull and a no chine. She definitely has graceful lines.

 

Look forward to the planking.

 

Hopeful aka David

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Russ thanks for posting the history, very interesting. I didn't realize they were center boards in these boats.

 

Michael

Current builds  Bristol Pilot Cutter 1:8;      Skipjack 19 foot Launch 1:8;       Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 14 1:8

Other projects  Pilot Cutter 1:500 ;   Maria, 1:2  Now just a memory    

Future model Gill Smith Catboat Pauline 1:8

Finished projects  A Bassett Lowke steamship Albertic 1:100  

 

Anything you can imagine is possible, when you put your mind to it.

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David:

Thanks. I agree about the lines. Biloxi boats were praised in the surrounding communities for their lines and construction.

 

The length to beam ratio on these boats was anywhere from 2.7 to a little over 3. This boat is at 2.89 going by her register dimensions, The register dimensions on this boat are 38.4 ft long, 13.3 ft breadth, and 2.8 ft depth. The actual length on deck is 41.0 ft. The draft at the stern post is 2.5 ft.

 

The breadth had to be great for stability. The centerboard was a necessity using schooner rig so that they could point up properly. Even so, I imagine these boats could be a bit leewardly given a chance.

 

Russ

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Michael:

Thanks for looking in. Centerboards were a must down here. Shallow water everywhere, and the schooner rig with a broad, shallow hull demands a centerboard. Sometimes these schooners dredged oysters in only a few feet of water over a reef.

 

Russ

 

 

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Russ,

 

Thanks for the info. Such a graceful craft. Understand now why you love the Biloxi Schooner.

 

I am clearly not observant. Went back to page one of your build log and some photos (keel up) clearly show where the centerboard will move through the keel. The interior framing and truck must be significant to stabilize the timbers with the centerboard down. With a hull draft of 2 1/2 feet how far would the centerboard been below the keel when fully down? Are we talking a long and wide centerboard. Am sure the centerboard acted as a skeg most of the time. Is that right?

 

Thanks!

 

BFN

 

Cheers,

Hopeful aka David

 

“there is wisdom in many voices”

 

Completed: Sharpie Schooner (Midwest) Posted  to the Gallery

 

Current: Sultana (MSW)

Current: Phantom (MSW)

 

Next: Lady Nelson (Amati Victory)

Edited by hopeful
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David:

The board was rather long and wide. It might extend another foot or so when down, maybe a bit more. I suppose it would act as a skeg of sorts, although most of these boats were built with a skeg like the one in my design. The main reason for the centerboard was to enable to the hull to get up to windward without making too much leeway.

 

The interior framing on a freight schooner was far more substantial than that of a fishing schooner. The frames of a fishing schooner were anywhere from 3-6" square in cross section, with maybe slightly more moulded thickness at the keel, but not always so. They were set anywhere from 16-24" on center, although I have found one instance where they were spaced at about 13". The frames were dovetailed into mortices in the keel on either side of the centerboard slot. There were internal blige stringers as well as ceiling in the hold. Even with longitudinal strengthening, stories are told about how much the hull would "work" when under sail.

 

Russ

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Gerty:

Thanks. This research is ongoing, and I hope it will further people's understanding of how these boats were used within our local economy and their place in our cultural history.

 

Russ

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Here is a little more progress. I decided to break up the pace a bit and work on some deck furniture.

 

Here is the windlass so far. It is a relatively simple assembly, compared with Grand Banks fishing schooners.

 

Here is a photo of an actual windlass from the schooner Marie Foster circa 1920s.

 

Questions and comments welcomed

 

Russ

windlass components.jpg

windlass progress.jpg

windlass and fore mast collar.jpg

Windlass complete aft.jpg

Edited by russ
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Druxey:

Interesting question. I have two sources for what this should look like. One group of sources are contemporary photos of local schooners. There are very few that show enough of this sort of detail to even begin to guess what it looks like. The other source is Chapelle's field notes that are included in the second half of his American Fishing Schooners, 1825-1935. His detail drawings for the windlasses used by Grand Banks fishermen show a more complicated version of what was used down here. It has a purchase rim with teeth along its outer edge that engages the purchase arm that is operated from a lever attached to a single bitt. This is very much like what you would find on a mid 19th century merchant vessel.  

 

In this case, we have a set of teeth that are engaged by a simple iron pawl on either side of the bitts. What the rim with the teeth looks like I am not sure, but this will be hidden in between the warping head and the bitts. All you will see is the warping head and the teeth up against the bitts with the pawl engaging the teeth. That is all my sources show me so far. It may well be that the rim with the teeth for my schooner is much like that shown in Chapelle's drawings, but I have no way to know.

 

If you have a drawing of the type of arrangement you are thinking of, I would be glad to see it.

 

Russ

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Russ,

 

I don't know whether this is any help to you, but it's a close up of the pawl gear and drive gear on a small 'Armstrong patent' windlass on a small British coater.  Not like your windlass I know, but at least it shows the drive gear which appears to be standard gear tooth shape.

 

John

 

post-5-0-12895900-1366520958_thumb.jpg

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John:

That is more like what was used on larger ships. But it is the same principle. The gear type teeth is what I was going for in my windlass. That seems to be what I see in photographs like the one I posted earlier.

 

Russ

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Russ,

 

Just to say hello, I'm back and following the progress of your build.

regards

Stelios

Current build: not decided yet.

 

Previous builds:

Traditional Greek vessel "Symiaki Skafi" (scratch)

Traditional Greek vessel "Perama" (scratch)

HMS Bounty (kit)

 

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