Prisoner of War bone model c. 1800 by shipmodel - restoration by Dan Pariser

[druxey]

You will only enjoy working bone if your sense of smell is impaired, Bob. Even using hand tools, the odor is apparent.

[Bob Cleek]

21 minutes ago, druxey said:

You will only enjoy working bone if your sense of smell is impaired, Bob. Even using hand tools, the odor is apparent.

 

Especially when working with powered drills and saws than can cause burning! Been there, done that, got the tee shirt!  

[shipmodel]

 

Druxey - I love the smell of burning bone in the morning.  It smells like . . . like the dentist’s chair!  Or like the Marathon Man “Is it safe?” scene, one of the truly nightmare moments in movie history. 

 

Meanwhile, back in the shipyard –

 

With the mainmast fully upright and lines tensioned I continued aft to the broken mizzen stay.  It was intact from where it was seized to the main mast up to just below where the mouse and eye would have been.  It appeared to be original, so one priority was to preserve it if possible.

 

 

At the upper end the loop around the masthead had broken on the starboard side just under the top.  The red arrow identifies the broken end.  There is a section missing, so it could not be salvaged.  When I went to remove it, the line all but crumbled away.  The crowsfoot was gone completely, though some shreds of line were still stuck in the holes in the edge of the top.   The euphroe was also missing but later found in an envelope of separated parts.

 

 

Examining the other side of the break under magnification confirmed that the stay was original.  The brown tuft looks, to me, to be made of vegetable fibers, meaning linen rather than cotton.  The lines and block that tie to it are part of the main topsail braces.   They are tied to the stay, run to single blocks on the ends of the spar, back through this double block tied to the stay, and then to belaying pins at either side of the deck.   From the changes in color around and through the block I’m sure that these are replacements.  But since they are tied to the original stay, I decided not to change them, although I will paint them to hide the while sections.

 

 

The puzzle here was figure a way to splice a replacement line to the remaining original stay.  It had to be done end to end without creating too large a bulge.  After looking at the end to be spliced I decided to try unlaying some line, leaving one long strand but cutting the other two short.  This would give me a reasonable gluing surface area while minimizing bulk.

 

 

First the lover section of the stay was given a coat of MC followed by a similar coat of thinned PVA.  I knew that I would be putting some stresses on it and I wanted it as strong and flexible as I could.  Then the mating surfaces were painted with PVA and lined up with each other.  I held them in place by hand until the glue set up.  Then I gently looped and tied two thin lines around the overlap.  Tightening them clamped the splice and reduced the bulge.  After glue dried the clamping lines were removed.  Despite my best efforts I wasn’t completely happy with the size of the splice, but I could not see another solution that was any better.

 

 

 The next day I looped the new line around the masthead, clipped it back on itself and seized it together.

 

 

I released the clip and cut off the excess line.  It looked OK but was a little skewed so I moved to center it, at which point this happened!

 

 

After some choice words I realized that this was a blessing, although in heavy disguise.  I had lost a day’s work, but now I was forced to get rid of the unsightly bulge.  I cut the topsail braces off and freed the double block for later use.  Then it was a relatively simple matter to seize some appropriate line around the main mast, then take it up and around the mizzen masthead, seizing it together as before.

 

 

 The crowsfoot next.

 

Dan

[druxey]

Aaargh! The joys and frustrations.... I'm glad that you were able to locate the euphroe. What will you use for the crowsfeet line? Fly fishing 6-0 ?

[barkeater]

Agree that the break was a blessing in disguise. It looks much better without the bulge.

[shipmodel]

Hi again to all –

 

Thanks, as always, for the likes and comments.

 

Now that the mizzen stay was rigged I turned to rigging the crowsfoot.  The euphroe was included in a small envelope of loose parts that the client sent me.  Here it is, and you can see how small and delicate the original POWs made it.

 

 

Next I had to clean out the holes in the edge of the mizzen top.  This was the hardest part of this repair.  Using a piece of thin brass rod bent into an “L” I cleaned out four of the eight holes.  The last four were clogged with dried glue or finish of some kind.  For these I had to drill them out.  I first tried a hand held pin vise, but I could not deliver enough pressure for the bitt to catch and drill.  Reluctantly, and with great care, I turned to my cordless Dremel.  Without turning it on I angled it between the other rigging lines and set it on each hole location.  Then I turned it on and gently drilled through.  I turned it off before pulling it out.  The worst thing I could imagine would have been to catch a rigging line in the spinning chuck.  The damage that would have done would have been catastrophic. 

 

With the holes cleared I took a length of 0,015” linen line and dyed it tan.  I tied a stopper knot on one end and stiffened the other end with cyano, forming an integral needle.  Then it was a simple matter to lace the crowsfoot back and forth between the top and the euphroe, ending with a final knot under the top.

 

 

Once the crowsfoot was rigged I retied the double block for the main topmast braces to the stay.  Finally I tied a long length of 0.010” dyed linen line to the stay, ran it up to the blocks on the ends of the spars, back to the double block, and then to empty belaying points on either side of the deck.

 

 

Next I will have to address the double breaks of the upper mizzen mast.  Till then,

 

Stay safe.

 

Dan

[druxey]

Do you ever use miniature broaches to clear small holes? I find them very helpful. The new crowsfoot looks good.

[74_boni]

Dan,

 

I appreciate your work on the "cooked" POW Bone Ship Model very much. The owner of the ship must be very happy that you took over this difficult task.  I wonder whether your broad knowledge on restoring historic bone ship models should be conserved for future generations. From my own experience I know that these precious models require constant maintenance.

 

Take care,

74_boni

[barkeater]

Dremel?!!!! You are a brave man. Glad it worked out. Looks great.

[shipmodel]

Hi again to all, and thanks for the likes and compliments –

 

Druxey - Good idea.  I have broaches somewhere, but the glue was pretty hard.  I'll bring them out next time if I need them.

 

74_boni - I hope that these build logs will help preserve my experiences and techniques.  I have converted a few into articles in the NRJ and will do so again when I collect the time and mental energy.  

 

As for the model - My client just got back to the States and located a photo of what the model looked like after the 1953 restoration and before the current accident.  It is the middle one below.  So now we have three recorded moments in the life of this hard-luck model.

 

 

 

 

I will post the fourth when my own repairs are completed.

 

Dan

[druxey]

Perhaps you should re-christen the model "Bad Luck Boney", Dan. The years have not been kind to her.

[Keith Black]

30 minutes ago, druxey said:

Perhaps you should re-christen the model "Bad Luck Boney"

 Or the "Boneapart" 

[shipmodel]

Hello and, as always, many thanks for looking in.

 

Druxey, Keith – nice names.  I like “Boneapart.”  It sounds appropriate for a French ship that has suffered at the hands of the perfidious Albions, or at least their American cousins.

 

Time to put the bones back together.  Here is how she was received.  A break at the mizzen masthead and another break in the middle of the mizzen t’gallant mast.

 

 

The stresses of whatever caused the breaks pulled out two of the topmast deadeyes on the starboard side, as seen in the prior photo, and all three on the port side.

 

 

In theory I could have pulled down the deadeyes and secured them back in their holes in the top, then redid the ratlines as I did on the lower shrouds.  However, the rats’ nest of overlapping and glued lines at the masthead was such a mess that I did not think such a simple solution would work.

 

 

Seen from the rear the various different thicknesses, colors, and even the seizing techniques of the many lines is evident.  Also clearly seen is the same mortice and tenon joint between the round body of the mizzen mast and the square masthead.  

 

 

The break in the t’gallant mast was clean, but angled.  It happened at the hole through the mast that was originally meant to represent the mast sheave for the t’gallant yard.  But in closeup it is clear that the prior restorer had run the halyard from the yard up and around the mast, then a second line was tied to this first one and taken down to the deck.  It would have looked OK in a ‘fool the eye’ sort of way, if you don’t look too close.

 

 

I tried a simple repositioning of the topmast, as I had for the main mast.  No matter how much I moved it around, and as hard as I tried to straighten it up, it would never go back to vertical.  I would have to strip off some of the rigging to release the stresses, then reposition the masthead.  One by one, starting from the top and working down, I removed each line and tried to straighten up the masthead.  The first to go were all the lines leading to the broken tip of the t’gallant mast, as well as the piece of mast itself.  Cutting the halyard, sling, and lifts released the t'gallant yard which was laid forward on the main t'gallant braces that were tied to the mizzen topmast stay.

 

 

Working down, the topmast backstays were removed.  Then the topmast shrouds, then the topping lift lines for the mizzen driver gaff were released, etc, etc.  Ultimately I had a small bowl of detached lines and ivory fittings, with other lines detached from around the mast and laid back on themselves.

 

 

This continued until the only lines left on the masthead were the strops for the topmast jeer blocks.  The jeer lines themselves were released from the belaying points at the deck so the masthead could be lifted.  Doing so revealed that there was a metal pin between the mast and the masthead running through the joint.

 

 

Loosening the jeer lines even more I could lift the masthead up high enough to completely release it from the mast. 

 

 

Now I understood why I could never get the masthead back in place.  The pin was made of hardened steel which took a bend when the mast was broken.  The amount of force needed to straighten it out in situ would surely have cracked the mast.

 

 

Instead, I replaced it with a similarly sized length of annealed iron wire.  Now, if there is ever another break, I expect the pin to bend before the ivory cracks and the future restorer can bend it back into position.

 

 

The masthead was replaced in position and secured with a drop of cyano in the mortice joint.

 

 

Next I drilled about ¼” into each side of the t’gallant mast break and pinned across the break with another length of iron wire.

 

 

The pieces were fit together and secured with cyano. 

 

 

Next I will start re-rigging the mast.

 

Till then,  stay safe.

 

Dan

[shipmodel]

Hi again –

 

Thanks to everyone who hit the like button.  The encouragement is very welcome, as always.

 

The final bit of repair of the mast was to use a sander to make some ivory dust.  This was mixed with PVA to make a filler that was applied to the join in the t'gallant mast.and sanded smooth to hide the break.   With the structure of the mizzen mast fully repaired it was time to start re-rigging it.  I lifted the t’gallant yard and clipped it to the mast to get some idea of where the cut and tangled lines would go, and what I needed to do.

 

 

The first step was to replace the lower deadeyes for the topmast shrouds.  In the usual course they would be stropped with rope which would be led through holes in the top to become the futtock shrouds and would then be tied to the lower shrouds.  But here the futtock shrouds were already in place, although they were quite fragile.  I therefore had to rig the deadeyes to the top only and in such a way that they could withstand the stresses of the shrouds.  My solution was to rig them with metal strops with twisted stems.  I made them by folding a length of soft iron wire around a deadeye then clamping the ends of the wire in the slot of a knife handle.  Spinning the handle while holding the deadeye steady secured the deadeye in the strop and created a neatly twisted stem.  If you do this be careful not to overtighten the strop because you can split the deadeye or block that you are working on. (Been there, done that, got the apron . . .)

 

 

The stem was clipped off leaving a shaft a bit longer than the thickness of the top.  This was secured through the top with a drop of cyano which locked onto the twists of the shaft.

 

 

Once all three on a side were installed the extra lengths of the shafts were trimmed off.  In the photo you can also see one of the several small clips from the electronics store which hold the loose ends of the lines that I detached until they can be retied.

 

 

Preparing to rig the shrouds themselves I found that the mast cap was completely loose.  It could be raised on the t’gallant mast to open up the doubling so the heads of the shrouds could be more easily rigged.   The t’gallant mast was also loose.  This could have been intentional or a result of the old glue drying out.  In any event it made the rigging just a little easier.

 

 

The shrouds themselves began by turning in an upper deadeye into 0.020” dyed line.  To do this I used my medium-tech stropping jig.  It consists simply of a Helping Hands type tool with the addition of a light duty spring (red arrow) and an attached flat-nosed clip.  In use the fitting to be stropped is held in the right hand vertical alligator clip and the stropping line taken around it and trapped in the larger clip.  The line is placed under light tension that straightens the line and stabilizes it so it can be worked on easily.  To match the other shrouds on the model two small round seizings have been tied around the shroud lines about ¼” apart.  They were secured with PVA and when the glue dried the excess seizing lines were clipped off, as was the extra shroud line. This method makes stropping deadeyes, blocks, hearts, etc. very easy, regardless of how small the fittings and the lines are, since the line is held under tension at all times.

 

 

The resulting stropping is neat and tidy and repeatable.  Also, since the deadeye is not glued in it can be rotated in the strop even after the seizings have been tied.  You can put on three seizings if you want.  You can even make the crossover throat seizing if you flip the deadeye over in the alligator clip while holding the shroud lines stationary, then lace the seizing vertically rather than horizontally.  In any event the upper and lower deadeyes were laced together with lanyards of 0.07” linen.

 

 

To lace the lanyards I start by tying a stopper knot that cannot be pulled through the initial hole in the upper deadeye.  I have been asked about this before and, though it is a bit of an aside here and most of you already know the technique, here is my simple method.  To make it clearer, I photographed some cable that I spun up rather than the thin black line that was actually used, but the process is the same.  I first make a double overhand loop by taking the running end of the line around itself twice, leading to the look of the knot on the left.  As the two ends are pulled away from each other the knot deforms into the figure-8 shape in the middle.  Continued pulling results in a tight stopper knot which, like a clove hitch, has the line entering and leaving the knot in a straight line.  It only gets tighter with added strain.  It takes only a few seconds to tie the knot this way and clip off any unwanted extra line.

 

 

With the forward deadeye on the starboard side rigged the line was taken up and around the masthead to the port side where another deadeye was turned into the end of the line and laced to its lower deadeye.  The remaining shrouds on each side had a loop seized in the top and placed over the masthead.  To get the proper heights for the remaining deadeyes the shrouds were held against the lower deadeyes and small dots of white paint indicated where the bottoms of the upper deadeyes had to go.

 

 

The deadeyes were turned in on the stropping jig using the white dots as guides, The white paint was hidden with a drop of black paint, then the lanyards were laced for each one.  The resulting rigged deadeyes look neat and level at the bottom and at the masthead they look clean and trim.

 

 

The ratlines were made of more thin linen line which was glued across the face of the shroud gang.  I tried tying clove hitches, but the remaining lifts and braces from the spars got in the way and made this nearly impossible.  The result was good, and without the paper backing for contrast it is difficult to tell any difference.

 

 

Next, finally, I will complete the rigging repairs.

 

Till then, stay safe.

 

Dan

[barkeater]

Nicely done. 

[michael mott]

Hi Dan, I just came across this log, Hats off to you sir! what a super job you are doing with a very challenging restoration. Given my very limited experience working with bone, I would not be able to take on such a project, As Druxey mentioned the smell is apparent, and for me the game changer.

 

Very interesting work on the "cooked " rigging lines.

 

Michael

[Cathead]

I'm learning so much from this. I bookmarked the post on your special  stopper knot. Thanks!

[shipmodel]

Hello again to all –

 

Thanks for the likes and compliments, and especially from you, Michael, whose own restoration work is so exceptional.

 

Eric – passing along some of the tips and techniques that I have learned over the years is one of my greatest pleasures in this activity.  There are lots more in my earlier build logs if you go through them.

 

As for the model, it was now time to finish off the rigging repairs.  With the mizzen topmast shrouds done I reattached the topmast stay.  It is a smaller diameter than it should be, but the main t’gallant yard braces are tied to it, so I used it in place.  Then the topmast backstays were created from new line and secured to the final deadeyes on the mizzen channels.  You can see the head of the backstays here and the deadeyes in a later photo.  I strung the t’gallant shrouds through the topmast crosstrees and tied them to the shrouds, then ran the t’gallant stay from the tip of the mizzen mast to the topmast doubling of the main mast.

 

 

I ran the t’gallant backstays from the tip of the mast to eyebolts on the mizzen channels.  Although the eyebolts were new, I found holes in the correct locations on the channels which had originally held eyebolts, confirming that my rigging layout was correct. 

 

 

The mizzen t’gallant yard was lifted and clipped to the mast.  This let me easily string and tension the yard lifts, which was done just after the photo was taken.  The lifts for the mizzen lower yard were also later tensioned by taking the slack through the blocks and down to the belaying pins at the deck.

 

 

Now the rigging to the driver gaff and boom were restrung, including the topmast yard braces, the topping lift, the vangs, and the rest of the lines that had been detached so I could work on the mast.

 

 

After final balancing and tensioning of any slack lines the rigging was done.   At the aft end of the mizzen channel you can see the deadeyes for the mizzen topmast backstay and the eyebolt for the t'gallant backstay.

 

 

From dead ahead this photo reveals that while I was able to reset the masts and yards to a great extent, there is still a bit of unwelcome variation in the angles of the yards relative to each other.  The largest issue is the main topmast yard which was unfortunately glued in place by an earlier restorer and which I could not adjust.  Nonetheless, I think the overall look is acceptable.

 

 

So here are two photos of the fully rigged model, taken from the stern quarter and bow quarter.  I believe the client will be pleased.

 

 

 

The final tasks will be to replace the unsatisfactory rudder, the cannon carriages, and the flags.  I will post that soon.

 

PS – I have been having some issues, as you can tell, with getting the lighting right for taking the photographs.  The bright white of the ivory does not show up well unless the color saturation is turned down so far that the blue background turns grey.  I just bought some additional lights and I am playing around with the flash settings on the camera, so I hope that the balance of the photos will come out better.

 

Stay safe

 

Dan

[Keith Black]

 

Dan, what a difference. Very well done, bon reparer!

 

 

 

[druxey]

Greatly improvement, Dan! Nicely done.

[shipmodel]

Hello and Happy Passover / Easter [delete whichever does not apply] –

 

Thanks as ever for the many likes and compliments.

 

The next task was to repair or recreate the several fittings that were either detached, damaged or incorrect.  The most obvious was the rudder.  Here it is as received – too small, too white, and hung badly.

 

 

It was removed and examined, where I found that the brass pintles were properly pinned through the rudder, but set at incorrect angles and too far forward so the gap between the rudder and stern post was too great.

 

 

Drawing the outline of the existing rudder onto a piece of card stock I fitted the pattern to the stern post and the gudgeons.  I left extra card on the aft side and the bottom so I could draw a proposed new shape and refine it before cutting ivory.

 

 

Here are the three initial stages of shaping the new rudder.

 

 

The new rudder blank was carved out of ivory and test hung on the gudgeons.

 

 

After final shaping the pintles were transferred to the new rudder and pinned through with brass rod.

 

 

Once I was happy with the shape and how it hung on the gudgeons I gave it two dark vertical lines to indicate the joints between the three portions of the rudder blade.  This was done by drawing on the blank with a soft lead pencil, then tattooing the graphite into the ivory with the back of a hobby blade.

 

 

Once that was done I ‘aged’ the rudder with brown coffee grounds and added a bit of grey tone with ebony stain.  It took up the colors in the deep scratches that I purposely left by sanding with fairly coarse paper.  I think the combination of techniques resulted in a convincing look that matched the bone planks of the hull.

 

 

Next, on deck there was a bench for the officer of the deck which can be seen in some of the initial photos.  It turned out to be loose, so it was removed and stowed until now.  I found that it had been hollowed from one side (I don’t know why) with the opening closed with a small square of ivory. 

 

 

This little piece did not fit well, so I shaved off the edges until it did.  A drop of cyano applied from the inside secured it back in place.

 

 

The restored bench was reset on deck and secured with PVA glue.

 

 

The next posting will be the final segment of this build log.  I will write it up soon.

 

Till then, stay safe.

 

Dan

[mtaylor]

Interesting that they put a hatch on the bench.  Is this a French ship, by perchance?  I'm seeing a few bits that say it might be like the bench and "hollow" area on top of the galleries.  On the French ships, the bench also doubled as a storage area for officer's weapons in case of mutiny or surprise attack.  

[barkeater]

Excellent and fascinating work all along in your restoration. Thanks for sharing.

[shipmodel]

Hi Mark - 

 

That's new information for me.  Thanks.  I wondered why the bench was so bulky.

 

No, the ship is clearly intended to be English.  But like most of the bone and ivory models, she was probably built by French naval prisoners.  Having a mix of details is not unusual.  Most of the models were made to be sold to English customers so they have English names and flags, but may still have French details.  I just finished a review of the ship model collection held by the Museum of the City of New York.  They have some very nice POW models, one of which is clearly English with several flags, but has a figurehead of Mademoiselle Liberty with her easily identifiable cap.  Perhaps a little dig at their captors?

 

Stay safe

 

[shipmodel]

Hi all –

 

Here is the finish of this restoration build log.  I begin with the cannon.  Two of the guns were detached when received, with one having a carriage made out of a completely different material than the others.  A third cannon was on a similar carriage of unknown material.  I removed it so I could work on it.

 

 

I cleaned up the old glue from all of the guns, then fashioned two new carriages from ivory.  The barrels were set on the new carriages and secured with cyano.

 

 

The new carriages were aged with coffee grounds.  Actually, they took up the color a bit too well, so the brown was sanded back a bit after the photo was taken.

 

 

When I was happy with the color they were installed on deck with PVA glue.  The originals were pinned through the rear of the carriages and into the deck, but there was no room for such reinforcement, so they will have to rely on the strength of the glue itself.  Judging from other models that I have worked on, I am confident that it will be at least 50+ years before anyone will have to worry about glue failure.

 

 

Finally, I mounted the two British flags.  The large ensign at the stern was set on an ivory staff, although it was shown detached in the client’s original photos.  He failed to bring it with him when he delivered the model, so he dropped it, and a few other detached pieces, into a plain envelope and mailed it to me.  When it came the delivery process in the Postal Service had broken the staff into four pieces.

 

 

I cut a 1/8” square piece of ivory about 2 ½” long and made it octagonal with sanding drums.  Further sanding rounded it to an approximate cylinder.  Finally one end was chucked into a Dremel with a bit of paper towel to protect the ivory from the jaws of the chuck.  On low speed the shaft was held against a large flat sanding block and turned to a cylinder.  The original halyard block and line were used to mount the flag to the new staff, which was slid into two metal fittings on the inside of the taffrail.  I also took a moment to hang the boat from the davits at the stern.

 

 

At the bow the small flag was remounted in its hole in the jib boom.

 

 

With a quick cleaning and oil rubbing of the base the repair was finished.    

 

 

 

To replace the heavy glass cover a new acrylic cover was ordered and set on the base.  Two small brass nails on the short sides were installed by drilling through the plastic and into the wood of the base.  These will prevent the cover from coming loose if anyone picks it up by the cover rather than from underneath.

 

 

The client mounted the model on a pair of heavy brackets in a prominent place in his home.

 

 

He has told me that he and his family are very happy with the restoration, as am I.  I hope you all have enjoyed the journey as well.  I can only hope that the model will last another 200 years and represent a glimpse into a long-gone world of naval history and art.

 

 

Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts.

 

I will be back again with some more of the models that I am building for the Merchant Marine Academy museum.  Until then . . .

 

Stay safe

 

Dan

[Roger Pellett]

A beautiful restoration job, Dan.  Well done!

 

Roger

[Keith Black]

 Bravo!

[druxey]

Well done, Dan. Your client mailed the parts in an ordinary envelope????? At least I'm glad that the aquarium case has gone! She looks great. And now you don't have to smell the ivory any more!

[barkeater]

Congratulations. Awesome!

[J11]

Awesome accomplishment!! An honor to enjoy your blog watching the restoration of a historical piece which now will live another 100 years and hopefully more.

 

Congrats and well done sir!