USS Perry by EricWilliamMarshall - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - Scale 1/96

[EricWilliamMarshall]

14 hours ago, mtaylor said:

PM MrBlueJacket

@mtaylor MrBlueJacket stated: “I follow your build thread so I saw it. We'll get those corrected.” So not to worry. He has had nothing but kind words as I attempt to not mangle his fine kit.

 

2 hours ago, MrBlueJacket said:

#1-Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.

#2- Experience is what you get right after you needed it.

On similar note:

“In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, they are not.”

[EricWilliamMarshall]

I should note the stupid saw trick also applies to other tools, most notably chisels.
 

A follow-up trick: generally folks can judge if a 90 degree angle is spot on or off by eye. So you can cut fairly accurate 45 degree miter cuts by judging the angle of the chisels reflection vs. the wood to be cut. 

 

And it is very fast as well!

Edited November 14, 2021 by EricWilliamMarshall

[EricWilliamMarshall]

Thanks for the ‘likes’.  Not much to report: I bent the transom via hot water and gloved hands. For the forward bulwarks, after a number of failed attempts, I’m just cut a bunch of short planks, shown here without glue. Little by little.

[EricWilliamMarshall]

NRG now sells a complete set of sixty years of back issues on a single CD-ROM. I now have one of these little goldmines. It is as if I can summon the ghost of Horward I. Cappelle to answer my very own questions:

"Query No. 163. Details of the brig PERRY, by Major R. G. Saunders. A, Gun ports— were the forward gun ports closed permanently after the removal of the two bow guns. B. Any suggestions for the gigging plan of the PERRY? Can anyone suggest a contem- porary plan of a vessel which may be used for the PERRY?"

"Answers to Queries by Howard I. Chapelle, Query No. 163 —10 gun brig PERRY: The plans Major Saunders has are copies of the official Navy plans in the National Ar- chives at Washington as noted on the drawing in The History of the American Sailing Navy. So far as the evidence permits a conclusion, the forward ports were never closed in, though the foremost pair of guns were taken out of the ship. There are no "rigging plans" of USN ships though some sail plans do show some of the rigging. The brig can probably be rigged from NAUTICAL ROUTINE with reasonable accuracy,"  -Quoted from NRJ of 1951. 

And then as now, there is never one answer:
"The alteration effected in the rig of the PERRY did not take place in l845, but rather in l847...If "Nautical Routine" is used as a rigging guide, the reprint will be found of more value than the original edition of l849 which is without plates. I would prefer Brady's Kedge Anchor, since the sizes of standing, and running rigging, and blocks, etc. may be read directly from the tables." - Thomas Hornsby.  Also quoted from NRJ of 1951.

 

 

In other topics: 

I have also tracked down what plans the Smithsonian has. 1/4 scale plan of the ships lines drawing by Chappelle and a 3/16 Spar and sail plan also by Chapelle, matching figures 134 & 135 of the History of the American Sailing Navy. Thanks again to @TomShipModel for suggesting that tack.

Edited November 17, 2021 by EricWilliamMarshall

[mtaylor]

Being stubborn when doing research is paying off.  

[EricWilliamMarshall]

8 hours ago, mtaylor said:

Being stubborn when doing research is paying off.  

On that front, here is a rather unhelpful image of the Perry in Japan, found at the NavSource Naval History site (http://www.navsource.org/) 

 

 

[EricWilliamMarshall]

Apparently when attempting to recovering from the split bow I have messed up the symmetry of the USS Putty. I didn’t notice until I put gesso on.
 

So a question to the kind souls here: do I live with or attempt to correct (with a fair chance of making it worse)?

 

Thoughts, suggestions, sarcasm?

[VTHokiEE]

12 minutes ago, EricWilliamMarshall said:

do I live with or attempt to correct (with a fair chance of making it worse)?

Tough call; rhetorical questions but How much does it really bother you and if you do make it worse how hard would it be to completely replace the section?

 

I think I’m starting to go over to the “fix it” side because It’s all part of the journey :-). Good luck in whatever you decide!

[EricWilliamMarshall]

Thanks @VTHokiEE for sharing your thoughts! I have to chew on it it and think a bit. I’ll probably mess with it. Which will lead to series of “wack-a-mole” problems that will cascade.

 

Well, to quote @MrBlueJacket: “Experience is what you get right after you needed it.”  I believe I’m about to get some experience.

[Keith Black]

 Eric, bite the bullet and fix it now. From my own experience, it will haunt you till you do and by then (as in my case) it may take twice as long and be twice as hard. 

[mtaylor]

Since it seems like "fix it" is what you're after... do it slowly and take measurements, etc. continually.  To be honest, I'm not seeing the messed up part but this is wood and sandpaper and filler can cover a lot of mistakes.

[Hubac's Historian]

25 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

 Eric, bite the bullet and fix it now. From my own experience, it will haunt you till you do and by then (as in my case) it may take twice as long and be twice as hard. 

I agree with this 100%.  Think it through.  Come up with a plan, and proceed with caution.

[EricWilliamMarshall]

Thank you, gentlemen, for your sage wisdom and time. I will report back with the after-action report and gory photos of the pile-up.

 

[MrBlueJacket]

To me it looks like some filler should do the trick. The fatter bulwark will be hidden by the caprail, perhaps it will need to be a bit wider. No-one is going to take a ruler to your model an critique it.

 

" putty and paint....makes it look like what it ain't"

[BobG]

I'm with the others when they say "fix it." Otherwise, every time you look at it your eye will go directly to the area that is out of symmetry, Others may not see it but I guarantee that you will and it will most definitely bug you. Don't ask me how I know this to be true!

[alross2]

I think the angle of the photo makes it look worse than it actually is.  Here's a similar photo of this area of the display model for the kit, but from a shallower angle.  I would agree that filling the outside a bit and doing some light shaving on the inner side would resolve your concern.

 

Al Ross

[sjanicki]

@EricWilliamMarshall I think you will see that that if you mount the cap rails very carefully you will hide that it may not be perfect underneath (that was a similar trick I used on my build) 

[EricWilliamMarshall]

A couple more shots of the problem.

[EricWilliamMarshall]

I did take the plunge and undid a fair amount of work.

[EricWilliamMarshall]

And the result, without putty or gesso (yet). but some sanding. Thank you all for the gentle hand holding.

Edited November 21, 2021 by EricWilliamMarshall

[Keith Black]

 Eric, none of us like redos but it seems (for me at least) to be part of the game. There's a great sense of accomplishment after a successful redo. One can sit back and take pride in knowing that you've given it your best shot.

 

 It looks like the 'fix' worked and worked well. Now, it's but a mere footnote and just another part of the journey. But one thing and maybe the most important thing that will come from this, you'll never feel guilt or regret for not correcting the problem and you learned something. it doesn't get any better, congratulations. 

[BobG]

Nice fix, Eric, it looks so much better. Sometimes major surgery is necessary to save the patient!

[mtaylor]

Excellent "fix", Eric.  I echo Keith's comments.  

[EricWilliamMarshall]

4 hours ago, BobG said:

major surgery is necessary to save the patient

There are scars but hopefully they are less noticeable than the original malady! All the supplementary wood were birch coffee stirrers. I feel I got lucky and merely lost some time.
 

Mark, Marc, Bob, Keith, Nic, Stan, and Al - thank you all you insights and timely support! Now to employ the rest of the suggestions! I added some more parts and a coat of gesso with quick sanding.

[MrBlueJacket]

You done good, kid.

 

To quote the late Steve Wheeler "your best tool is the wastebasket"

[sjanicki]

18 hours ago, EricWilliamMarshall said:

There are scars but hopefully they are less noticeable than the original malady! All the supplementary wood were birch coffee stirrers. I feel I got lucky and merely lost some time.
 

Mark, Marc, Bob, Keith, Nic, Stan, and Al - thank you all you insights and timely support! Now to employ the rest of the suggestions! I added some more parts and a coat of gesso with quick sanding.

 
You have done a wonderful job on this! Your re-work has really paid off 

[EricWilliamMarshall]

On 11/22/2021 at 10:10 AM, MrBlueJacket said:

You done good, kid.

<blushing> Don't worry; there is still time for things to run amok!

 

On 11/22/2021 at 10:10 AM, MrBlueJacket said:

your best tool is the wastebasket

Amen - that is truth!

 

19 hours ago, sjanicki said:

Your re-work has really paid off 

Thanks again to everyone for the kind words!  But to mis-quote Robert Frost, I have many miles to go...

 

On 11/21/2021 at 2:42 PM, Keith Black said:

There's a great sense of accomplishment

Keith, I did feel a sense of accomplishment (while the thinking part of my mind was more like: 'Hrumph, you made the mess.').

[KenW]

Hey Eric.  Great to see you tonight.

Great job.

Cheers.

[TomShipModel]

Eric brought the model to our SMSNJ meeting last night.  It looks even better up close.  He has done an excellent job with the hull rework and it is proceeding nicely.

 

Tom

[Hubac's Historian]

Success!  Nice save, Eric!