St Roch by Lecrenb - 1:48 scale - RCMP Schooner rigged as schooner c. 1930/35

[Lecrenb]

2 hours ago, AON said:

YES

Very nice and frame worthy Alan!

[Lecrenb]

7 hours ago, wefalck said:

There is always a bit of confusion, whether silkspan refers to a fabric or silkpaper (both were used in the past to 'span' over model aircraft wings). 

 

For the fabric you can also look for the finest screen for silk-screen printing, say on ebay.

 

For the paper you can look for the one that is used in book/manuscript restoring to double torn leaves. It is exremely thin and weighs only 7 g/m2. I got mine through a specialised on-line supplier.

 

Thanks Wefalck! I have heard the restoration paper referred to as Japanese tissue, and seen it used on the tv show "The Repair Shop". I was going to try it until my friend gave me some silkspan. Looking forward to Paris on the 16th!

[Lecrenb]

18 hours ago, kurtvd19 said:

Looking good Bruce.

Thanks Kurt!

[Lecrenb]

10 hours ago, Dr PR said:

I followed Tom Lauria's YouTube procedure in Making Sails for Ship Models From Silkspan. Here is a link:

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19611-albatros-by-dr-pr-finished-mantua-scale-148-revenue-cutter-kitbash-about-1815/?do=findComment&comment=1035392

 

Using your frame should give better results!

Thanks very much Dr! I followed your link with interest, and followed on through your trials and tribulations with rigging your schooner. I must say Well Done Sir!

After reading your link I have decided that airbrushing my acrylics onto the silkspan should give suitable results, so I will try that and see how things progress. I will also tape the silkspan to the frame then shoot water onto it, should help to avoid tearing!

Regards,

Bruce

 

[wefalck]

If it tears, it is paper. Fabric doesn't tear. I have used both for some 40+ years now. From here on I show an example for the procedure I use: 

.

[AON]

1 hour ago, Lecrenb said:

Very nice and frame worthy Alan!

Thanks.

The neat thing is the back is glass so I can take it down and look at the other side as well.

[Lecrenb]

4 hours ago, wefalck said:

If it tears, it is paper. Fabric doesn't tear. I have used both for some 40+ years now. From here on I show an example for the procedure I use: 

.

Thanks for the link Wefalck, I read it with interest!

It seems the three methods I have come across so far are very similar, so I will proceed with reference to all three and hopefully everything will come out looking good!

[Lecrenb]

A rainy morning here in Alberta, so a good time to get some work done on St. Roch's boats...

First I needed to carve back the stern of the motorboat. The first picture is St. Roch's motorboat showing the rudder and prop; this is what I am trying to emulate with the second picture...

Then it was off to the paint booth...

 

After the paint dried it was time to reeve the lifelines around each boat.

I made eye splices at the end of each line...

Here are the boats with the line and glue I used, ready for the final line splicing once the glue dries. I used 'No Sew' fabric glue to tack the lines into position... this dries clear and flexible, and will hold the lines in the proper shape while I make the final splices.

Next I am going to make a start with the silkspan sails, and make the boat gripes and covers. Then the davits should complete the hull work on the ship except for putting some cargo in the hold.

It will be very exciting to put the hull aside and start finishing the masts!

 

Edited August 7 by Lecrenb

[Lecrenb]

I used my Ausfwerks Fenderbender (so named because at 7 inches long it can bend the fenders on armored fighting vehicle models in one operation) to form the gripes for the boats. This is a true miniature brake and the best engineered product I have seen. Unfortunately it is no longer in production.

I am not going to be able to make the boat covers before I go away for a bit, so here are the boats in their cradles, with the gripes inside, waiting for me to get back to them!

The poop deck gets even more crowded after the new superstructure is added in 1944, but for now the spare rudder can still fit along or under one of the boats!

Thanks for looking in!

[Lecrenb]

Santa arrived a couple of days ago, with assorted cargo for the hold! I was going to leave the hold empty to show the strong ice beams built into St. Roch, but once I decided to add a sailor unloading cargo I knew I had to have some cargo for him to work with! 

What arrived from Berkshire Valley (a model RR accessory company) was assorted sacks, crates, and barrels, all molded in O gauge, which is 1:48. There was just a bit of flash to clean off, then the parts, like anything coming from a mold, were rinsed thoroughly in warm soapy water to remove the mold release. Here is what they looked like:

The resin parts after painting...

And the cast metal sacks... the sailor has been glued to the plank he will be pushing his cargo along, in a sling suspended from the cargo derrick (one day soon!).

Here is the cargo down the hold. The hatch cover canvas and boards are fixed onto the main deck, and the sailor is posed to push a sling of sacks...

The details of the hold, and the ice beams, can still be seen. St. Roch shipped 150 tons of cargo for the various RCMP detachments she served, all had to be handled manually. If anyone asks me, she is at the far Eastern end of her supply run, thus almost empty!

I want to thank all the forum members who gave me thoughts and ideas about the cargo scene!

Regards,

Bruce

 

 

[Lecrenb]

I'm back, and well rested!

So back to the silkspan... I decided to first work with an offcut to make the boat covers. This leaves the main piece of silkspan for the sails, and if I mess up the offcut I can still make the sails (I hope)!

I had previously (on page 8 of this build log) made the frame to hold the silkspan. Now I wetted the offcut and taped it onto the frame, per David Antscherl's directions. I deviated by using medical adhesive tape since I could not get the paper packing tape in Beaumont. It is waterproof and seems to work very well. Taping two sides vs. all four did not seem to matter on a piece this size. Here is the wet silkspan drying on the frame.

Next I coloured the silkspan to match what I think the boat cover canvas would have looked like. Rather than the artist's tube paints recommended by David I chose to use my Tamiya acrylics. Buying tube paints would leave me enough left over that I could will them to my heirs! The Tamiya paints are water based and give me a broader range of colours, and would go on with my airbrush, which I considered a better technique than brushing.

I used a base of flat white, and added a drop of buff and another of dark sea gray. My airbrush cup was about half full, so I topped it with Tamiya thinner and sprayed it onto the silkspan. Here it is in the spray booth. I laid down two coats, light enough that there were no runs.

When I moved he frame to my bench I saw that the colour was more gray than I would have liked.

Memo to self, better lighting at the paint booth!

Here it is drying on the bench with the boat cover templates laid on top.

After it dries, if I am still not satisfied, I'll shoot another coat of diluted buff to try and get more of a canvas colour... we'll see.

Next will be to cut out and assemble the covers, then try to get them to fold nicely over the boats...

Thanks for looking in, tips and critiques are always welcome!

 

 

 

 

[wefalck]

Off to a good start then!

 

Well, boat covers often were painted(!) canvas, so in principle could be any colour. I gather some off-white, simulating originally white but slightly yellowed (due to the lineseed-oil as binder) paint could be a good option.

 

I gather, sails in N-America were usually made from cotton, while in Europe more often flax was used, at least for the heavier qualities. Cotton does not yellow, so a somewhat dirty, i.e. very light grey would be good for the sails. 

[Lecrenb]

4 hours ago, wefalck said:

Off to a good start then!

 

Well, boat covers often were painted(!) canvas, so in principle could be any colour. I gather some off-white, simulating originally white but slightly yellowed (due to the lineseed-oil as binder) paint could be a good option.

 

I gather, sails in N-America were usually made from cotton, while in Europe more often flax was used, at least for the heavier qualities. Cotton does not yellow, so a somewhat dirty, i.e. very light grey would be good for the sails. 

Hi Wefalck... we enjoyed our cruise on the Seine, and the restored Notre Dame is amazing!

I agree about the colour choice and I will shoot a thin coat of flat white onto my boat covers. Pictures I have show St. Roch's boat covers sometimes light, sometimes darker... could be the lighting or camera settings with black & white film...

Yes, her sails today are reproductions, but originally they were cotton canvas. I'm also thinking about a light gray, off-white, for the sails and we'll see how they turn out!

I appreciate your feedback,

Bruce

 

[wefalck]

Yep, cruises on the Seine can be nice, although a bit touristy. Done this a number of times, including taking our wedding party on a lunch-time trip and several dinner cruises with visiting relatives. I am ashamed to say, that we haven't visited Notre-Dame since it reopened - I hate queuing and remember those days, when you could just popp in. Did you visit the Musée de la Marine?

[Lecrenb]

14 hours ago, wefalck said:

Yep, cruises on the Seine can be nice, although a bit touristy. Done this a number of times, including taking our wedding party on a lunch-time trip and several dinner cruises with visiting relatives. I am ashamed to say, that we haven't visited Notre-Dame since it reopened - I hate queuing and remember those days, when you could just popp in. Did you visit the Musée de la Marine?

Our cruise was with Viking, Paris to Rouen and back including Giverny, the Bayeux Tapestry and Juno Beach. We arranged a private guided tour of the cathedral and absorbed a lot of knowledge about gothic architecture and the history of the building. The lines moved fairly quickly...

Unfortunately we did not have time to visit La Musee de la Marine... or Honfleur... next time!

[Lecrenb]

After some back and forth with the airbrush I am happy with this shade for the boat covers... the picture shows the paper template, the cover pieces cut from the silkspan, and the 20' motorboat...

The triangular pieces are the tie downs (not sure if they have a nautical name or not?) They are just set in place to see how things look. David Antscherl recommends Matte Medium for gluing silkspan pieces together. I have lots of 'No Sew' on hand so I'm giving that a try. I have used it before with great success gluing flags to halliards and anything else involving fabrics. It dries clear and flexible, and once set up it can be washed, so it is waterproof.

Here is the motorboat cover assembled, waiting for the No Sew to dry. We'll see how it holds together when I wet the cover to fit the boat, and when I lash it down... I'm going to give it a day and maybe a second application from the back side... delving into uncharted territory here!

 

[AON]

The proper name for the small boat cover or canvas tie down rope is  ......... darn it, I forget!

[wmherbert]

Your build is coming along very well.

Here was my attempt at a cover using silkspan. I cut it oversized so it would hang over the sides a bit. I wet it down to fold and bunch it up. Then I glued a long strip of silk span along the edge around the boat. Trying to look like a sewn piece. Then attached some thread as tie downs. The trick is getting the material that folds over the edge to not bunch up too thick. 

I have 4 to do on my current build so I am interested to see how your method with the triangular tabs works out.

Bill

[Lecrenb]

16 hours ago, AON said:

The proper name for the small boat cover or canvas tie down rope is  ......... darn it, I forget!

OK, 'Darn its' they are!

[Lecrenb]

13 hours ago, wmherbert said:

Your build is coming along very well.

Here was my attempt at a cover using silkspan. I cut it oversized so it would hang over the sides a bit. I wet it down to fold and bunch it up. Then I glued a long strip of silk span along the edge around the boat. Trying to look like a sewn piece. Then attached some thread as tie downs. The trick is getting the material that folds over the edge to not bunch up too thick. 

I have 4 to do on my current build so I am interested to see how your method with the triangular tabs works out.

Bill

Thanks Bill, your boat cover looks great! nice idea about gluing a strip around the edge, I'm hoping mine fold over when wetted without the triangular pieces falling off!

Regards,

Bruce

[Keith Black]

 if those triangular pieces don't have a proper nautical term let them be forever known as "cats ears"  

[Lecrenb]

2 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 if those triangular pieces don't have a proper nautical term let them be forever known as "cats ears"  

Ha ha! Does sound better than "Darn its"...!

[Lecrenb]

Progress on the boat covers... the No Sew worked a treat, and bonded the 'darn cat ears' very well to the cover... 

I moved on to drill the grommet holes, and like David Antscherl said the holes drill cleanly in the painted silkspan. I used a tapered cocktail toothpick dipped in Tamiya XF-18 Semi-gloss Black to paint the grommets. Just dip the pointy end into the paint then into the grommet hole, it leaves a neat painted circle.

After that I prepared the motorboat by gluing a spar bow to stern to 'tent' the cover like the original, and also glued the gripes in place.

The picture shows the boat and cover to this point.

Next I centered the cover over the boat and used a water soaked paint brush to wet it, enough to start getting a tent shape and fold around the edges, and the 'darn cat ears' stayed on, Yay!

I left it at this point to dry, I will give it another wetting before lashing the cover to the boat. First I have to lash the triple blocks to the eyebolts in the boat, these will be the lower part of the falls.

Almost made a mistake when I forgot to make sure the 'darn cat ears' would not interfere with the gripes, but fortunately there were no conflicts!

So far so good, so I made a start on the dinghy. Since it is done the same as the motorboat I won't repeat the details in this log.

Next time you see the boats they should be in their chocks with everything lashed down!

 

 

 

 

 

[Keith Black]

 Cover looks fantastic!

[Lecrenb]

41 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

 Cover looks fantastic!

Thanks Keith!