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

[Lecrenb]

Things are coming along...

I made the triple blocks, a scale 9", from a walnut strip. These will be used to rig the falls for the boats. I added cast brass eyebolts that will connect the blocks to the davits, and lash them to the eyes under the boat covers. 

The davits started out as Caldercraft items, they have the correct shape and taper. I removed the Caldercraft parts from the davits and added my own eyepins and cleats for accuracy. The cleats are held to the davit with a wire pin for strength.

One davit is laid out with the blocks spaced as they will be once rigged. I still need to add a pulley guide, then make the davits longer to correctly fit the model. Then it will be off to the paint booth and assembly.

The blocks on St Roch are metal clad... I will try and round mine a bit more without breaking anything, we'll see how that goes! I will paint them grey except for the sheaves. The next picture shows one of the motorboat davits on St Roch.

The picture shows griping spars, but period photos do not show them, so I will be leaving them off the model. Period pictures also do not show the falls coiled onto the davit cleat... not sure where they were hung so I'll have to do some thinking on that.

Getting closer to adding more fiddly bits to complete the hull!

Bruce

 

 

[Lecrenb]

I said earlier that the next time I showed the ship's boats they would be installed on St. Roch; and here they are!

First I lashed the lower fall blocks to eyes in each boat...

Then when I went to install the boat covers, some of the holes tore, so I had to digress a little bit and fit doublers of silkspan wherever there were grommet holes...

After trimming the doublers I could begin to lash down each cover, using bowlines at each of the 'darn cat ears'... this picture shows the motorboat cover lashing started, and the upper falls with their eye splices...

Next up are the bow and stern lashings on the dinghy cover...

And the motorboat cover complete. Keen eyes will see I have installed the boat's rudder and am waiting for the prop...

And finally here are the boats all lashed down and secured to their cradles!

I can't put it off any longer... I have to finish the davits!

Thanks for looking in, and as always comments and critiques are welcome!

Regard,

Bruce

 

Edited October 1 by Lecrenb

[Lecrenb]

I have finished fabricating the davits... I added keepers to each pulley so the falls won't slip off. I extended the shafts to the correct length for St. Roch, based on photos. I also opened the eyelet at the tip that will receive the upper block for the falls, this should make it easier to do the final assembly...

The davits mount outboard, and period photos show they rest on the rub rail and fasten there as well as to the cap rail. The latter, from plans and photos, appears to be a strap that is wrapped around the davit and then bolted flat to the cap. I have replicated this using scrap brass from old photo-etch frets. The davits are also placed relative to the lower deck portholes based on photos.  

In the picture I am trial fitting the motorboat davits to the cap rail. I still have to make the base mounts and then it is off to the paint booth. I have also decided, in the absence of definitive evidence, to hang the falls' coils on pins that I will install onto the cradles. This keeps these lines handy, and more importantly, inboard!

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome!

 

 

[yvesvidal]

Beautiful and realistic davits. You are an expert at soldering and bending brass tubes.

 

Yves

[Lecrenb]

2 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

Beautiful and realistic davits. You are an expert at soldering and bending brass tubes.

 

Yves

Thanks Yves. I wish I could take total credit, but the davits started off as Caldercraft items that I modified!

Regards,

Bruce

 

[Lecrenb]

I had to take a couple of days and work off the outdoor fall "honey-do" list, however the davits are painted, mounted on the ship, and rigged. Here is the aft motorboat davit, the clothespin maintains tension while the 'No-Sew' sets up on the cleat...

I have no clear photos of the bottom davit bracket, so I made a fitting that is functional and conforms to what I can see on pictures...

I see some fuzz on the line, not sure how I'm going to deal with this since it will be very difficult to replace the line at this point. 

Any Suggestions??

Here is the motorboat secured to the falls and lashed down to the cradles. I added a pin to each cradle on which to hang the falls. This seemed to be the best arrangement given the close quarters and absence of pin rails.

And here is the dinghy... Sailors can handle the lines without leaning outboard...

The poop deck is very tight with the boats installed, so although the spare rudder can still fit under the cradles, I don't think it is practical to stow it there because it would be very difficult to handle it. I am thinking good thoughts about stowing it in the waist like it is on St. Roch today...??

 

This evening I will print the decals, but there is a three day relative riot happening because this is the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, so I won't get them on until next week. Once the decals are on the hull will finally be complete and I can move on to the masts and standing rigging!

 

Thanks for looking in, and any suggestions and comments are always appreciated.

Happy Canadian Turkey Day,

Bruce

 

 

 

Edited 10 hours ago by Lecrenb

[wefalck]

The running part of falls, like the boat falls, were sometime coiled and then wedged between the cleat and the part leading up the davit.

[druxey]

Too bad you didn't use line from Ropes of Scale or similar - no fuzz on those. Would you consider upgrading? The rest of the model deserves it!

[Lecrenb]

2 hours ago, wefalck said:

The running part of falls, like the boat falls, were sometime coiled and then wedged between the cleat and the part leading up the davit.

Yes, but in this case the falls would be hanging outboard, and what pictures I have do not show this configuration on St. Roch... 

[Lecrenb]

30 minutes ago, druxey said:

Too bad you didn't use line from Ropes of Scale or similar - no fuzz on those. Would you consider upgrading? The rest of the model deserves it!

I will definitely be paying more attention as I move onto the running rigging... my standing rigging is Amati and fuzz free. Although all four falls came from the same coil of line only that one has a fuzz problem...

[kurtvd19]

Consider using dilute white glue applied with a paint brush to tame the fuzz.

[Lecrenb]

1 hour ago, kurtvd19 said:

Consider using dilute white glue applied with a paint brush to tame the fuzz.

Thanks Kurt... I am musing about doing that with my no-sew, which has become my go to adhesive for anything textile related. Your suggestion affirms my thoughts and I will try this when I get back to it after the weekend!

Regards,

Bruce