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 October 9 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

 

[Lecrenb]

I printed off the decal sheet on my laser jet... this picture is from the Word file, that was created after photoshopping images to create the correct patterns. I forgot to take a picture of the actual decal sheet before I cut it up!

For those interested, once the paper comes off the laser jet the inks are fixed with Microscale decal solution. I used my airbrush, first a light mist then a heavier coat. They say you can use a brush but the inks are fragile and I did not want to risk smearing the decals.

I applied a coat of Future to St. Roch's hull, again with the airbrush. Decals seat better on a gloss finish, and mine snugged down nicely with Micro Set and Micro Sol. After the decals were applied I was going to use Tamiya acrylic matt finish to seal them in, however I rather like the semi gloss finish of the Future, so I used another application of that to seal them onto the model.

The load line decals were taken from the original shape on the ship today, which included the "WNA" line. This was not used on St. Roch in the 1930s because there was no intention of sailing her in that ocean. Winter North Atlantic was added in 1942 when it was decided she would try for the North West Passage.

The life ring legend was also taken from a modern photo, but in the 1930s the word "Ottawa" was not used, so I left that off.

 

 

[Lecrenb]

Next I fixed the fuzz on the boat falls by following Kurt's suggestion, except I used 'No Sew' and an old brush with flayed bristles... this got in between each of the triple lines with one pass.

Then I added the davit stays. Each starts at a ring or eye, and ends at the next ring or eye with a round turn and two half hitches. The bitter ends are left slack for the sailors to make adjustments as necessary.

[Lecrenb]

Also outstanding was the location of the spare rudder. With the boats and falls rigged there is not much room left on the poop deck, although the rudder will still fit under the boat cradles. It would be very difficult to handle the rudder if it was needed, so after discussions with the Vancouver Maritime Museum I decided to stow my spare in the ship's waist, as it is displayed today. The main mast cargo boom and main boom would both aid in moving the rudder aft for replacement.

I took advantage of the scuppers and outboard rings to lash the rudder securely to the bulwarks.

I have to confirm with my references whether or not to make a wire rope reel for the foredeck. St. Roch has two today, installed at different times during her career.

Other than that, the hull is finished and I am moving on to locate where the various bands and fittings go on the masts. Thank you everyone for looking in and contributing helpful hints and suggestions!

Regards,

Bruce

 

[Lecrenb]

Moving on to the foremast, first I double checked the alignment and rake with respect to the main mast, then I simulated the wedges with the octagonal collar at the deck level. After painting the mast it will be covered with a silkspan coat.

'A' and 'F' are aft and forward, so I can maintain the mast alignment.

Next I built the two pin rails, they are test fitted in the picture. They carry the lifts and halliards for the foresail boom, gaff, and jib, so they need to be substantial.

The reinforced collar higher up supports the foresail boom jaws. The 1928 plans show goosenecks on the boom and gaff, but all photos show jaws and parrels, so that is what I will model.

St. Roch today has buff coloured lower masts, but photos clearly show the same dark colour over their entire lengths. Here is the lower foremast as displayed at the Vancouver Maritime Museum.

Once I am satisfied there will be a bit more touching up, then the mast will get painted, as close to natural Douglas Fir as I can manage.

After that the bands on the upper part of the mast will get added.

Thanks for checking in!

Bruce

 

 

 

[Lecrenb]

Well, the mast is not painted yet, but I am in the process of setting the mast bands...

The picture shows a photo of St. Roch ready to depart on her maiden voyage, and the bands are clearly shown.

My notes on the photo tell me what line goes where, and the photo appears to show the standing rigging stays looping around the mast in the traditional manner, while the shrouds terminate on eyes in the lowest band. 

I am using styrene tube and strip for the bands... they have to fit over the truck, and styrene snugs down nicely once it softens with styrene cement, which is basically acetone!

Here is a portion of the 1928 rigging plan... the photo conforms to the drawing, which is nice, and dimensions are given allowing me to accurately locate each mast band, again, very nice!

In the 1930s St. Roch carried a gaff foresail, when her rig was changed in 1944 the gaff was removed.

I am thinking that, in order to get the foresail hoops onto the mast, it might be advantageous to make the furled sail attached to the boom and gaff off the model, then pass that assembly onto the mast before adding any rigging... thoughts on this are appreciated!

Regards,

Bruce

 

[Keith Black]

 I highly recommend any off model mast work. Bruce. The more one can do off model the better. 

[Lecrenb]

2 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 I highly recommend any off model mast work. Bruce. The more one can do off model the better. 

Thanks Keith!

[Dr PR]

You definitely need to put the hoops on the mast before adding details in the tops.

 

I assembled the mast on my schooner model with the hoops in place and the tops rigged. The boom and gaffs were laced to the sail off the mast, and then attached to the mast. Then I tied the gaff sails to the hoops. That was tight work!

 

I think it would be better to assemble the gaff sails to the boom and gaff, and tie the hoops to the sail. Then you can slip the hoops over the mast and attach the boom and gaff to the mast.

[Lecrenb]

Thanks Phil!

That's the way I'll be going!

Bruce