US Brig Niagara by milosmail - Model Shipways - 1:64

[milosmail]

Thanks Sergey, very nice work.

[milosmail]

Making slow but steady progress. Here is a picture of the bow area sans bowsprit and with a blank dowel foremast placeholder. I rebuilt the kitchen stack from scratch and I added an entry with stairs in the forward hatch.

I have all furniture completed as well as channels. I have installed the rudder and attached blocks to the tiller, but I am waiting for an order with ME for my 1/8 (4mm) replacement blocks. Kit was shipped with a large quantity of 5mm blocks which (while almost the same) look very much out of proportion. I noticed this when I rigged a gun. So tiller will be completed when I have blocks for boom guy (which share an eyebolt with the tiller tackle). I also plan to make a cradle for the ship's boat that will sit over the main hatch midship.

I am also waiting for additional bronze pins for the fife rails - I miscounted the number I needed when I first ordered from Ages of Sail. This is my bit of vanity, as I should have used wooden pins for historic accuracy.

Edited January 28 by milosmail

[Sergey Karelia]

Good job and serious plans! I think 4 mm will be big too.

I tried these, but I put 2.5 mm single block and 3 mm double  block, since the hooks also reduce the distance to the eye bolt. especially on the moving part of the carriage.

[milosmail]

Sergey, you are right on. I meant they sent me 4mm (5/32), and I am asking for 3mm, which is about 1/8in.

I have some 2.5mm, but lack the patience to use them in large quantities. I have used them sparingly, such as with the tiller blocks.

[milosmail]

Onward and upward (pun intended). I am pretty much done with deck details, and I will be moving on to mast construction. I only rigged 2 guns, as I don't like the cluttered appearance of a full complement of rigged cannons. I did the two just to show what it's like. By the way (see photo) I used Syren Shipyard blocks. They are true 1/8 (3mm) pieces. The new ones I got from ME were 5/32, just like the old ones that came with the kit - much too large for a good appearance. I will add coiled lines at a later date.

I still need to add the bowsprit, for which I constructed all parts last year, and finish my cradle for the ship's boat which I plan to mount on the deck. I have the completed main hatch, but I want to position the boat before I glue the hatch in position. I may add the channels as well, as they have been fabricated.

Some notes on photos: I built galley stack from scratch, and I added a stair well to the fore hatch (I'm assuming there had to be some access in the fore part of the ship). I made the pin rail braces from 0.025 in. piano wire which I bent into a simple "7" shape and slipped under the rails where plans indicated. Using super glue, I did not need to drill mounting holes... Each pin rail has 2 short pieces of wire underneath with holes drilled into the bulwark to secure with superglue. You can't see these support wires. I will probably mount channels the same way. Water pump was scratch built with the use of plastic strip for details. Now that I know how to silver solder (turnedd out to be super simple with solder flux, heat pad, and a small hand torch acquired from Amazon), I would have done it that way, for a better look.

Simulated bolt heads on the canons and capstan were made by drilling shallow holes in the object and glueing in short sections of 22 gauge wire. Once the glue set, the wire was trimmed.

 

As many other builder have done, I only installed two cabins to avoid the crowded appearance of three. The current ship has three, but I am assuming the original had fewer - certainly a companionway at a minimum. Also, I did not use the binnacle I purchased. There must have been one on the 1812 ship, but the model piece did not look 'right'. Current ship appears to have a binnacle plus engine and other controls on top of the captains skylight...

Taped lines will be used for the boom guy. Since they attach to the same eyebolt as the tiller sheets, I thought it would be easier to add them now and rig later.

There are several spots where various sheets are secured to the deck or rail, but I am unsure about adding all. Some attach to the clew of triangular sails, etc. Without sail, I'm not sure they would be present. (On a modern racing yacht, they are usually removed and stored when sails are stored or furled.)

Well, anyways, I am now going to assemble the bowsprit (but hold off mounting) and construct the two masts. I won't add the bowsprit until the masts are installed. My desk workspace is limited, and I am in fear of snapping the bowsprit off due to my carelessness at some point....

Edited March 16 by milosmail

[milosmail]

I'm finally getting to a new post. I have been busy doing a lot of the details on the deck. I have completed the bowsprit pieces and spiritsail yard, painted as required, and I am ready to mount and assemble. I was worried about setting it at the correct angle relative to the hull, but I finally realized it wasn't an issue as the angle would be fixed by the 2 point of attachment - the  deck mount between riding bits and the point where it rests on the leading edge of the keel. So, no problem...either I got it right on hull construction (or if not, nothing I can do about it). But, it is important to get the dolphin striker dead vertical, so I took care with that piece at the tip of the bowsprit. I have attached many of the line attachment features, as this is easier to do prior to mounting and having to deal with the hull. I am in constant fear of snapping off some piece as I work in another area, and having the bowsprit sticking out just makes it worse. I found that silver soldering was very straight forward - less than $50 in tools from Amazon (a pen torch, a mat that is heat proof and some silver solder in a tube mixed with flux). Easy peasie to make the fittings for the bowsprit and jib.

Did you know the rings that secure the flying jib to the jib boom is the Crans-Iron? Saw that today in the latest Bluejacket Shipcrafter's Newsletter. 

 

Next, I planned to make the chainplate, having attached the channels a while ago. This I can only describe a pure drudgery. You need to make 32 sets of 4 links, and it is tedeous at the 1:64 scale. You used to be able to buy sets from ME - but no longer (and I think they should have come with the kit, given the cost). So, I did some internet searches for manufactured, but nothing was available in the correct scale.

I found 2 references to construction: one in Chuck Passaro's instructions (see chapter 15 found on the ME sales site for the Syren kit) for building the Syren, and another in Part 2 of the article in the NRG Journal, 2024 vol. 69, No. 2 written by Darrell Markijon. I'm sure there are more techniques mentioned throughout the various builds in this journal. Chuck used #28 annealed black wire while Darrell used #24 of the same. A 100ft. roll is only about $4.00 so the material is cheap to acquire. They had different techniques for constructing the strope that attached the eyebolt, but used similar style to make the other links. Note that some people have made the bottom (preventer) link from wire while others used a piece of flat brass on this and other ship kits. I don't know what is on the ship today, but I believe the flat plate is the correct historical rendering.

I made a jig as described by Chuck to bend the wire (essentially just headless nails on a board on which to wrap the wire, and followed his technique, securing stroping link to the eyebolt with superglue after making sure of orientation of the eyes. To date I have made all 32 eyebolts, and some of the links. And twenty more are required for the upper shrouds;  I will do those later. Having reached a level of frustration, I have moved on and will complete these when needed, probably when I attach the shrouds. I still am undecided on the preventer - maybe I will try making plates.

By the way, I did a search for technique on the ChatGPT AI. It gave me 4 fairly detailed solutions to making chain plate, all of which being more or less sound.

I think AI tools will be very useful to our hobby as we get used to them. 

So, what now? First I am constructing an elevated cradle for the ships boat above the main hatch on the deck - again based on the design I found on Chuck's discussion for the Syren, Chapt. 15. Then on to more work on the bowsprit; or maybe I will build the yawl.

Picture to follow soon....

[milosmail]

Been a while since I posted, but NRG sells a plaque stating "Taint a hobby if you gotta hurry". And I would add - lot's of time spent waiting for paint or glue to dry.

I was making chainplate, but got frustrated - so I set the components aside for now. I planned to proceed with shaping the lower masts, but after 2 miserable trys with round dowels, I decided to get some square stock and proceed from there. It's easy to taper the round dowels, but hard to place the octagonal section and attachment pin at the base in proper alignment with the square section at the crosstrees. I acquired some 3/8 square cherry strip, and I will return to this after the weather warms up (my power tools are in my unheated garage).

Having read many comments on when to attach bowsprit (before or after rigging), I decided to 'attach and then rig'. I am working inside out and bottom up more or less. So far so good....

I attached the bowsprit to which I had previously added various fixed features such as steps and , after removing the 2 cleats which prevented easy installation through the precut hole (wish I read some older comments from people who found this problem), and then added the bowsprit cap/dolphin striker,  jib boom and flying jib. All had necessary holes, eyebolts, and and dumb sheaves preshaped. I added lashings as appropriate. The initial lines I attached were the heavy bobstays. I completed as many lines as possible without the foremast installed. I decided to leave the spiritsail yard off for now as I felt it's web of braces would complicate attachment of the stays and guys to follow. I will add it when the other bow rigging is complete. (NOTE to future builders - don't forget the 5th. eyebolt placed on the front of the bowsprit cap. It doesn't appear on most drawings.)

Whether the spiritsail existed on the original ship is an interesting question. It provides a great deal of lateral support to the bowsprit/jib sticks, but it clearly could not be used for actual sail power - too many fixed lines running below the bowsprit wouild interfere with it's set.

And, then there is the question of the jib boom outhaul - where, oh where does it run??? If anyone has photos of it, or plans to visit the ship next year, please check this out and let us know. In modern terms, an outhaul (and downhaul) are used to control shape of a sail attached to a given yard/boom, particularly in strong winds. These can be used to give a sail more belly or to flatten the shape depending on the ship's relative heading to the wind. I'm not sure they cared about such niceties in 1812, but I am installing it and running the line to the rail somewhere.