Okesa 1918 by OkesaBuilder - Scale 1:96 - Ferris Type WWI Wooden Steamer built in Portland Maine

[OkesaBuilder]

This is a trial run to see if I can start a Build Log that describes how I built the model.  I will submit a picture to the Gallery of the completed  model.

[Roger Pellett]

Anxiously looking forward to this. The model posted in the gallery looks spectacular!

 

Roger

 

[Toolmaker]

Looking at your gallery images it’s certainly something I would like to see more of.

Thank you

 

Paul

[OkesaBuilder]

I began the model of the Okesa, a 3500 DWT Ferris-type WW1 wooden steamship, in 1983.  Forty years later and about 10,000 hours later (at ~4 hours per week), and nearing retirement the model is completed.  The model is entirely scratch built -except for chain and wire.  In 1983, I never expected it would take me 40 years to complete the model.

 

The plans for the model were drawn by me and derived from the framing off-sets in Charles Davis’ 1918 book, “The Building of a Wooden Ship.”  Extensive research on the history of the Emergency Fleet Corporation and the Ferris-type ship construction was performed at/through the University of Chicago, The Mariner’s Museum, the Peabody-Essex Museum, the California Maritime Museums (both the San Diego and San Francisco branches) and the National Archives

Okesa was built by the Portland (Maine) Ship Ceiling Company (later Russell shipyards) and launched July 4, 1918.  One of the few Ferris-type wooden steamships to receive boilers and a steam engine, Okesa entered the cargo service in the fall of 1918.  Unhappily, Okesa was lost by fire near Claremont VA, August 8, 1920.

 

The model is built at 1/8” to 1’ scale (or 1:96).  The model is mainly composed of boxwood; with apple and ebony highlights.    The engine and boilers were built from brass, wood and plastic using contemporary plans from the 1918 journal International Marine Engineering and other sources.  Deck fittings and machinery were built from brass stock.; using contemporary plans from the same journal and other sources

 

I didn’t take many pictures until 2001 when I bought my first digital camera.   After that I kept a continuous photographic log of the construction of the Okesa model.  Over the next few days/weeks I will download selected photographs of the construction process.  A retrospective Builder’s Log; if you will.

 

This post contains a few pre-2001 pictures I have (I apologize for the distortion of the copying process). 

 

A personal variation of the Harold Hahn method for framing and planking a scratch-built model was used.  Instead of a “box” with slots for the frames, the frames were assembled and aligned upside down in a slotted jigOnce all 100+ frames were glued together, the keel, stem and stern followed by the cant frames were attached. Planking then ensued.  That assembly was inverted into a maple jig for interior fitting out.  The internal fitting out followed details and plans in the Davis book as well as other sources.  

 

I have started my next project using the same method of plank-on-frame scratch-built model ship-modeling.  I will start a new Builder’s Log showing my method.

 

[Harvey Golden]

This is very nice to see!  Incredible detail, and beautifully done.  The intensive research has paid off, I'd say. I've also built a model of this type, using Van Gaasbeek's book for lines/sections, and on-line photos for details, which were meagre. I look forward to seeing more pics, etc. 

Best, 

Harvey

[KeithAug]

Wonderful woodworking skills.

[OkesaBuilder]

Most of the plans came from the Charles Davis book: "The building of a Wooden Ship." Published by the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC)in 1918. Pictures of the fold-out plans included in the book are shown here, These plans were very detailed and the build incorporated much of this detail.  From the framing diagram in the Davis book, I drafted  the Body, Shear and Half-Breadth plans.    The naval architect Theodore Ferris, wrote the book  "Specifications of a Standard Wooden Steamship (Yellow Pine Ship) HULL ONLY " for the EFC in 1917.   This book provided the scantlings and furnishing for nearly every component of the hull.  The EFC also printed detailed inboard profile, lower hold profile, and various deck profiles.

[OkesaBuilder]

The Ferris wooden steamships had an electrical lighting system.  Since I was planning to put a lot of detail into the model that I wanted viewers to see, I installed an electrical lighting system in the Okesa. A family member who is an electrical engineer designed the circuit(s) for me.   The Ferris wooden steamships had an   The following pictures Illustrate the installation of the lighting system for the lower hold.  In the background you can see many of the upper deck framing and lower hold components that were installed in the model.

[Mike Y]

Very interesting wiring! Have you considered stripping the insulation and using a bare wire, since you can ensure that it would never contact another wire?

[OkesaBuilder]

In places up to thirteen 0.018" resin-coated wires were bundled together.  Stripping of the resin coated wire would have generated electrical shorts within the bundles.   Physical stripping, by knife blade or sandpaper resin-coated wire introduces nicks that would weaken the wire.  I did carefully strip the ends with a knife blade for connecting (soldering) the white, green and red LED bulbs as well as to complete the circuits.  I am not a fan of chemical stripping. 

[OkesaBuilder]

Once the wiring system was installed then it was time to lay the planks of the upper deck and install the upper deck bulkheads.  I made  a deck "jig" that matched the camber of the deck and made sections of the deck (by side gluing) using this jig.

[OkesaBuilder]

The next major steps were to finish the poop and fo'castle decks beams.  This was by severing the hull from the construction frame.  After that the model was "held" by foam and acid-free paper within the maple jig.  Now the fitting out of the ship could safely continue.

[FlyingFish]

Wonderfully precise joinery! Interesting build indeed.

[druxey]

A terrific rendering of an unusual subject. Lovely workmanship, O.B.

[John Cheevers]

Only thing I can say is, You nailed it!!!!

[OkesaBuilder]

The next steps were the installation of main rail.  That was followed by trimming, installing the beams  and laying the decking for the poop, bridge and forecastle decks.  There will be more on the engine and boilers in a later post.  The blue tape in the installing the bridge deck beams was a temporary measure to keep debris/dust out of the engine room and boiler room.

[OkesaBuilder]

I drafted paper plans of the bridge and poop deck houses.  To plank the bulkheads of the houses I laminated boxwood strip with the thickness the same as the as the width of the planks.  I then glued several strips together and clamped them to jigs that matched the fore-aft and port-starboard camber of the decks.  Once the epoxy had cured, I used a miniature table saw to cut long wall sections.  These were rubber cemented to the paper plans and then the holes for the doors and portholes were cut out.  Then the walls were assembled.

[OkesaBuilder]

It took me nearly a year to figure out how to make realistic scale railings.  I tried both standard soldering techniques and well as resistance soldering.  Neither yielded results that satisfied me (maybe my technique was poor...).  Finally, I tried this method:  I cut scale brass wire into the length needed for the stanchions.  About ten stanchions were aligned (flat) on aluminum tape.  Using my Jim Bynes table saw, I cut 2 or 3 slots  (depending on position on the rail) in that bunch of stanchions (see photograph).  Jigs were made that modeled the fore-aft and port-starboard camber of the ship and kept the stanchions in their correct positions.  Scale brass for each of the rails was temporarily superglued into the stanchions slots.  I used brass dust - mixed with epoxy - to model the stanchion-rail joints.  Once the epoxy cured the rails were ready.  I used the same jig to accurately drill holes in the plank-sheer and the boat deck beams to install the railings.  A small brass ring was used to model the lower joint of each stanchion.  A similar method was used for all the railings on the model.  Once the bridge deck railings were attached it was time to plank the boat deck.

[KeithAug]

Nice work on the guard rail. I have a very pedantic sailing friend who goes apoplectic when anyone refers to the guard rail as "railings". Your build should wind him up nicely. 😀

 

Notching the stanchions on the table saw looks like a very delicate task. I imagine the notches are very small? Presumably you have a very narrow and fine toothed blade?

[Rick310]

Absolutely amazing!!!

[OkesaBuilder]

I suppose that they are technically "guard rails."  In some cases they support the deck above, so I like the terms stanchions and railings.

 

I used a 0.020" circular slotting blade on the Bynes saw with the cutting depth as low as possible.  Even so, there were many "failures" with a slot too deep or too shallow.  

 

The next step was the assembly and installation of the boat deck house and the radio house.  The railings were similar to the bridge deck railings.  However, on the actual ship, the fore-most railings/stanchions were covered with a wood/canvas "bulkhead" to reduce incoming waves/water.  From the pictures it can be seen how those  "bulkheads" (without the canvas) were installed.

 

The engine room skylight was installed next.  The "munitins" were modeled using sheets of etched brass and the "glass" was modeled using a thin layer of clear epoxy applied to the underside of the brass; with Saran wrap on the top to generate smooth finish.   After the epoxy cured, the saran wrap was removed. The circular holes in the skylight are for future ventilators

[OkesaBuilder]

Cargo-hold hatch coamings came next.  They were then covered with blue tape to keep dust out of the hold. The planking of wheelhouse/navigation bridge deck followed.  Note the lathes that will support the skids for a starboard lifeboat.   Port skids will support a workboat. The jutting green LED, will become the starboard navigation light (A red LED is on the port side). The smokestack coaming was drafted, assembled and installed.  I made the gratings in the usually way:  Slotting applewood planks, cutting strips and assembling.  The large holes are for the boiler room vents.  The foreword-slanted brass tubes with the plastic insert are the skylights for the galley stoves that were just below.

[KeithAug]

On 4/14/2023 at 7:26 PM, OkesaBuilder said:

I used a 0.020" circular slotting blade on the Bynes saw with the cutting depth as low as possible.  Even so, there were many "failures" with a slot too deep or too shallow.  

Your woodworking skill continue to impress. I know this log is recording an historic build but even with such a fine saw I would have expected a "chopping" action between the brass and the teeth. It is remarkable how you managed so well. I wonder whether a jig and a hand held triangular needle file would have been an option for the notching process? Never the less it turned out pretty well.

[OkesaBuilder]

Yes there was a bit of chopping - but the amount a metal removed was quite small.  I tried a jig with a needle file and that method worked;.  However, I had about 100 stanchions to make and cutting them 10 at a time with saw was easier - even with the wastage.

 

I had fun building and furnishing the wheelhouse.  Throughout the build, I knew I wanted to furnish one of the ship's cabins - and the wheelhouse was my choice.  The lighting system was designed to illuminate the wheelhouse (like a dollhouse) as well as the search light on top deck above.

 

The wheel house was built like the rest of the cabins - with six sides.  The actual wheelhouse had one interesting feature: Below the square ports, the forward three bulkheads contained large round openings (covered with canvas) so that the wheelhouse officers could communicate with the outside crew with just a little "yelling."  I modeled that canvas with cloth.  The square ports were glazed with clear plastic.  

 

One of my modeling "heroes" was Steve Wheeler.  He would model upholstered seats/benches by carving and painting appropriate blocks of wood.  In memory of Steve, I built the wheelhouse bench in the same way (from carved boxwood).  The pictures show how I assembled the wheel (it took four tries before I achieved one that looked just right).  I built the binnacle/compass and the engine room telegraph using contemporary (1918) photographs as guides.

 

I had several photos of the Okesa and the Kimta (a sister ship).  For fun, I took a shot of the model from the same perspective as that of the Kimta at a similar stage of construction.

 

[OkesaBuilder]

Before rigging commenced the final fitting out of the hull and cabins was completed.  Railings and the searchlight were installed on on the wheelhouse.  The searchlight was created from turned brass tube; the leads for the LED inside the searchlight were enclosed in its mounting.  The stem was completed and the forecastle rails installed.  The poop deck and poop deckhouse fittings were completed. The slide illustrates how the gangways (ladders) were built.  Slots were placed in 3/4 inch wide strips of applewood and boxwood stairs were glued into the slots.  After the glue cured, the block was cut at the appropriate angle to make the gangways.  The rough gangways were trimmed, glued in place and the gangway railings installed. 

 

From contemporary pictures and  from the Ferris-type wooden steamship plans from the National Archives, I was able to reconstruct the smokestack.  I made the basic smokestack and its mount using various dimensions of large diameter brass tubing.  An etched outside ladder, a vent for the boilers, a steam whistle and eyebolts for its supporting stays were soldered on and the smokestack was installed.

[OkesaBuilder]

The two masts were turned out of applewood on a Unimat lathe.   Slots were cut on the port and starboard side of each mast to hide the wires of the masthead navigation lights.  The slot was later filled with a narrow applewood strip.  One of the slides shows a close view of the near-final masthead

 

The winches were next. Making the winches took over a year.  The winches were modeled based on pictures from the 1918 journal International Marine Engineering as well other documents.  The slides illustrates the plans that were used for the eight winches.  Each winch was composed of over 30 brass parts, the were soldered or epoxy together.

 

The cargo booms came next.  The various mast and boom fittings were carefully modeled on the detailed specifications provided in the rigging plans prepared by the Emergency Fleet Corporation for the Ferris-Type wooden steamship.

[KeithAug]

Impressive metalwork, winches and booms. I would have loved to have seen more of your techniques.

[OkesaBuilder]

Thank you for the comment.  I'm sorry that I didn't take more pictures of the process(es).  Most of what I do is pretty straightforward: using pliers, hammer, miniature vise/anvil, lathe, epoxy, silver solder.  My first "secret" is that I buy a lot (!!) of brass: rods, tubes, wires, I-bars, T-bars, angle strips etc. in many dimensions - to have at hand any material that I might need.  My second "secret" is that I use pictures, historical plans and plans I draft myself to generate scale parts from all that brass.  My third "secret" (and the major one) is that I practice (a lot!) making parts until I have a method that generates the "best" part.   When I enter the  "production" phase I make many extra parts (breakage, wastage, dropping/losing).   I made ten winches; So I could pick the "best" eight.

 

Making the ventilators was a good example of this process.  The actual ventilators were made of bent steel plates: E.g. they  were not smoothly rounded (see the photo below of the ventilator plans from the contemporary EFC plans.  I simply did not have the skills to assemble sections of brass tubing to generate the appropriate ventilator cross section/profile. And I needed a method that produce 26 ventilators of multiple sizes.   So I used boxwood (and brass) to make the ventilators.  I glued together wedges of boxwood with the dimensions of the needed ventilator sections.  I epoxied a brass ring to the forward boxwood section and then shaped the exterior of the ventilator.  Very carefully, I used my Foredom tool with various sized bits to carve out the interior of the ventilator.  After painting the interior black, it is very hard to tell that ventilators are not completely  hollow.  A scale brass tube comprised the ventilator shaft.   The ventilator exterior with coated with (now unavailable) FloQuil brass paint.

 

 

[OkesaBuilder]

The COVID came......   And suddenly I had more time at home and had more time to complete the rigging of the steamship. 

 

When the contemporary EFC plans arrived from the National Archives (in the 1980s), I was surprised to see that they explicitly documented the different ways the booms were rigged for various stages of cargo loading.  I knew right then that I wanted to show all the ways the cargo booms were rigged (stowed, lifting from the dock and loading into the hold).  Since the winches were a key part of the rigging process and I needed space to work, the booms were rigged before the shrouds and ratlines were installed.

 

Seven stand steel beading wire (for jewelry) was used for the steel components of the rigging. Beading wire is coated with plastic  coating, which I (carefully) burned off.  The 0.012 inch diameter wire was the correct scale (after burning) for the boom hoisting lifts, topping lifts and vang pendants.  I painted it grey.  Single and double steel blocks were made by turning the sheaves from brass rod and stropping with scale brass strips (See photo in an earlier post).  For the hoisting and topping lifts I made lines long enough to load the drums of the winches, and to run through all the relevant blocks.  The wooden vang and vang fall blocks were made the usual way by carving and drilling holes into scale dimensional strips of applewood, cutting off the block and stropping with brass.  The manilla bag falls were made with my home-made model rope walk (that is another story!) using 0.001 linen thread as stock.

 

The standing rigging (shrouds, head-stay and fore-stay) were made of 0.018 inch diameter beading wire and rigged as per the specifications in the EFC rigging plans. I made miniature (fake) turnbuckles from brass tube and eyebolts for attaching the lower end of the shrouds to the chain plates.  The wooden steamships used steel rod for the ratlines,   I used scale brass wire.  Paper templates (behind the shrouds) and wooden jigs fore and aft of the shrouds were used to get the correct spacing of the ratlines (see pictures).  My scale ratline knots were ugly!  So I used superglue to temporarily attach the wires, then a dab of epoxy; snipping the ends off with a clippers.  Looks great and easy to repair.  All painted black.

[wefalck]

Well, just scrolled through the entire retrospective log - truly impressive 👍