Young America by EdT - FINISHED - extreme clipper 1853

[albert]

Hi Ed, very very fantastic work.

[ianmajor]

Excellent Ed.

 

Getting the curves and bends in brass wire at the correct point and the right angles is a whole challenge in itself.

[GLakie]

Lovely work Ed! 

[matelot]

Hello,

I've had the plans of Young America for some time now and think she is a very beautiful ship.

The only thing I never liked about the plan is the monkey rail. It strikes me as extremely flimsy and sort of an afterthought.  

Not  much for someone, especially passengers, to go through under the toprail and disappear for good.

I think your'e doing a fantastic job with the model but I still wonder about the railing.

Your thoughts please.Thanks

[EdT]

I assume that the plans you have are those from Seagull Plans, drawn by the late Bill Crothers with some details drawn by, I believe, Thomas Hornsby.  Bill concluded that the rail was brass, quite common during the period for rails of this type.  The primary, evidence, as I mentioned in the post, for me and for Bill ( I asked him), is from the surviving photo taken from the starboard quarter.  The rail is almost but not quite invisible in my copies of the the photo.  Bill had access to the original prints.  This evidence rules out, for example wood stanchions and a heavy wood rail - at least at the time of the photo - which is my chosen period for the model.  I considered that the rail itself may have been wood of lighter section, mounted on metal stanchions.  In the end, partly because of my deep respect for Bill's meticulous research, I followed his lead. There is also no trace of a center rail.  I share your feelings about safety of the rail - to say nothing of the dangers of the completely unrailed forecastle.  Perhaps netting was rigged when at sea.

 

There are inevitably items on all these ships that could be challenged technically.  With my background and natural inclination I often find it hard to resist re-engineering things that are not clearly documented.  Its a bad habit.  We are modelers, not designers.  Sometimes design is unavoidable due to lack of definition, but in the case of the single brass rail, I think it is reasonable given the evidence.

 

Ed

[druxey]

Superbly done, Ed!

[matelot]

Thank's for your comments.

I've looked at some other clipper ship plans I have and they all have considerably more protection for passengers

and crew on the poop. Netting had occurred to me.

Great looking ship but the monkey rail just looks  a little odd to me.

On an other subject: There is  someone out of New England selling boxwood. I bought some and it looks good to me.

If you go on e-Bay and key in Boxwood Lumber You'll find it 

Henry

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 145 – Ship’s Boats 1

 

Well, it is time to take the plunge on Young America’s complement of boats.  I expect this to be a humbling experience in the presence of Druxey’s posts on his beautiful hospital barge and Michael Mott’s extraordinary boat work.  However, I see no way out.

 

There will be four boats, two 28’ (~4 ½”) longboats and two 25’ (~4 1/8”) cutters.  The longboats are carvel built, as is one of the cutters.  The other cutter is clinkered.  Fortunately for me, three of the four will be stowed upside down on the skid beams, and the fourth, one of the cutters – work quality permitting - will be stowed on the quarter davits.  I decided to start with one of the longboats.

 

In the first picture, drawings of the framing plan and sheer elevation have been pasted to a block of soft pine. 

 

 

I expect to use the plug made from this block on both longboats.  The first step was to shape bow and stern profiles as shown in the next picture.

 

 

Then the sides by the same method.

 

 

Lines were then scribed for the three station patterns that I used and for the top of the sides.  The marked plug and the three pattern pieces are shown in the next picture.

 

 

Pattern 2 is at the stern.  I did not make a pattern for the line between midship and the stern.  The patterns were taken at the inside of the frames.  The plug was then given a fair shape using the three patterns as guides.  In the next picture the midship shape is being checked after some initial planning and rasping.

 

 

In the next picture the stern profile pattern has been given a coat of pencil lead so high points can be located.  The pencil in the next picture is pointing to a high spot identified by the rubbed-off pencil lead.

 

 

Work continued on the plug using rasps, files and sandpaper until the patterned shape and symmetric fair lines were obtained.

 

The last picture shows the finished plug with the first of the two part frames curved and pinned in place.

 

 

The plug was first given two coats of sanding sealer and then waxed. It was then marked with the frame lines on both sides to serve as rough guides for frame placement.  Frames will eventually be spaced by eye when the keel and bulwark planks are added.  The frames are held in position by the planking clamps I used on the decks of the POB model.  The frames at this stage are about 2” (~.03”) square.  Their molded breadth will be downsized a bit as they are faired during the planking process.  The frame pieces were cut from straight-grained pieces of Swiss pear.  For the bending of these I experimented with soaking the strips in isopropanol overnight, then bending and clamping down as shown.  This worked satisfactorily, but perhaps more flexibility and less breakage would occur with boiling.  Framing will continue in the next part.

 

 

Ed

 

[Erik W]

Ed,

 

I've been looking forward to how you'd build these boats.  You're off to a good start!

 

Erik

[druxey]

Ed, have you tried bending frames using moisture and a thermostatically controlled iron?

[EdT]

Thank you, Erik and thanks for the likes.

 

Druxey, try would be the right word.  I bought an iron and tried a few pieces, but did not have much need for bending at the time.  Perhaps the second longboat would be the time to do some more with it, especially on these small frames.  Thanks.

 

I may also adopt the method you used on the barge for the two cutters.

 

Ed

[rwiederrich]

Great job Ed.  I made a steam cabinet to bend all my timbers.    Kinda like a double boiler..with the timbers laying on a rack.  15 minutes and you could nearly tie them in a knot.

 

Good luck

[mitchel]

I remember many years ago attempting a metal rail around a ships stern. Lots of kinks!

Gorgeous job, Beautifully done. Hats off to you sir.

[archjofo]

Hello Ed,

excellent work.
Your interesting report I have been following for some time already.
 

Very good, that I can now see the construction of boats.
Currently I build even boats for a French corvette.
 

If interested, see here LINK.

Edited February 20, 2016 by archjofo

[EdT]

Thanks everyone for the comments and likes.

 

Johann, I have followed your work and your work on the boats.  Your method looks familiar and your results are outstanding.  I would like to do as well.

 

Ed

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 146 – Ship’s Boats 2

 

In the last part I had just begun bending frames over the longboat plug for the first of the two longboats, so I will continue from that point, but picking up with longboat 2 from that same point.  Longboat 1 is proceeding merrily along its way and I will catch up with that work later.  In the first picture all the square frames on the port side have been soaked in water, bent over the plug and clamped down with the pin clamps.

 

 

I found that soaking the .03” strips in water overnight was more than sufficient to make them flexible enough for this work.  They were just left soaking until needed.  Although pinned roughly in position these will be more accurately spaced at both the keel and the gunwale in later steps.  This is the same plug used on Longboat 1, as evidenced by the pinholes.

 

In the next picture the inside stem shape is being fitted to the bow of the plug.

 

 

This was a case of matching up and sanding until a good fit was obtained.  You may recall that the plug is shaped to the inside of the frames.  In the next picture the outer curve of the stem has been cut after fitting the inner edge and the stem is being glued to the keel.

 

 

This assembly was then glued to the frames as shown in the next picture.

 

 

As this was clamped down with pins through drilled holes, the frames were spaced at the keel by eye.  The upper ends are still doing their own thing.  In the next picture a deadwood is being glued to the keel under the aft end of the plug.

 

 

The next step was to bring the upper ends of the frames into line.  This was done by nailing a strip over them at the gunwale as shown in the next picture.

 

 

The lower edge of this strip (upper in the photo) corresponds to the top of the side.  This strip put enough pressure on the frames allow them to be aligned and spaced at the top.  Once this was done the uppermost hull plank could be glued to the frames.  This is shown in the last picture.

 

 

I used holly to plank the side.  The planks are about 1” thick and 4 or five inches wide.  The two longboats are carvel planked and will be painted.  Note that none of the starboard frames have been installed at this stage.  These will be slipped between the plug and the keel and glued to their partners along the frame floors.  Thus each frame will extend from the top of the side, over the keel and to the turn of the bilge on the opposite side.  This construction will be clearer in the next part.

 

Ed

[GLakie]

Interesting in that I wouldn't have thought Swiss Pear would be so forgiving to bend to that extreme without breaking, even after soaking. Very nice! 

[allanyed]

Ed,

 

As always, it is joy to follow your builds.   Just a small FYI, I have been using holly for the frames for the various ship's boats and they bend very easily after being submersed in water for a few minutes.  It works for even  those frames where the moulded dimensions increase at the floor rather than just having the same moulded dimension the entire length of the piece being used to make the frame.  In the end, this increase in the moulded dimenion at the floor is barely noticeable at the smaller scales, but can be done if desired.  

 

Allan 

[rtropp]

Ed,

At what point in this build did the first Young America  book end?

 

Thanks

Richard

[EdT]

Thanks, Allan and George - and all those who posted likes.

 

I used the pear primarily for the color contrast - although this will be hard to see with the boats inverted on the skid beams.  Actually, I am considering leaving the port side of longboat 2 in frame since it will be over the unplanked part of the ship - actually the starboard side since they are upside down.  

 

Thanks for the tip, Allan, and by the way, good to hear from you.  It has been a while.  I have done bending tests with holly and agree that it bends very easily,  I find that an important factor in bending is straightness of grain and that bending is greatly assisted by carefully selecting areas of wood stock that with no cross grain pattern.

 

George, I have been leaving the pear strips submerged in water overnight and they are very pliable - not that this requires overnight soaking, but it is easy to cut a bunch and drop them in for the next day.  That said, there are many ways to bend wood and I think I have at least tried most of them.  The first frames on longboat 1 were soaked in isopropanol and that worked OK.  Water soaking seems less trouble on these very small sections.

 

Ed

[EdT]

Sorry, Richard, my last post seems to have crossed yours in transmission.  Volume I covers the content shown in the first 118 parts of the build log - just before starting on the deck cabins.  This was the status of the model in May 2015 - after about 18 months work.

 

Ed

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 147 – Ship’s Boats 3

 

In the last part the frames were installed on the port side of the plug.  The first picture shows the starboard side framing in progress.

 

 

 

The frame strips were left to soak in water overnight, making them very flexible.  They were then brushed with glue where they would mate with the opposite frame and the keel and then pushed under the keel.  Each frame was then pinned down at both ends and sometimes in other places as shown in the picture.

 

The next picture shows the topside plank on the starboard side being installed against the nailed guide strip.

 

 

I intend to leave this side unplanked to show the framing, so only the wale below the top plank will be installed on this side.  On the other (port) side, the nailed guide strip and this top plank were also installed.  The next picture shows the keel rabbet being pared out on the port side to prepare for the garboard strake.

 

 

The rabbet at the deadwood and on the stem were pared out first with a V-gouge as shown in the picture.  These areas were then cleaned up and the remainder of the keel rabbet formed using the barette file shown in the next picture.

 

 

The garboard strake was then installed as shown below.

 

 

Back on the starboard side the channel wale was installed just below the top plank while glue was drying on the port side planking.

 

 

I mentioned earlier that all the work shown above was done on longboat two, the second to be made.  At the same time, work was proceeding on the first boat.  The next picture shows that boat fully planked below the channel wale on both sides.  The wale has been temporarily inserted so the top plank can be glued on.

 

 

As on the ship’s hull, boats will be painted, and the channel wales shown in a contrasting color, so they will be glued in after painting of both the hull and the wale to ensure a clean line.  In the next part I will pick up on work to finish longboat 1.

 

Ed

 

[Mirabell61]

beautiful work Ed,

 

thanks for sharing, the planking of the boat looks fantastic

 

Nils

[Maury S]

Beautiful!

Maury

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Fantastic work,  Ed. I am speechless

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 148 – Ship’s Boats 4

 

The last picture in Part 147 showed the top plank being glued on to longboat 1 with the channel wale inserted to provide a space for its later installation.  In the first picture the wale has been removed.

 

 

The frames may now be cut down to the top of the side and the boat removed from the plug.  The next picture shows the keelson being glued to the tops of the frame floors.

 

 

The longboats were pretty heavily constructed.  They were working boats that carried supplies or cargo and sometimes even an anchor. Ceiling stringers at the turn of the bilge can be seen in this picture as well as clamps to support the seats.  In the next picture a clamp at the wale height is being glued in after installation of the seats. 

 

 

I tried not to fuss too much with this interior work because the boats will be fixed to the skid beams inverted roughly in the position shown in the next picture.

 

 

The 25’ cutters were secured just outside of the longboats. I expect to tie down spare spars and lower studding sail booms between the longboats.  In this picture the outer planking of longboat 1 has been given a coat of white shellac as a sealer and that has been sanded smooth.  There will be a second shellac seal coat and sanding before the final white gloss acrylic finish.  The channel wales will be the same blue as the cabin roof.

 

All the pin rails visible in this picture have been fitted with their pins.  The blue masking tape was applied to stop the dropping of belaying pins into the hold.  In the next picture both the boat and the two wales have been painted and are ready for final assembly.

 

 

The last picture shows the boat placed on the skid beams.

 

 

Rudder hinges are still required.  Boats were also required to have the ship’s name lettered on the transom and bow.  This may be more than I can manage, but we’ll see.

 

Before mounting the boats I need to check for rigging clearance between the outer boats and the pin rail.  I believe all the lines that belay in the way of the boats go through shroud fairleads so there should be no problem, but it is worth a check.  It may be best to avoid securing these boats until rigging has been belayed below the boats.

 

Ed

[Mahuna]

Ed, the precision of your work continues to amaze me.

[albert]

Hi Ed very beautiful work.

[kees de mol]

I love those longboats (as well as your other work) The look very smooth.

[archjofo]

Hello Ed,

 

this building report is just brilliant.
Step by step you show us the construction of model boat ,
built exactly like the original.
I'm excited.