USCGC Eagle by mysticlee - Constructo - 1:102

[mysticlee]

Introduction

 

US Coast Guard Cutter Eagle (WIX-327), originally the German training barque Horst Wessel. Length: 295 feet; beam: 39.1 feet; height of foremast and mainmast: 150.3 feet above the waterline (other specs are found on various Coast Guard websites).

 

I am a retired Coastie and as a cadet, I had the privilege of sailing on the Eagle several times, the most notable being in Operation Sail 1972, sailing from New London, CT, to Europe. During the ocean crossing, we competed in, and won, the Boston Teapot Trophy, awarded annually to the training ship that logs the greatest distance under sail in 124 hours (we covered 1,104 miles). After docking in Portsmouth, England, for several days, we competed in the main event of OpSail 1972 - the tall ships race -  that included three Class A ships: Eagle (United Stated), Gorch Fock II (Germany), and Dar Pomorza (Poland), along with hundreds of Class B and C sailing vessels. The five day race started off of Cowes, England, sailing north through the English Channel and the Skagerrak, and ending off the tip of Denmark. The race was highly eventful, with a great start for Eagle, many maneuvers and sail adjustments, parted sails and lines in stormy seas, and periods of unfavorable winds. To their credit, Dar Pomorza won the race, with Gorch Foch trailing by only a few minutes, and Eagle taking up third place. Following the race, Eagle made several port calls, ending in Lubeck, Germany, where thousands of visitors toured the ship, including several of Horst Wessel's original crew. The final event of OpSail was the Parade of Ships, with six square-riggers in one column, and smaller vessels in another column, sailing in to Kiel Bay, Germany, on display for the crowds attending the 1972 Summer Olympics. This was not the first, nor the last, transatlantic crossing for Eagle, and she continues to be both a rigorous training environment for the cadets, and an impressive ambassador for the Coast Guard and for the United States.

 

All of this is to say, I have fond memories of the Eagle, and always wanted to build a model of the Eagle.

 

In fact, I started this model in 1977, completing the hull, deck, and some of the fittings, until around 1979 when the project was boxed...until early 2024! Many military and post-military moves caused some damage to the model, but nothing that can't be fixed...and it's time to resume construction.

 

The Model

 

This is a model by Constructo, Barcelona, Spain. It is a wooden hull, with various wooden parts including bulwarks, cabins, shaped wooden tops and crosstrees, tapered wooden masts, spars, and bowsprit, and a few deck fixtures; plastic parts including windlass, winches, ship's wheels, chimneys, binnacles, life boats, blocks, pulleys, tensors, ladders, belaying pins (actually, fife rails), running lights, etc.; various metal parts such as eyebolts, pins, grommets, etc.; and stitched cloth sails.

 

The instructions and diagrams (in both English and Spanish) indicate a scale of 1:185, but this would equate to a model of about 19 inches, whereas the actual model (with bowsprit) is 34 5/8 inches. From this actual model dimension, I calculated a scale of 1:102.2 for the 295 foot ship, or 1" = 8.52'.

 

Early on, I decided that I wanted a more realistic model than would be possible with the provided plastic parts and off-scale components, so while generally following the assembly instructions, I started creating some of my own fittings, and adding details not in the instructions.

 

The Build

 

My goal is to complete this model to show the Eagle as it was in 1972. This means two significant variations from the Eagle's present configuration:

 

1. No racing stripe, as per 1972. I feel it's out of place on an historic ship such as the Eagle. There would have been better, more subtle ways to show the Coast Guard's name and colors.

2. Spanker and single gaff only. I understand why the gaff was split in later years (to match the ship's original configuration), but that's not how it was configured in 1972.

 

Other changes that have occurred since 1972 include relocated port and starboard running lights, a new pilot house in the aft part of the waist, different life boats, changes in ventilators and other deck fittings, new antennas for current electronic navigational aids, and most recently, a new figurehead. I'm sticking to the 1972 configuration as much as possible, guided by photos and publications around the same period, along with my personal photos and recollections.

 

My first task is to survey the damage, and develop a repair plan. I had boxed the model in its original box, but with a cut-out at one end for the bowsprit I had already finished and glued in place. Even with a large dowel protecting the bowsprit, it broke at the hull, and took with it the stays I had installed. This proved to be a blessing in disguise, because I determined that the bowsprit wasn't angled correctly (too low), so that gave me the opportunity to rebuild the stem and create a new bowsprit. Other damage included broken bumpkins (who bumped the bumpkins?), crushed wood around the bow pinrail, and a few broken fife rails. I had already painted the hull (red below, black along the waterline, white above), but the white paint was scuffed in a few spots, so it will need a new coat of paint.

 

In my next update, I'll provide photos of the current status, outline my plans, and begin work on the model.

 

Update#1

 

Below are photos of the box end and side for the Constructo model I purchased in 1977.

 

 

 

 

Next are photos of the model as it stands right now. I had previously constructed the decking with pieces of 1/16" square stock, sanded and lightly stained to resemble the Eagle's teak deck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The below image shows the broken bowsprit. The dolphin striker, martingale stay, etc., are not correctly sized, which will be corrected when I rebuild the bowsprit.

 

 

Although several of the above pictures show a finished base, that was actually the first sub-project I did in this process. I started with a piece of bare oak board, cut to size, routed the edges, then sanded and stained with three coats of golden oak stain, followed by three coats of wipe-on satin polyurethane. I ordered the brass stanchions online, and had to modify them by drilling out the internal threads (for the bolts that came with them) so I could fasten the base through the stanchions into the ship's keel and hull.

 

 

 

Now to start repairs. Below shows where the bowsprit was broken off, with some of the stays dangling, and the edge of the bow chipped away. Also note the bumpkin on the right is missing the eye and bottom support.

 

 

I built up the stem using several layers of wood, so as to bring up the angle of the bowsprit, as shown below.

 

 

Repairs are mostly done, as shown below, although a few touch-ups will be needed after I remove the dangling stays and re-work their attachment points. I used wood filler to repair the edge of the bow. Still needs some filling and sanding. The forward pinrail will sit on top of this edge, which will hide any slight imperfections.

 

 

 

Edited April 16 by mysticlee
Update #1

[Rick310]

Nice build, I will enjoy following your progress!

Rick

[mysticlee]

Thank you Rick. I have many challenges ahead with this build, and I'll welcome any and all tips and advice.

[mysticlee]

For the new bowsprit, I tapered a 3/16" dowel using a drill and sandpaper. Then I constructed the bobstay, martingale stay, and dolphin striker using 1/32" brass tube, soldered at the junction points. This assembly is glued to the bowsprit using CA, after creating small indentations in the bowsprit at the contact points. I'm hoping this will be strong enough, but I may decide later to reinforce these glue points with PVA or epoxy. 

 

At key attachment points (for the staysails), I hand-drilled holes partway through the bowsprit, and inserted eyes cut slightly shorter than the hole depths, and glued them in with CA. I did this first on a test piece, and they seemed to be very secure. I'm not worried about the discoloration on the wood, as it will be painted later with Coast Guard spar color. I still need to add attachment points on the sides of the bowsprit to anchor the stays.

 

  

 

   

 

While I had my soldering iron handy, I repaired the forward port-side bumpking, shown below. I'll paint it white when I repaint the hull.

 

 

 

 

[mysticlee]

Since my last post, I created spreadsheet to identify the various deck fittings that need to be modeled, and mapped out the attachment points for the standing and running rigging on the deck, masts, and spars. The original model kit included written instructions and diagrams to describe the assembly, and it simplified much of the rigging and fittings. Also, the instructions were not specific on the placement of many of the parts (such as where the yards attach to the masts), so I'm going back to my Eagle Seamanship book, other documents, and photos (both recent and especially those in the photo book my academy class put together after our 1972 cruise) to identify the actual rigging and fittings.

 

Things are quite small on this model, so I'll be making some decisions on what to include and what not to include, compared to the actual ship. For example, I'll probably limit the running rigging to the braces, sheets, and possibly the clew lines between the yards/sails and the pin rails. I'll likely show the buntlines and leach lines on the sails themselves, but not carry the lines down to the pin rails, mainly because of the complexity and density of those lines. After all, the Eagle has over 180 lines of running rigging (in the configuration I'm modeling...over 200 in its present configuration), and I don't have the confidence and skill in depicting all of them, along with their attachment points, blocks, metal cheek blocks, etc. The model kit only showed the braces and sheets, and in greatly simplified form (i.e, using only a few blocks here and there, and in some cases running lines directly to the deck where one or more blocks are used for mechanical advantage on the actual ship). I'll settle on something between what the kit showed and what's on the Eagle.

 

I started making a few of the many fittings and fixtures I plan to model.

 

First, I need eight "large" mooring bitts (four on the forecastle, and four in the waist). The model came with several smaller plastic bitts that I may make use of in other areas (if I can remove the molding seams), but they are too small for use as mooring bitts. I didn't find any sources among ship modeling company websites for bitts that were of the size I needed (and that resembled the bitts on the Eagle), so I decided to make my own. To create the bitts, I fashioned loops of 24 gauge wire, glued each loop to a 1/8" dowel cut to 5/16" in length, and glued two of these to a small piece of heavy card stock (to simulate the base). 

 

Next, there are four benches on the mizzen deck that are used underway to cover four of the mooring bitts. I thought it would look better to model the benches instead of showing those bitts. I used a small block of basswood notched in the corners for the body of the bench, and 1/16" basswood square dowels for the legs.

 

Below are the bitts (both my fabrication and the kit's plastic version) and bench before painting. I'll be painting the bitts in Coast Guard spar color (which I need to mix myself to match the fittings I had previously painted on the model), with a medium gray strip around the barrel of the bitts. The bench will be painted to resemble the mahogany wood on the actual ship.

 

                         

 

Regarding paint, most of the fittings on the Eagle are painted Coast Guard spar color, including the masts, yards, tops, and cross trees, so I'll wait until I have everything fabricated (including the numerous attachment points), before painting. There are a few items that will be painted white or "mahogany" (including repainting the white on the hull) that will also be deferred until all are fabricated.

 

The model came with all ten square sail yards and two mizzen spars, but I determined that the square sail yards were not to scale (too small), based on the actual lengths of the yards from the ship specs. What I found was that the main and fore course yards supplied with the kit were a very close match to the length of the lower topsail yards, the lower topsail yards a match to the upper topsail yard lengths, etc., through the top gallant yards a match for the royal yard lengths. So I created new course yards (the kit's royal yards were too small for anything except material for possible use in other fittings). I tapered a 1/4" dowel using a drill and sand paper, and cut to length. Below shows the five yards for the foremast (the mainmast is identical), the largest being the one I made.

 

 

 

The kit included a few plastic "tensors" for connecting some of the standing rigging to the deck. They are oversized compared to the actual ship's 

turnbuckles, and resemble the pairs of deadeyes and connecting ropes that are found on wooden sailing ships. Instead, I'll create over 80 turnbuckles that more closely resemble the metal turnbuckles on the actual Eagle. More on my plan for the turnbuckles, and other fittings, in future posts.

 

[Roger Pellett]

A nice project, well executed!

 

Determining the correct scale is of course important as it will determine sizes of all of the fittings that you intend to scratch build.  As an ex Coast Guard Officer, you obviously know that the “length” of a vessel has several definitions; length overall, register length, etc.  Before getting too far down the road, you might want to double check scale by using a dimension less subject to interpretation.  I would suggest that you compare the beam of your model with the published beam.

 

You are fortunate to live in my favorite small town.  Mystic has it all; a great museum, beautiful architecture, and good restaurants.  I grew up in Northeastern Ohio which was ounce the state of Connecticut’s Western Reserve.  Many of the small towns  in that part of Ohio share Mystic’s timeless quality with their white Federal Style homes and Churches.  The row of houses  just across the river, from the Seaport is particularly impressive. 

 

Roger.

[Jim Lad]

It's always a good project to build a model of a favourite ship - someday I may even build a model of my all-time favourite ship, the 'Pilar Regidor', but that would be a pretty big model!

 

Good to see that you've decided to build her as you remember her on your epic voyage. You should find quite a lot of photos to support your memory of what the ship looked like at that time.

 

John

 

 

[mysticlee]

Roger, thank you for your compliment, and you are absolute correct regarding lengths. I used several known lengths (as you mentioned), along with draft, freeboard, beam, and bowsprit length, compared to the corresponding measurements on the model, to arrive at a scale of 102.2:1. As a retired engineer/Coastie, I try to get the details right, and make educated estimates where necessary. For example, since I don't have the exact measurements of virtually any of the actual deck fittings, fixtures, etc., I'm also using photos to estimate sizes and locations, and scaling accordingly. 

 

We love Mystic, and we were fortunate enough to buy a house built in 1866 when we moved here (on the Seaport side) in 2018. It's not as grand as those across the river, but it has its own history. We enjoy the beauty of those historic homes on the Groton side of the river on our daily walks through town and beyond.

 

John, yes, it's my favorite, and I have numerous photos to guide my modeling.

 

--Lee

[mysticlee]

Below shows the first few test turnbuckles, as yet unpainted (they will be painted white in production). The body is a short piece of 1/32"diameter brass tube. The eyes are formed from 26 gauge brass wire, which fits perfectly in the tube. I created a small jig (two small posts) for wrapping the wire to create the eyes. The eye on one end will be open initially, so that I can slip it onto the existing eyes fastened to the deck, rails, and other attachment points, then the eye will be closed. The standing rigging will then be tied to the free end of each turnbuckle.  I found it a bit tricky to cut the brass tube. I rolled the tube on a flat surface, and used a #11 scalpel blade to score it. The blade tends to wander under too much pressure. I'll need to refine my technique before mass producing these turnbuckles.

 

[Jim Lad]

Nice looking bottle screws! How are you going to prevent the open lower eye from opening under the strain when you tighten up the shrouds?

 

John

[mysticlee]

John, thanks for the question, I didn't think this would be an issue.

 

I was hoping since I'm using half-hard wire that it would be stiff enough after closing the eye with fine pliers. Not sure how much strain the eyes would be subject to when tightening the shrouds and all other stays. So I did some testing. First, I closing both eyes with pliers, attached a line to each eye, hung a 5 pound weight on one of the eyes and held the string on the other eye, and tried lifting the weight...one of the eyes bent open. Next, I soldered the eyes on another test piece (not easy, one eye got filled with solder, had to fiddle with it to clear the eye and make it look decent), then repeated the test with the 5 pound weight...it also bent open (broke the solder joint).

 

My sense is that 5 pounds is way more strain than would occur on the model. Before doing the above test, I pulled on attached lines by hand, and the eyes seemed to hold up ok. Obviously, I didn't pull 5 pounds worth.

 

Do you have any idea how much strain I would expect on the shrouds on the model? Any suggestions?

 

Lee

[mysticlee]

Follow-up: I tested with a 16.9 ounce (500ml) bottle of water as a weight, 1 pound 2 ounces, and saw no deformation of the eyes. Even 1 pound seems more than the amount of strain that would exist on the model shrouds.

 

To recap, I passed a piece of 28 gauge half-hard brass wire through a 1mm round brass tube (forming the body of the turnbuckle), and formed an eye in the wire at each end.

 

Anybody have any thoughts on how eyes formed this way hold up when tightening up the shrouds, backstays, etc.?

 

Lee 

[Jim Lad]

Sounds like they'll be OK, Lee. The only other way to strengthen them would be with silver solder.

 

John

[mysticlee]

Taking a break from my production line of turnbuckles, I turned my attention to the radar enclosure which is mounted on the foremast (below the fore yard).

 

Using numerous photos both from my archive and from current sources, I determined the size and shape of the enclosure for my model. The radar enclosure in 1972 consisted of a pair of horizontal concentric circles of steel bars about 8 feet in diameter, separated by about 30 inches, and connected by several vertical bars, and about 20 inches below which was a small platform connected to the above circles with additional bars, to support the actual radar sweep mechanism. The current radar enclosure is more oblong and includes an additional support for other electronics.

 

Below is my plan for the radar enclosure, and two photos of the fabricated enclosure, made with 1mm brass rods and wood for the platform, radar sweep and mount. For simplicity, I elected to place the support bars at the front and both sides, whereas the actual enclosure has more bars at different points around the circles. I left the attachment points longer than needed until I determine the exact rake of the foremast. The enclosure will be painted Coast Guard spar color, the radar sweep and its mount will be painted white, and the circular bars will be covered with baggywrinkle which will hide some of the imperfections (I haven't decided how to make baggywrinkle yet).