USS Cape (MSI-2) by Dr PR - 1:48 - Inshore Minesweeper

[Dr PR]

Gary,

 

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. There are also places that make scale lumber for doll houses and such.

 

Brian,

 

Thanks for the tip about the propeller. It is  a very nice metal casting.

[Dr PR]

Well, I just ordered enough S-Scale 1x10s (0.016 x 0.156 inch, 1/64 x 5/32 inch or 0.39 x 4 mm) basswood strips to plank the hull - again! These are 0.80 x 7.5 inch at 1:48 scale, pretty close to the 0.75 x 7.25 original boards. I ordered the Mt. Albert Scale Stripwood from Fast Tracks

 

https://handlaidtrack.com/?v=0b3b97fa6688

 

Steve, was your hunch correct?

 

I have a bunch of "micro molding scrapers" from Artesania Latina and one has a 1x4 mm scraper with rounded corners. I was planning on using it to round off the edges of the 1/32 inch boxwood strips to give them the "corduroy" look. I will try it with the 1/64 inch basswood strips. If it works I won't have to mess with the 0.005 inch brass spacer. It probably won't work because the 1/64 inch strips are less than 1 mm thick and will be pretty fragile.

 

If not I may just pull a sharp point along the seam between planks to open them up a bit.

 

In the mean time I may start on the deck planking. But I will have to protect it while I am planking the hull. I also have several more sails to rig on the topsail schooner build. And there is the ship's boat for the schooner!

Edited February 10 by Dr PR

[Coyote_6]

Yeah Phil (saw it coming a mile away).  I didn't wanna push but you get one chance to do right by her.  Glad you're going this route.  It is such a cool project.

Edited February 10 by Coyote_6

[Dr PR]

I have a bit of progress to report. That third layer of planking on the ships extended from the keel up to 11 feet above the Base Line (a horizontal reference line for length, height and breadth when designing the vessel). That is also about the level of the top of the black boot topping (water line).

 

In trying to decipher some of the blueprints to see exactly where the top and bottom of the boot topping should be I came up with conflicting results. One drawing shows the top of the boot topping 9 inches above the 10 foot water line (DWL). But another suggested it was actually at the 11 foot water line, at the top of the third level of planking. At 1:48 scale that is a 1/16 inch (1.59 mm) difference, and that would be noticeable.

 

Another issue was the placement of the hull seachests. Several were also at the level 11 feet above the Base Line. So the new planking will need small cutouts where it would cover half of these openings. But these openings should also be a reference for the top of the boot topping.

 

You can see in this photo two of the seachests that are at the 11 foot level. And they are quite clearly at the same level as the top of the boot topping. Several other photos show the same.

 

At 1:48 scale the boot topping is 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) wide. So what I needed to do was draw the top of the boot topping at the level of the seachests and then the bottom the appropriate distance below that.

 

 

OK, now I know where to put the boot topping and the top of the 3rd layer of planking, how was I supposed to mark these lines? In the past I have used some clamps to make a holder for a pencil with the tip the right height above the bench top, and then dragged the assembly over the bench top with the pencil marking the line. But the Cape has a large difference in draft between the bow and stern, so if I placed it with the keel on the bench top the boot topping wouldn't be horizontal.

 

The deck has a lot of sheer, with a short more or less horizontal section over the magtail cable well. I put the hull on a temporary support that I built a while back and used a spirit level to adjust the position in the support frame until a portion of the deck was horizontal as shown in the blueprints. I also checked that several points that were supposed to be equal height above the base line were actually at the same heights with the hull sitting in the support. This put the hull at the proper angle for marking the horizontal boot topping lines.

 

As I said, I have used the pencil in the holder method to mark waterlines in the past, but it always gave me problems on parts of the hull with significant slope or curvature. And the boot topping actually curves far under the stern of the Cape, especially on the bottom of the boot topping.

 

This time to mark the positions of these lines I used a laser level (Bosch GLL50-20) mounted on a tripod. The laser is indifferent to the angles and curvatures of objects, and illuminates a perfectly horizontal line. After checking to be sure the laser line was at the right height both forward and aft, I used a pencil to draw short dash marks about every half inch (12 mm) along the laser line.

 

Then I stretched some masking tape along the dashes, and drew an ink line along the edge of the tape.

 

As you can see in this next photo the upper line runs through the hull seachest openings that are 11 feet above the base line.

 

 

You can also see the significant sheer the vessel has at about midships.

 

The top of the full hull length part of the new planking will start along the upper line of the boot topping and will be planked down to the keel. The five above water parts of the sheathing to protect the hull from objects moving over the side will be planked from the top of the boot topping up to the guard rail along the main deck edge.

 

Because the 1/64 inch (0.016 inch or 0.4 mm) thick planking will be so thin there should be no problems fitting it to the hull, and on the real ship there were cutouts in this sheathing around the seachests, rudder fairing and such so I will not need to change any of the work I have already done. But fitting it over the garboard strake and keel may be interesting.

Edited February 12 by Dr PR

[KeithAug]

1 hour ago, Dr PR said:

After checking to be sure the laser line was at the right height both forward and aft, I used a pencil to draw short dash marks about every half inch (12 mm) along the laser line.

Great progress Phil and the stem looks wonderful. I too have abandoned the pencil attached to a sick method, the laser level makes it so much easier. Unlike you I have ditched the pencil altogether. I now lay the masking tape directly to the laser line. I find it works very well.

[Dr PR]

Keith,

 

I just had the hull sitting on the support stand but otherwise free to move. I doubt I could have put on the tape without moving it. So I put my left hand on the deck and pushed down to hold the hull in position and lightly drew the pencil marks.

 

This is one situation where a hull stand that clamped the keel securely would have come in handy.

 

I may have to do this again to mark the bottom of the boot topping after the new planking layer is added. However, I may just be able to take the center of the third plank down as the bottom of the boot topping. The boot topping should be 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) high, or 12/32, and the planks are 5/32 inch wide. So 2.5 planks will be 12.5/32 (9.9 mm).

Edited February 23 by Dr PR

[Austin Cox]

This is looking great! I tried to find some photos of the remaining sea chests but could not - there are only two now, in engineering, the minesweeping generators having been removed in the 1970's. We use one or the other at a time while underway, alternating each voyage. The rudder has evidence of having zincs at one point, but does not now due to electrical survey & tuning.

Your stern frame is beautiful. One detail that may interest you is that throughout the surface grain of the sternfram support, there are tiny pegs, perhaps about 3/16" in diameter, hammered into the grain. I assume this was done to tightened up the grain. I'd never seen that before on other wood hulls.

 

Please let me know if I can provide any more pictures. I love having been a little helpful with this build and hope to be of greater use.

Edited February 15 by Austin Cox

[Dr PR]

Austin,

 

Thanks.

 

I would appreciate any photos you want to send. The sort of things I will be researching is the planking on the bow forward of the deck house, any evidence of a bell or flag bag on the aft side of the O1 level deck house forward of the funnel, etc. Anything that looks original. And I would like to see what you have done with the open bridge and pilot house.

 

I can't find anything in the blueprints about wooden pegs in the planking, so that might have been done some time after the ship was built.

 

However, I do have a hypothesis based upon the photos you sent. The hull originally had double layer planking for the entire hull, but it had a third layer of 3/4 inch red oak planking from 11 feet above the base line (about even with the discharge ports right above the waterline) down to the keel. This outer layer, or sheathing, was attached with 1 1/2 inch long No. 16 flat head wood screws spaced on 4 1/2 inch centers. These screws have a shaft about 1/4 inch diameter.

 

In your photos I don't see any of this sheathing aft of the section of horizontal planking on the hull at the bow that provides protection from the anchor when it is being handled. It looks like most of this third layer of sheathing has been removed. If so, the screw holes in the remaining planking might have been filled with wooden pegs.

[Valeriy V]

Phil, your exacting attention to detail in the model is truly admirable!

I look forward to a wonderful continuation!  

[Dr PR]

Valeriy,

 

Thanks! I truly appreciate the complement coming from a master modeler like you.

[Austin Cox]

Phil,

I like your theory about the screw holes. 01 level has been changed significantly, but there may still be some things of interest to you. The bell is still there, one vent duct, the ladder on the port side, and of course the stack. The bow area was also changed a fair amount, but a few things are still there. I'll see about getting some pictures for you this weekend.

[Dr PR]

That's a good use for the anchor davit! We didn't have any lounge chairs on the foc'sle when I was aboard.

 

I'm guessing that you have a motor for the wildcat and windlass. We had to crank it manually to raise the anchor.

Edited February 21 by Dr PR

[KeithAug]

On 2/21/2025 at 3:03 AM, Dr PR said:

We didn't have any lounge chairs on the foc'sle when I was aboard.

I presume the flower arrangement was standard naval issue Phil?🙂

[Dr PR]

Keith,

 

I was thinking of that. I don't recall any flowers on the USS Cape! Instead of a table we had a 0.50 caliber machine gun storage cabinet.

[KeithAug]

Phil - you clearly missed out on the late 60's early 70's "Flower Power" era!

[Dr PR]

Keith,

 

I was in California in 1969. There were a lot of flower children around, but not so many on the Navy base!

 

Our XO, Devine Dave, had a brother who was a Hells Angel or in some other motorcycle gang. Complete with chopper, black leathers and Nazi helmet. He occasionally came to visit Dave on the base and that drove the Marine sentries up the wall!

Edited Friday at 05:24 AM by Dr PR

[KeithAug]

14 hours ago, Dr PR said:

He occasionally came to visit Dave on the base and that drove the Marine sentries up the wall!

Yes Phil, things like that can be a problem. I once had to accompany a visitor on to a regulated nuclear site. His surname was Baranovich. I had hell of a job getting him through security.

[Dr PR]

Keith,

 

We tend to have high security around nukes - either the power plants or the bombs.

 

On the Oklahoma City our nuclear spaces were locked and alarmed except one passage into the missile house. There was a Marine guard at the door. He had a list of people who were authorized to get in, and a set of ID badges that were issued to us when we entered. The Marine carried a 45 pistol and was authorized to shoot anyone who tried to get into the space who wasn't on the list.

 

One day the 7th Fleer Chief of Staff was escorting a visiting Admiral around the ship and he saw the "Restricted Area" sign on the door. The Admiral decided to go in an have a look. Well, the Marine was a Private and not accustomed to greeting Admirals. He jumped up and saluted and the Admiral barged right past him. He was half way up the ladder into the missile house when he heard the guard shout "Stop or I will shoot!"

 

He turned around and found himself looking down the barrel of a cocked 45, with a very nervous Private's finger on the trigger.

 

So far, so good. The Private did exactly what he was trained to do, and fortunately the Admiral was smart enough to not try to bluff his way out of it.

 

But no one had told the Private what to do after he caught an Admiral!

[Dr PR]

I have been ignoring this build while I try to finish my schooner build. I ordered and received some "S scale 1x10 Stripwood" (1/64 x 5/32 inch or 0.4 x 4 mm). This will be used for the outer layer of planking. I have been studying the curves of the hull and planning how I will apply this outer layer.

 

I got the new planks from Fast Tracks Hobbyworks, Inc., in Point Dover, Canada. This is the Mt. Albert Scale Lumber that Gary recommended.

 

****

 

I have mentioned how I avoided the draft by joining the Navy and some about my tour on the Cape. But the story of how I first arrived at the ship is an adventure in itself.

 

Like most people who live in the US east of the Rockies, I knew California, Oregon and Washington were somewhere out west of those mountains, and I had learned the State names and their Capitols in grade school. But that was about all I knew about the West Coast.

 

When I got orders to the Cape in Long Beach, California, the Navy provided airline tickets. All I had to do was get on the plane. As we were coming in to LAX (Los Angeles International) I recall looking out the window and seeing snowcapped peaks. "Cool!" I thought.

 

My orders were to Long Beach Naval Station in California. I had no idea where Long Beach was (this was long before Google Maps), but I assumed it was on the coast because it had a beach and a Navy Base. I figured I would have to get another flight from LA to Long Beach, and wondered why the Navy just left me in LAX, so I went to an airline desk to book a flight.

 

The fellow at the desk looked at me with a straight face and said "You can't get there from here!" Then he turned to help another lost soul.

 

Well, that was a surprise! So I found an information booth and asked how to get to Long Beach. The attendant told me to take a taxi or the bus. Aha! Long Beach must be close to Los Angeles! I figured a taxi would be more expensive, and on my minimal ($68.00 per month?) Officer Candidate's pay I wasn't rich. So I decided to take the bus. I asked the attendant where the bus station was, and she said "over there," pointing out the door.

 

LAX is a horrible place if you have to change airlines, or find the bus, because it is huge and it seems as if it is miles between the buildings. So "over there" turned out to be a long walk carrying my luggage. After half an hour searching for the bus station amid dozens of buildings I was exhausted. Then a taxi pulled up.

 

"Hey buddy, where you going?" he asked.

 

"Long Beach" I replied.

 

"Hop in" he said.

 

I may have asked what it would cost, but then told him I wanted to take the bus.

 

"Well why did you stop me?" he shouted. "You are standing in front of the bus station!" and roared off in a cloud of smog (Los Angeles air).

 

It was a featureless red brick building with no windows or signs - just a high wall with an unmarked opening. Sure enough, it was the bus station. I guess everyone on Earth is supposed to know unmarked buildings in LA are bus stations.

 

So I rode the bus through endless expanses of roofs and pavement for at least half an hour, and finally arrived at the bus station in Long Beach.

 

I was supposed to call the Duty Officer at the Long Beach Naval Station to find out where the Cape was. I found a telephone booth (remember those?) and looked in the phone book. Long Beach Naval Station wasn't listed! And no Long Beach Naval Shipyard – the largest on the West Coast!! Strange!

 

I called the operator and she exclaimed "There's a Navy Base in Long Beach?!"

 

This was starting to feel like an episode of Twilight Zone!

 

I told her I had orders from the Navy to report there.

 

She said "Just a minute."

 

After a while she came back and said excitedly "I found it! It's in Los Angeles!"

 

Sure enough, Long Beach Naval Station and Long Beach Naval Shipyard are in south LA, and not Long Beach.

 

The operator connected me to the Duty Officer. And after a while he said the ship was in Al Larson Boat Yard in San Pedro, wherever that was. Before he hung up I asked where San Pedro was.

 

He replied – as if everyone on Earth except me already knew that – "It's across the bridge" and hung up.

 

What bridge?

 

I eventually called a taxi and asked him if he knew where Al Larson Boat Yard was.

 

"In San Pedro?" he asked.

 

"Let's go" I replied, and we were off to find the ship.

 

Well, there are two bridges, one from Long Beach to Terminal Island where the Navy facilities were, and another from there to San Pedro in far south Los Angeles.

 

San Pedro was a pretty seedy place, with lots of bars and sailor hangouts. But shortly we found Al Larson Boat Yard. I could see the top of a gray mast above the high fence around the place. The taxi driver got out and banged on a door, and soon someone opened it. Yes, the Cape was there.

 

I paid the driver and thanked him, and lugged my bags through the door to my first duty station. However, by this time it was a bit after 1700 (5 PM) and we weren't supposed to report to a new duty station after working hours. But I had just spent a long frustrating day trying to go where you can't get, and I was tired! So I dragged my stuff up to the gang plank and after a while found the deck watch. He called the duty officer, who turned out to be the fellow I was relieving. He was very happy to see me - even after working hours - because he was getting out of the Navy as soon as I arrived. I slept in the XO's bunk that night.

 

So that was the beginning of my time on the USS Cape MSI-2. Here is my first photo of the ship, in Al Larson Boatyard.

 

****

 

Oh, and the snowcapped peaks I saw flying in to LAX? I didn't see them again for six months. The offshore breeze blew the thick LA smog back into a high dirty brown cloud that sat over the LA area, and nothing was visible through it. But one morning I got up and opened the drapes on the window of my BOQ (Bachelor Officer's Quarters) room and there were the snowcapped Santa Monica Mountains in the distance! Strong winds the night before had blown the smog over to Riverside.

 

The Cape's crest carried the motto "None Better." Somehow "You Can't Get There From Here" seems more appropriate.

Edited March 16 by Dr PR

[SaltyScot]

On 11/24/2024 at 4:15 PM, Dr PR said:

any remaining glue (SIG-Bond aliphatic resin)

 

Phil,

 

I use this glue as well and really don't want to use anything else. I picked iyt up in a Hobby Lobby store in Harrisonburg, VA. Now that we have moved out to the Northern Neck I cannot find anywhere that sells it and the online stores I did find want $14 to ship a $5 bottle! Where do you get yours from, sir?

[SaltyScot]

On 3/16/2025 at 1:57 AM, Dr PR said:

Somehow "You Can't Get There From Here" seems more appropriate.

 

That had me laughing, Phil. What a story!

[Dr PR]

Mark,

 

I bought a 2 oz bottle of Sig-Bond years ago at our local hobby shop. It eventually became thicker. Then I bought an 8 oz bottle about five years ago from the same store when I restarted the Albatross build. It is still good. Unfortunately, the pandemic killed that hobby store (along with on line competition). So now I don't know where I could find it locally.

 

You can order it on line from the manufacturer:

 

https://sigmfg.com/collections/sig-glues

 

They also have other glues and a selection of tools.

[gak1965]

On 3/16/2025 at 1:57 AM, Dr PR said:

Oh, and the snowcapped peaks I saw flying in to LAX? I didn't see them again for six months. The offshore breeze blew the thick LA smog back into a high dirty brown cloud that sat over the LA area, and nothing was visible through it. But one morning I got up and opened the drapes on the window of my BOQ (Bachelor Officer's Quarters) room and there were the snowcapped Santa Monica Mountains in the distance! Strong winds the night before had blown the smog over to Riverside.

Yep. I lived in LA 9 years in the mid 80s to the late 90s. It was much better then, but because the inshore breeze keeps LA (but not the San Gabriel Valley where we lived) cool, it also pushes all the smog up against the mountains so that they become hard to see. My first day in Pasadena, I was told that there the San Gabriel Mountains were only 5 miles away, and yet I couldn't see them. On better days (and especially after a rain, or when the Santa Ana winds come off the desert, the view from the airport is unbelievable.

[Dr PR]

I made the mistake of visiting Caltech (in 1969) on one of the days when the winds pushed all of the LA smog to Pasadena. You couldn't see more than two city blocks. I walked around campus for a while until the smog started getting to me. I realized I was getting dizzy and might pass out so I went into a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant just to find a place to sit down. The air inside was breathable.

 

In the '60s smog killed all the vegetation that was planted along the Long Beach Freeway into downtown LA. They replaced it all with plastic shrubs and trees, complete with plastic song birds! Plasticland.

 

After I married I had a brother-in-law, three sisters-in-law and an assorted bunch of nieces and nephews who all worked at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories) in Pasadena. We joked that it was a family business. I recall flying down in the mid 1990s to be at JPL for the Galileo rendezvous with Jupiter. We had great views from the airplane until we started to descend into Burbank, and then the air became browner and browner. But the smog wasn't nearly as bad as in the 1960s.

Edited March 17 by Dr PR

[mtaylor]

I was stationed at the Tustin Marine Base for 2 years.  Loved the area, hated the smog.   A lot of fond memories and some.... not so great.  On the clear days, we could see ships on the Pacific and also the mountains.  

 

Here's the Wiki page if anyone is interested https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Air_Station_Tustin

[gak1965]

8 hours ago, Dr PR said:

After I married I had a brother-in-law, three sisters-in-law and an assorted bunch of nieces and nephews who all worked at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories) in Pasadena. We joked that it was a family business. I recall flying down in the mid 1990s to be at JPL for the Galileo rendezvous with Jupiter. We had great views from the airplane until we started to descend into Burbank, and then the air became browner and browner. But the smog wasn't nearly as bad as in the 1960s.

 

My wife and I were both graduate students there with the relevant crew of friends at JPL. A bit of an aside, I was telling my younger daughter over the weekend how we watched the telemetry coming in live from the 1989 Voyager 2 encounter with Neptune. It was a combination of incredible excitement (the first images from Neptune!) and watching paint dry, because the transmission bit rate was so low it would take a minute or more to do a single line of one image. Still pretty cool.

 

George

[Dr PR]

My brother-in-law was "driving" Voyager 2. He calculated the orbits and the engine and thruster commands to get the craft to Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Really cool stuff, even if the paint did dry sssslllloooowwwllllyyyyy!

Edited March 18 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

It has been a while since I updated this log. I have been working to finish the rigging on my topsail schooner build, and that has been very time consuming. I had to order more rope for that job, and also ordered a helm (ship's steering wheel) for the Cape's pilot house.

 

 I considered carving one from scratch, but noticed that Syren had two "mini kits" for ship's wheels, 15/16 inch (26.34 mm) and 1 ¼ inch (31.75 mm) diameter.

 

The kit wheels are ten spoke wheels, and the Cape's wheel had eight spokes. I originally estimated from the pilot house photo that the wheel was about 4 ½ feet diameter. So the 1 ¼ inch wheel would be closet. But I have since  found a blueprint that says the wheel was 48 inches diameter – 1 inch at 1:48 scale. So this wheel is a bit oversized. But only the top will be visible in the model's pilot house, so this is good enough!

 

If I had the proper tools I might try making a wheel, but the Syren kit is a lot simpler, and can be finished faster. So I decided to order the Syren kit and see how it works out.

 

Here is a build log for the Syren 1 ¼ inch Ship's Wheel kit.

 

 

 

The kit comes in a small plastic bag with seven small pieces of laser cut Castello Boxwood and a kit label. You must visit the Syren web site to get the instruction sheet PDF file.

 

The instructions caution to not use CA (cyanoacrylate) glue for assembly. It sets too fast, and you need to be able to align parts before the glue hardens. Syren recommends water soluble yellow glue. I used Sig-Bond aliphatic resin.

 

The instructions say to sand all sheets lightly to remove laser char. These are solid wood sheets, not plywood, and they have grain. If you bend the thin sheets along the grain they will break. Handle with care!

 

The two largest sheets must be carefully aligned and glued together to create a jig for the wheel assembly. The ten round holes in the bottom sheet should line up in the center of ten arc holes in the top sheet. I used the shank of a 3/32 inch (0.094 inch, 2.4 mm) drill bit to align the center holes.

 

 

Next you should remove the "rim segments" – the short arc pieces – and carefully sand or file the curved edges to remove char. The short end sides should not have the char removed so they will fit tightly in the assembly jig holes.

 

The instructions suggest using 320 grit sandpaper and sanding lightly to remove char. I used a small "D" cross section file and used very light pressure.

 

I used tweezers to hold all of the small pieces firmly while removing the char. Some of these parts are only 0.025 inch (0.6 mm) thick and fragile. By filing only where the tweezers hold them I avoided bending the parts. Even so, I did break off a bit of one of the "C" shaped pieces, but it glued back together nicely with Duco Cement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It didn't take long to remove the char from all the parts. Extra pieces are included for the rim segments and spokes in case you lose or break one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next step was to place the rim segments into the positions in the jig. Here you see seven of these pieces in the holes in the jig, and three more waiting to be placed. They are not glued!

 

I found it necessary to file the curved sides a bit to remove all of the char before the pieces would fit into the jig. The rim segments are thicker than the jig piece and stand proud.

 

 

 

 

 

Next the ring "C" pieces were glued to the rim segments. You must use glue sparingly, placing a small drop on the rim segments to ensure that you don't glue anything to the jig. Clean up any glue that squeezes out.

 

Here two ring pieces have been glued in place and the third is waiting. Position these carefully over the rim pieces so a bit of the rim segments shows on both sides.

 

I used Sig-Bond aliphatic resin to glue the parts together. It is slow setting and that allowed me to center the ring pieces on the rim segments. I allowed the glue to set several hours before working with these pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next the wheel hub was made by gluing a "star piece" to a circular disc. I used the 3/32 inch drill bit as a mandrel to ensure that the pieces were centered correctly.

 

After the glue set I scraped the char from the star piece. I probably should have done this before gluing the pieces together. Any glue that squeezed out was removed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the glue had set the wheel rim was removed from the jig. To do this I pushed through the holes from the back of the jig, one at a time gently until the ring was free. The wheel spokes will fit into the gaps between the rim pieces.

 

The "C" pieces are very thin and will break if you put too much force in any one position. Work slowly and work the piece free a bit at a time.

 

After it is free from the jig you can sand both sides of the ring to make them smooth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wheel spokes have square cross sections when removed from the sprue. The instructions say to remove the char from the square parts that fit into the ring and the hub, but leave the char on the parts that need to be rounded. This makes it easier to see the places that need to be rounded, and those that should remain square.

 

I used a motor tool to spin the spokes and the D cross section file to turn the parts between the ring and hub. The handles on the ends of the spokes were also fashioned with the file.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The instructions say to turn all fourteen of the spokes provided with the kit before trying to place any on the ring and hub. You will get better at it as you go, and afterward you can select the ten best spokes to use in your ship's wheel.

 

You can see where the file slipped on the bottom spoke and rounded the edges of the square segment close to the handle. Another spoke has a handle that is too large.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next the spokes must be trimmed to length. The jig has a pattern that can be used to trim off the extra material.

 

The ends that fit into the notches in the star piece of the hub need to be filed to a "\_/" blunt point shape to fit

 

 

 

 

 

All of the pieces need to be the right length so the square cross section pieces fit between the ring and the hub. This was the most difficult part of the build.

 

I used the drill bit to center the hub on the jig. The holes in the jig were used to align the ring centered on the hub. Double sided tape held the ring in place while each spoke was trimmed  to the same length.

 

The spoke on the right is trimmed so the square section at the ring aligns on the inside with the edge of the ring. The piece on the left is a bit too long, so the inner part of the square section is too far out from the hub. I filed some off of the hub end until it was the correct length.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With all the spokes the correct length it was time to glue them to the hub and the ring. Again, it was necessary to be careful that the ring, hub and spokes were not glued to the jig.

 

For this job I used Duco Cement. It makes a good bond between wood pieces and takes a bit longer than CA to set so the pieces can be repositioned as necessary. After the glue set the surface was sanded smooth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next the remaining "C" pieces were glued to the ring. I used Sig-Bond glue for this.

 

The "C" pieces must be positioned carefully to be centered on the rim pieces.

 

After the glue set the wheel was carefully lifted from the double sided tape. Then both sides were sanded with 150 grit paper to reduce the thickness of the "C pieces to about 0.012 inch (0.3 mm). Then they were finished with 220 grit sandpaper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The resulting wheel looks pretty good! I put a layer of shellac on it, and may follow up with more to darken it a bit.

 

There are a few places when some of the char is still visible, and this probably should be filed off.

 

If I had a lathe I might have turned some knurls or rings on the spokes like on the Cape's wheel. But I wasn't going to attempt this using a motor tool and a file!

 

The original wheel had some brass parts around the hub. I am not going to try this at 1:48 scale.

 

Now I just need a pilot house to put it in!

 

 

Edited Friday at 05:04 AM by Dr PR

[Jim Lad]

That wheel looks up to Chuck's usual standard, Phil. All you need now is a turkshead around the midships spoke!

 

John

[SaltyScot]

What a rewarding project. It helps enormously when the standard of the part is as good as this is. It looks good, Phil.