Forester 1900 by sheepsail - Model Shipways - 1:128

[sheepsail]

 

Since I cut some laser templates, it time to start a build log for the Forester.  I did extensive preliminary research in this (thread.)

 

The Forester was one of many West Coast lumber schooners.  These were built to similar plans and specifications. Without careful study it is hard to tell them apart.

(caption May. 1931 At west end of Government Island, from left to right: COMMERCE, SAMAR (built 1901; schooner, 4m) , JOHN ENA (built 1892; bark, 4m) dismasted and behind COMMERCE and SAMAR, DUNSYRE (built 1891; ship, 3m), FORESTER (built 1900; schooner , 4m) rigged down, PHILLIPINE (built 1899; schooner, 4m) jibboom in, JAMES ROLPH (built 1881; ship, 3m), GOLDEN SHORE (built 1899; schooner,4m), and GOLDEN GATE (built 1888; bark, 4m) )   

 

Of this class of ship, the Forester is probably the best documented.  It was built in 1900 and retired in the early 1930s after being used as a temporary fender during the construction of the Carquinez Bridge in the late 1920s.  This bridge complex is now interstate 80 near Mare Island, Vallejo. The ship was then used as a houseboat on the Martinez shoreline, by it's only captain Otto Daeweritz and later Charlie Fitzgerald.  In 1975 it burned to the water line.  The remaining parts of the lower hull remain in the regional shoreline park, visited by 1000s of people a year.   One of the more accessible large shipwrecks there are many photographs online showing it operational and in the slowly deteriorating condition.

 

In the early 1960s it was dis-masted and much of the ships rigging was removed by the SF maritime museum. Some of the items have also been spread about with parts used in the Tonga room (Tiki bar at the Fairmount San Francisco) Online searches show the bowsprit in San Diego.  Charlie Fitzgerald did his best to keep people from collecting souvenirs. These are said to be in collections about town.  I remember him shouting at me when I got too close to the ship.  I also watched the ship burn. It was in the evening and quite visible.  This is a photograph zoomed in taken from our driveway about a mile and half away shortly before the ship burned in 1975.

 

Research shows that the kit plans which are dated 1951-1957 are a composite of these ships.  Mostly Forester and Commerce.  Photos of both ships are included in the kit for detail suggestions.  The main differentiation is in the Officer's cabin windows which are rectangular in the Commerce plans and round port holes in Forester photographs. It looks like some of these were also extensivly modified when the ship was converted to a houseboat.  A third ship in photographs Phillipean was also used as a temporary fender in the 1920s.  At the time of writing this log the fate of the other ships is not known.  Over the last century it is possible there are some misattribution of these photographs. I created a thread here for discussion of these differences.  

 

There were at least two commercial 'kit' models labeled 'Forester' produced.  A "Yellow Box" Model Shipways and a plastic Lindburg model.  So at one time this was a popular ship to model.  No photographs of completed model from this kit were found other than the box photo.

 

This log will cover the Model Shipways example.  At the time of this log, there were a few of these for sale in various online marketplaces.  There is also a print dated 1968 which is based on the 1951 drawings. 

 

The kit is rather rough in contents. The instructions quite sparse. With only a few simple paragraphs describing the finishing of the hull. Which basically states to carve the bulwarks to size and then sand the hull to shape and paint it. This kit was missing many of the blocks and all of the metal fittings. So there will be quite a bit of kit bashing involved.   The kit also had a mostly complete set of plans, which was what I wanted.  The rest of the instructions and the plans do have drawings on things like rigging the bowsprite bob stays and the other masts.  Most of this is fairly generic, and would have been common knowledge to post war kitbuilders.

 

 

The first step was to make digital copies of the plans.  Ideally this would be done with a flat bed scanner.   For expediency  the images were photographed on a copy stand and stitched together using a panorama app.  The results were then traced in the program Lightburn for cutting on a large bed laser engraving machine.   

 

 

There was some pin barrel distortion in the center of the image.  Given the small scale of the model this was deemed acceptable and in some places compensated for. The resulting templates are a good fit for the plans themselves.  According to my 3/32 ruler these variations are within 3 inches of scale.

 

 

The sparse kit 'instructions.' do indicate that the stem and stern need the most fitting. which is consistent with the resulting templates.

For fun the full set of templates were test fitted to the hull block. This shows the close fit.

The laser leaves interesting waste (enough for a second plank on bulkhead model if desired.)  These were numbered.  one side of the template was also left longer to use as a handle for holding.  The templates also work as a sort of temporary cradle. 

 

 

Downside is the template sides tend to get soot over things, which can be wiped off.

 

-julie

 

[Wawona59]

It's nice to see someone build a West Coast Lumber Schooner.  This genre seems to have been ignored since I haven't seen too many lumber schooner models built.  I am eagerly anticipating the release of Bluejacket's West Coast Lumber model which is currently in development.  Bluejacket has informed me that they expect to release the kit sometime at the end of the year.  I'm planning to build the model as the Wawona, hence my screen name.  I visited the Wawona in 1966 as a cub scout field trip.  I also took my kids (now fully grown) to visit her when they were four and seven years old.  They pretended they were pirates.  Great memory.  I'm looking forward to following your build of the Forester.

 

Edited July 26 by Wawona59
fix typos

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Julie, great introduction to your build log. Good luck!

[schooner]

Hi Julie,

 

I'll be following along with interest since I bought a MS Forester on Ebay a few months ago. My intent was to cut the hull in half for a half hull model (maybe even 2 of them!) that I could ship to my sister who lives on Grays Harbor WA, which around 1900 was the biggest lumber port in the world. Trying to ship a fully rigged model to the West Coast would be prohibitively expensive, plus gifting someone a cased ship model might lead to one of those "Gee, thanks, I guess..." moments.

 

My kit seems to have all the fittings and I've been thinking of buying another kit like yours where the seller says "parts missing" for the half hull model and using my kit for a rigged version for me.

If you are going to use the hull just as a template for bulkheads keep me in mind before you toss the hull, I might be interested in buying it.

 

You mentioned not being able to find a photo of the finished MS model - if you google "schooner forester model" and look under images a nice one pops up right away.

 

Good luck

Tim

[sheepsail]

2 hours ago, schooner said:

You mentioned not being able to find a photo of the finished MS model - if you google "schooner forester model" and look under images a nice one pops up right away.

Giggle customizes the results depending on location.  So I get different results for that search depending where I am and what I have viewed in the past.   A few months back I got next to nothing.  Now I am flooded with results.  I have been doing a lot of reverse image searching.   This data is out there if one has patience and perseverance. 

 

There is a craigslist image which shows a completed model.  This same listing with the same photo is also on eBay.  The auction states this is a what it should look like.  That one now comes up near the top of my search.  This is what I was referring to as the 'box' photograph.  If this kit is as rare as some indicate, now is the time to get one, as these things tend to turn up in in batches. Or at least they do with watches and cameras.  The seller I bought mine from has another much like it.

 

I started nibbling on the wood to fit the templates, so I will be doing what I can to complete this.   Not sure what I will do with the templates and cores when I am done.    It would be nice to see others working on this.

 

[catopower]

Hi Julie, those templates look great, and I'm surprised at how closely the wooden hull fits them.

 

I'm curious, do you have your own laser cutter? Or are you using a maker space somewhere?

 

In any case, between you doing all this research on the Forester and other west coast lumber schooners, and Bluejacket developing their kit, I'm starting to feel like I should resurrect my C.A. Thayer build... 🤔

[sheepsail]

Starting to get more serious with modeling.  I chopped the bulwarks and deck houses off the block.

 

 

Removing the fore and aft  rails worked great.  So I got a bit bold.  And the saw got away from me as one would expect.  This was an older Delta saw (nearly impossible to get blades for.)  The center barely fit under with it all the way up.  The block got stuck.  So I had to reverse the block and the angle was different.  I plan to deck this model anyway, so it will be a bit more work to level it back out.  The goal was to preserve as much of the blocks as possible for later re use.

 

 

The plan is to use the laser engraver to make a lot of the fittings.  I have a fairly detailed photo (although the contrast on the hull could be better)  This shows the forward deck, Donkey engine, and crew quarters.    This is under cut, so I decided to cut back to station 2.

 

 

The templates work great.  So I started laying out the top view which should help position the decks. 

 

 

 This will also let me laser cut timberheads for the bulwarks.   I have a small drum thickness sander, what I use for organ pipes.  Also a bunch of old scrap wood to plane down.  Some pipes get as thin as 2mm.  Which can actually seem fairly large, when working with small things.  

 

The plans of the aft structures are a bit different than the photos.  Photos show a wider companion way.  Which also sort of looks like a pilot house, as there is a round port hole on the starboard side. Some photos show a door in in the narrow side. 

 

I doubt that I will model the sails (pretty as they are.)   I think Charlie was a bit of a compulsive hoarder.  From what I remember the decks were covered in all sorts of junk. It was hard to actually see up there.  The field glasses we had 50 years ago were not all that great. I sort of remember it was a jumble of stuff. This was after pretty much what ever could be stripped was.  

 

It is also hard to make out If the Donkey engine was still present in the later years.  The plans do not show the skylights on either end of the crew quarters/mechanical room that are in the photos.

 

So the question remains, to model in the operational state?  Or in the later state when it was first laid up when most of the rigging was still present.

 

-julie

 

[sheepsail]

Cut out some deck templates last night.  Wound up making 3 sets as I got the settings/ origin wrong. 

 

Here it is sailing on a wooden sea...

 

 

None of this is actual modeling wood. Just mdf paneling with a faux wooden grain on one side.  This is mostly to get a feel for scale, now small wood for decking or side planking would need to be.  I did draw lines for the crew quarters roof. 

The kit came with a bunch of sticks, Including some what look intended for masts.  They are a bit undersized.  These masts always look like telephone poles.  They do fit into the main deck template for which I have three.  I do find it impressive that they dry fit into the template (which will be used for drilling the steppes. 

 

Does also give an idea for the Bulwarks and timberheads.  The mdf bends nicely.   The included tiny sticks also bend surprisingly well.  Will be interesting to see what the thickness sander does.   I am thinking that I might be able to laser etch some of this detail.

 

The tide was way out this morning so I received some photos of the remaining mast shroud turnbuckle.  Looks like these were just bolted into the planks.   Friday and Sat AM should be '-' a foot or so.  In the photos there is no real deadeye.  It almost looks like the shrouds were wire rope.

 

It is also interesting that much of the ship was bolted together, with what look like carriage bolts.

 

-julie

 

[Wawona59]

Hi Julie, I've been following your Forester build.  Being from the Seattle and Puget Sound area, I've developed a keen interest in our maritime history.  Lumber was a huge industry and there were shipyards scattered all around the Puget Sound area at the turn of the 19th century.

Regarding sails, I would build your Forester with a full compliment of sails.  Master ship modeler Tom Lauria has posted a series of videos on YouTube on how to make sails using Silkspan. 

 

Carry on with your build.  I'll be following with interest.

  

[sheepsail]

Another field trip this morning.  There was a -0.3 foot tide.  So most of the wreak was exposed.  There is a YT video of a kid running around the wreak when it is in this condition.  I found though that the mud is pretty soft, so one would sink down about a foot or so into it.

 

I loaded in more of the plans to lightburn.  Then copied over the existing templates what I cut with the laser.

 

There was too much tilt between the two images.  Bit lazy to re photograph them.  I was attempting to align the two half images with the shroud stays. So having looked for a couple days at these on the plan this was the photo I wanted.  Shows some nice construction detail.

 

 

I also notice there were a few of these braces visible near the stern.  This is the port side looking aft.  Such would be a good candidate for the fiber laser, such could be cut from old used razor blades. 

 

 

Looks like the ship has a few visitors.  See if you can spot them.

 

There was an interesting piece of driftwood.  I took some photos of it.

 

There was a time when such things were fair game, now with 1000s of people enjoying this it is probably best to leave it in place.   Would be fun to use some actual wood in the model.  Not sure how often that is done.  But this is not the place to do that.  Besides I like the pun.

 

I probably should make one of those archeological poles with the tape on them. Although for the most part it is hard to get close to the actual wreak.  Which is quite large.  The driftwood was about 2 feet by 10 or so inches.   It is interesting to study the wood.  Looks like common fir, not to different than framing lumber.  Nice straight grain.  Probably excellent for making a violin, since it has been pickled in brine for 50 years.

 

Here is a closeup of the critters what were attached to it.  Can not really have a ship without barnacles.   

 

 

While I was there,  group of about 20 people came by to pose for a group photo with the wreak in the background.   Pretty good for something that has been rotting away for 50 years.    Probably will not be much visible in the next 10 to 20 years or so.  Surprising that there is so much metal.  Some accounts were that some of these ships were burned just to recover the metal.  What looked earlier like carriage bolts, are probably spikes used to hold things together.  Which make me think of Nemi and Sutton Hoo where only the spikes were left. 

 

I am thinking of hacking away more of the bow on the model, slotting back to the samson post.  May also cut into the front where the lumber loading doors were.  In the photo the planking changes direction at that point.  Wonder how they closed them to keep them water tight?  No hinges are visible in the photographs.  The instructions show some large (almost out of scale) hinges.  

 

-julie