Need small repair done on jibboom of Le Superbe model

[Mr. Matt]

Hello all,

 

To be upfront with you I must disclose that the only reason I joined this forum is because I am in need of help and am hoping someone here might be either able to or knows someone that can. Let me explain:

 

I live in Rochester, NY area (between Buffalo and Syracuse) and was in France a couple weeks ago. At an antique fair I came across a wooden model of La Superbe. I collect 17th and 18th and 19th century nautical antiques and had to have it for my collection because I personally could never build anything like it. 

 

It was not delivered to my hotel until 5:30 on a Friday night and I flew out on Saturday morning. No time to take it to a packaging store so I scrambled to find what I could at local bazars. I ended up with a large duffle bag (yes, a duffle bag) and lots of packing. I did a damn good job packing it up, but it is still in a duffle bag. So, at the airport I explained the delicate nature of the contents of the bag to the ticket agent who in turn got her supervisor involved, who in turn got the ground crew supervisor involved and hand carried it to the plane and into the cargo hold. WOW.

 

Unfortunately, when it arrived, the jibboom had broken. I have reached out to several model clubs around the area to see if anyone of their members could make the repair or point me in a direction. Crickets...

 

Now I'm getting desperate to find anyone with the skill set to save this ship. I am willing to deliver it anywhere within a few hundred miles. Please reach out to me via private message if you can repair it or know someone that could potentially. Thank you very much for reading-Matt

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Mr Matt, welcome to MSW. You should remove your email address from your post. If someone can be of assistance they can PM you for details. Good luck.

[Y.T.]

Cheer up. As this is a wooden model, everything can be repaired on this model. Carrying sails ship model in the soft bag however is a mistake.

Edited October 26 by Y.T.

[Mr. Matt]

Hi Y.T,

 

Yes, I know putting it in a duffle bag was a roll of the dice however, I didn't have much choice that late at night and flying out the next morning. I am very fortunate that was the only damage. I was sweating bricks the entire flight back to the US. I even canceled my connecting flight in NYC and rented a car to drive the 7 hours the rest of the way home because I didn't want to risk damage being transferred between planes

Edited October 26 by Mr. Matt
grammer

[ccoyle]

I have taken the liberty of modifying your post title to more accurately reflect what you are looking for. I know we have some capable members who live up that way. One detail you did not disclose is whether you are willing or able to pay for the work -- that might attract more takers.

 

Cheers!

[Mr. Matt]

Hi Chris,

 

Sorry for the late reply. I appreciate you taking the initiative to retitle the post and of course I would expect to pay for a repair that I cannot perform myself. I am not "one of those people" that expects everything for nothing. Unfortunately, I've met a few of them and they are awful lol

[Dziadeczek]

You probably could do it by yourself fairly easily, by replacing a wooden (?) dowel properly shaped for a jibboom and rerigging this part. Just don't forget before the removal of all ropes to take a series of close-up photographs of the existing situation to make sure where each line goes and replace them later on, one-by-one.

Good luck,

Thomas

[paul ron]

i see the break... its not very clean. but if you can mate the parts, epoxy it and splint it with a sleeve.  it looks like you can also wrap it with thread so it wouldn't look out of place yet still be durable. 

 

 

to send it out for repairs... your main problem would be transporting the ship and risking more damage. best bet is to pull up your big boy pants n attempt doing it yourself. its not as hard as it looks.

 

oh... try asking a hobby shop if they know someone in your town? maybe someone here is a neighbor?

 

good luck.

Edited Friday at 09:43 PM by paul ron

[tmj]

I agree with everyone so far. #1, the repair should be quite simple. #2, "Do Not" mess with the splintered ends where the break is. Simply 'dob' some clear PVA glue into the splintered ends, press the two parts tightly together, wipe all squeeze-out off with a 'very moist' paper towel, cover the joint with saran wrap, then 'tightly' wrap the freshly glued joint with string until the glue dries. Keep a close eye on things for the first half hour or so just to make certain that you have the splinted pieces absolutely straight, and nothing shifts, and/or goes crooked on you while the glue is setting up. be creative in bracing to temporarily hold things firmly in place. Give it a solid day or two before unwrapping the bandages. Being wrapped in cling wrap will trap the joint in a humid environment and effectively delay the PVA glue's typical drying time. Once unbandaged, give it another day to dry, then use 400 grit sandpaper to smooth things out. You'll then need to observe the tint/colors of the surrounding finish, paint, etc. and determine what type of 'new' finish would best make your new repair blend in with its surroundings. It's doubtful that you, nor anyone else will ever make the repair totally invisible, but if you do a good job of this repair nobody will ever notice it unless they put it under a microscope, per se. Last, but not least... if there is uneven tension on the rigging, wanting to pull things in one direction, you'll need to readjust that tension to balance it out and keep such extra stress(s) off of that repaired joint. Not totally necessary, but good insurance for future integrity and longevity!   

  Good luck!   

Edited Friday at 10:20 PM by tmj

[AON]

tmj's suggested repair above is the quickest and easiest! Once you wrap it with the cling wrap you might also apply a splint to hold the assembly in place using something like toothpicks and elastic bands or string if it is still on the model with rigging.

 

Other option is to remove the pieces, drill both broken ends and insert a metal pin and epoxy them. The metal pin gives some additional strength. Alignment on a break has always been a problem for me.

 

Another option is to remove the pieces, cut a slot through the two broken ends and insert a biscuit (wafer of wood) and epoxy it all back together. This is a little easier to align.

 

I read you reached out to local clubs.

Does this include the Model Shipwrights of Western NY located in Rochester?

 

I might be able to help you contact them.

PM me if you'd like some help.

 

Alan O'Neill

Model Shipwrights of Niagara (MSON)

 

Edited 10 hours ago by AON

[Jared]

I agree with Alan.  Drill center holes in the 2 broken pieces where they joined and insert a steel or brass rod then epoxy them together.  I broke a very thin mast on my Flying Fish and this method saved the model.  Yiu can see this with photos at #373 on my Flying Fish build log.

Edited 9 hours ago by Jared

[hollowneck]

Matt,

Please check your Private Messages*.

If you haven't found a more local source for your model's restoration, I may be able to help. Judging by your photos, it appears a competent repair can be made with only a few hours work but will require an overnight period afterwards to achieve a permanent fix. You'll also likely want to have the affected rigging adjusted once the bowsprit/jibboom is fixed; this is often the case with spar repairs.

* upper right corner on the home page ("messages" within the double dialogue bubbles)