Arethusa by Elia - 1907 Knockabout Banks Fishing Schooner

[Mirabell61]

Beautiful schooner Elia,

 

superbe modeling !

 

Nils

[Omega1234]

Hi Elia

 

Not only is your ship superb, but so to are your photography skills!  Amazing!!

 

All the best.

[Elia]

Steve, Russ, Nils, Alfons, and Omega,

 

Thanks! And to all the 'likes' thank you too!

 

Russ - those are checker boards. They are temporary barriers put in place when sorting and processing fish hauls coming off of the dories. They were fairly common in the Banks fisheries. The mackerel seiners didn't use them (as far as I am aware of), while the cod and halibut fishing boats did. I don't know why more models don't show them. The link in an earlier post in this log to a Ronnberg model shows them, as do period photos of schooners in the early 1900s.

 

As to the photography - a bright sunny day helps a lot (light light light). I shoot a Nikon D7000 with an old (but crisp and sharp) 35-70mm f2.8 lens.

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

[Mahuna]

Hi Elia:

 

I just discovered your log - beautiful work, and fine engineering of the small parts.  I'll be following along with the rest of your build.

 

Frank

[Omega1234]

Steve, Russ, Nils, Alfons, and Omega,

 

Thanks! And to all the 'likes' thank you too!

 

Russ - those are checker boards. They are temporary barriers put in place when sorting and processing fish hauls coming off of the dories. They were fairly common in the Banks fisheries. The mackerel seiners didn't use them (as far as I am aware of), while the cod and halibut fishing boats did. I don't know why more models don't show them. The link in an earlier post in this log to a Ronnberg model shows them, as do period photos of schooners in the early 1900s.

 

As to the photography - a bright sunny day helps a lot (light light light). I shoot a Nikon D7000 with an old (but crisp and sharp) 35-70mm f2.8 lens.

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

 

Hi Elia

 

Thanks for the explanation about the photos.  In fact, they're looking so good on my MacBook Pro, that I actually wondered if they were computer generated imagery!  Makes my phone camera look very amateurish indeed!!!

 

All the best!

[captainbob]

Elia, nice to see you back, you've been missed.  She's a lovely boat.

 

Bob

[Elia]

Frank, Bob, Omega,

 

Thank you all. Bob - it is very nice to have a liitle time to work on the boat, and share/interact with everyone here. I am many times just quietly catching a look at MSW, even though I don't have much to add.

 

Omega - I do sometimes shoot photos with my phone and on many 'quick' shots it does a surprisingly good job. But when the opportunity presents itself - I always prefer shooting with my DSLR.

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

[Elia]

Shipwrights,

 

A little more progress on Arethusa - masts and spars.  I've completed the basic shaping of the lower masts, upper masts, and the booms.  In this photo, top to bottom, are the main mast, the fore mast, the main topmast, the fore topmast, the main boom, the fore boom, and the jumbo boom.  Note the scale on the bottom of the green cutting mat in inches.  The grid squares are 0.5 inches per side.  The main and fore masts are just slightly greater in diameter than 3/8 inch.  All were formed from square stock bass wood stock.

This closer in photo shows the peculiar shaping of Gloucester schooner spars.  While circular in cross section, they are decidedly not axisymmetric.  The edge of the spar adjacent the sail is straight.  The opposing side is tapered.  The maximum diameter occurs 2/3 distance from the jaws (at the mast) to the tip.  My spars shown still contain a little excess material at each end of the spar.  They are shown with their jaw ends to the right in the picture.

 

[these were taken with my camera phone - quickie photos on the dining table]

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

[Alfons]

You make it look so easy Elia! The result looks spot on.

 

Beeing fully aware of the compley geometry of the masts and spars, just the thought of carving them from a square stock makes me more or less afraid. I have made attempts in making my masts from a circular stock, it didnt turn out to well I think. The spars are even more complex

 

Do you have any additional hints or tricks that you would like to share?

 

/Alfons

Edited September 16, 2014 by Alfons

[Elia]

Hi Alfons,

 

Thanks!  I pretty much follow the steps I outlined in the articles and downloads section:  Making a Mast (or Yard) from Square Stock
 

http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-masts-and-yards.php

 

I have begun using a hand plane instead of the large file when shaping the octagonal sections, and on the smaller spars using a Michi 3/8" wide flat chisel.  Other than that it is just measuring with proprotional dividers or using tick strips to locate at given length locations the marking points for lines/curves which mark the octagon edges.  I find using a variety of ships curves helps to get flowing curves for shaping the spars.  Once the octagonal shape has been formed I usually just sand the 8 edges off using progressively finer grit sand paper.

 

To be honest - I find shaping a straight square stock strip (of bass wood, for instance) far easier than shaping a round birch dowel.  And once one has the done the process once or twice it really doesn't take that much time.

 

And to all those who've 'liked' my posts - thank you very much!

 

 

Elia

[michael mott]

Very Nice work on the spars Elia, I agree that once you get the hang of shaping the masts from square stock it is so much easier , I think it is because you begin with knowing absolutely where you are with the material.

 

Michael

[Alfons]

Elia, once again you prove to be a most valuable source of information and inspiration Thank you. 

 

Challenge accepted, I will make my masts and spars "the right way"! It will take a while before I can start though, but now it doesn't feel like a potential holdback anymore. 

 

I fully agree with Michael as well, a big problem I had starting from a round dowel was to find points of reference, especially by the square section at the top of the main mast.

 

Keep up the nice work.

/Alfons

[Mfelinger]

Elia, nice and neat work, beautiful ship, bravo.

 

Matija

[Elia]

Matija,

 

Thank you very much. I have slowly been puttering along since my last updste. I am thoroughly enjoying watching your Bluenose build.

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

 

PS thank you also to those that have visited my log during my 'quiet' period and 'liked' it.

[ASAT]

Elia, masts and spars are looking great, cant wait to see some more of your awesome rigging talents. I was always blown away by your Oneida realism.

[Elia]

Hi Lou,

 

Thank you on the masts and spars. And thanks for stopping in on Arethusa. I look forward to rigging the ship and (currently) plan on a full set of sails. Right now I'm messing with making a dory.

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

[Dimitris71]

After a long absence from  the msw due to workload , just saw your progress in Arethusa.

Elia you did a great job !! She is absolutely gorgeous.

 

Dimitris

[Elia]

Hi Dimitris,

 

Thank you for the compliment, for the 'likes', and for stopping in on Arethusa. I work slowly these days, enough so that you could take another long break from MSW and still catch up with my progess again.

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

[Elia]

Hi Lawerence,

Thank you very much for the compliments. I look forward to seeing your Annie take shape. It looks like a beauty of a ship that will be quite attractive as a model. I thoroughly enjoyed building up the hull and planking my model. While there is a decent amount of spiling to the hull planks, these fishermen have such attractive hull shapes once planked. And there is actually quite a bit of variety inthe shapes - plumb stems, spoon bows, Fredonia hulls, sharpshooter and clipper bows, deep and shallow draft hulls, not to mention jib booms, pole bowsprits, semi-knockabouts, and knockabout rigs...

With the cold winter weather upon us my basement shop, my man cave, with the emphasis on "cave", is quite uncomfortable for modeling so right now I'm slowly puttering on the masts and spars. I built a dory I intend to use as a master and cast a bunch of them...but that is progressing slowly too.

Cheers

Elia

Edited January 8, 2015 by Elia

[Omega1234]

Hi Elia

 

Happy Birthday!!! 21 years old I presume?

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[IgorSky]

Hi Elia,

Happy Birthday! Good luck always and everywhere for you!

 

Best REgards!

Igor.

 

P.S. I can't send PM to you...

[Dimitris71]

Hello Elia, Have a great day... Happy Birthday!!! :) I cannot send you a pm either..

 

All the best

Dimitris

[Elia]

Patrick, Igor, Dimitris, Lawrence,

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! It was a very nice day. And I received some modeling stuff.

 

Patrick,

 

I've passed 50 by a few... it is hard to imagine/remember being 21... I'm quite happy with my current state (except for random aches and such). 

I'll go check on my mailbox - i must have too many things saved - I'll clear it out.

Cheers,

Elia

Edited May 1, 2015 by Elia

[russkramer]

Hi Ella -- Thought you'd like to see the painting I did last fall of ARETHUSA with a hard working crew aboard aother fishing schooner in the foreground. Keep up the good work on the model and thanks for the added inspiration.

 

Best, Russ

[Elia]

Russ,

 

Thanks for stopping in and sharing your work.  That is fantastic!  That painting captures much of what I imagine the energy on deck was when bring the catch in....with rolling seas...great stuff.  Just wondering - is that Arethusa in the background?

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

[Elia]

Shipwrights,

 

It has been some time since I last posted progress photos and I'll let you in on why there haven't been any... I think I really messed up. I was at the point of staining my masts and spars and decided to use some minwax stain. I applied the pre-stain conditioner, let sit the requisite time, wiped off the excess as directed, and applied the stain. I used the pre-stain conditioner having read that it helped create an even stain coloring, with reduced dark and light regions. I was very happy with the masts and spars in their unfinished state. I was horrified to see the results of the staining - very obvious dark and light regions. OMG as the kids text. Not good. Not only were they dark and light..I wasn't happy with the general pigment. So... I have created a thinned acrylic paint 'wash' to apply over the stain (oil based) to help even the overall look. We shall see. When I get a little further with trials I will show the results.

 

Elia

Edited May 2, 2015 by Elia

[Omega1234]

Hi Elia. Sorry to hear about what's happened. I hope you'll be able to sort it out and get back on track.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[CAd My Fingers]

That sucks about the blotching, Elia--hope your fix works! I've had the same thing happen...recently came across stuff called "blotch control wood conditioner." It works much better than pre-stain conditioners for getting more even staining on difficult wood.

 

Cheers,

Jay

[russkramer]

Hi Ella -- Thought you'd like to see the painting I did last fall of ARETHUSA with a hard working crew aboard aother fishing schooner in the foreground. Keep up the good work on the model and thanks for the added inspiration.

 

Best, Russ

Hi Elia -- yes, thats ARETHUSA in the background at the request of the client who commissioned the piece. I was fortunate to have access to Eric R's exceptional model in the Mystic Seaport collections. Can't find how to attach a photo of it here but i'll keep trying. I have lots of them if you think it would be helpful to you. Note the model is deliberately 'weathered', as though she just finished a busy season. Have detail shots of the masts too which show a very uneven finish due to the hoop wear. Best to e-mail me at russ@russkramer.com directly.

[russkramer]

OK here you go...