Rattlesnake by scott larkins - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64

Martin W · August 20, 2015

Hi Scott -- It's been way too long since I checked in on your progress. Whoa! it looks great! I really like the sails, and your rigging is well done.

Congratulations on the new bathroom. We did that this past spring (and found a squirrel nest behind the old tub ). After the huge mess was cleared up, we were relieved and happy to have a new, bigger, updated bathroom.

Cheers,

Martin

scott larkins · August 31, 2015

Guys,

I need help. A while back, last year perhaps, someone posted a pic of some Rattlesnake base/stand measurements made out of wood that would "cradle" the ship hull. It had measurements drawn and all of that good stuff. I would like to make those stands and not rely on the brass ones you purchase that basically only hold on to the keel of the ship. To me that seems too "iffy" to hold a ship after spending almost 2 years building it. I can't imagine it would take much to snap the keel. I did a search and obviously came up blank.

Do any of you have the link or can point me in the right direction? Thanks.

JSGerson · August 31, 2015

I too have my misgivings about those keel pedestals. Unless you built the hull to take the screws from the pedestal and hold them strong, I believe to cradle is the way to go, If you are referring to the type of stand shown in this Mamoli image, a simple way to get the shape of the hull is to use a contour gauge. The one shown is from Micro-Mark. Just transfer the contour to slabs of wood and use a jig-saw.

scott larkins · August 31, 2015

Yeah, that is what I am looking for as a stand but I was hoping not to purchase the contour guage. I'm only building this ship and the Niagara and then probably done with ships all together. I've already purchased a ton of things that will probably never be used after the Niagara is done. Don't mean to sound cheap, but realistic.

I will have to keep that in mind though if someone doesn't post the pic. I'd rather buy the guage, make a good solid base that actually holds the ship then fall to my knees crying and asking the gods why those metal little keel posts snapped my keel. LOL

Martin W · August 31, 2015

Didn't your kit come with the cradle stand? If it didn't, you probably don't even need the contour gague. Just measure the width of the hull where you want to cradle it, and then cut two matching cradles, with a couple of supports that run fore to aft. You could probably make this from scrap leftover from the bulkheads.

JSGerson · August 31, 2015

I think this is what Martin is referring to. Its a crude rendering but with a few added cross supports, taper the top edge, and maybe add a decoration or two, it would be simple to make, no gauge to buy, and most of all, do the job.

JSGerson · August 31, 2015

Here's the cradle I made for the Evergreen

scott larkins · August 31, 2015

Interesting cradles guys, thanks. I'll keep those in mind.

Martin W · September 2, 2015

Scott -- I looked through my boxes of remnants last night, certain that I had the cradle from my Rattlesnake kit. I couldn't find it, but I did come across the cradle for my current build, the Fly. Here are the four pieces laid out:

You can see how the two end pieces are cut to hold the hull, and the two side pieces are simply the braces for the ends. You can add decoration to the sides, and you can use better wood than this ply that you see here. But overall, this is the basic idea.

Hope it helps,

Martin

scott larkins · September 4, 2015

Thanks. I think I'll base, no pun intended, my base from a rib drawing from the print pages and adjust accordingly to the finished product. I like that cross bar and then cut accordingly. Thanks all for the ideas and pics. Now I have at least a starting point.

scott larkins · September 5, 2015

Okay, finished the life boat's oars and roped the life boat onto the main deck. You can see in this first pick that I used, what I term, a poor man's laithe. I used my hand drill, put a small square dowel in, clamped in gently in my variable speed drill and then turned in on. As the dowel spun I gently cupped it in a strip of sand paper until the square dowel was round.