Charles W Morgan by Brucealanevans - FINISHED - Model Shipways

[GMO2]

Bruce,if you dont have Leavitt s book it is a worthwhile buy.On page 83 is a picture of the officer s table just aft of the mizzen.In the back there is an elevation showing the relative positions of the skylight,table and the deck beams above.Given that this would be scarecely visible through the skylight ,if at all,and only observable from the top of the mizzen,with the gaff,boom and all the rigging intervening it hardly seems worth doing.On the other hand,there are some things done just for our own enjoyment,even though noone else will likely ever see it.As for me,I am just hoping to do a half way credible job on the skylight itself.It is the only part of this project I dont look forward to. One thing about it~~if you can do the Morgan,you can do anything, because it s far from easy.~~~~Gary

[GMO2]

P.S.,looking at John s pictures of the skylight,if I can come up with a skylight clear enough to actually see through,I might try to indicate th beam structure in white.That skylight may call for a bottle or two of Bombay to recover from it.

[Brucealanevans]

Thanks much John - pictures are a great help!

Didn't know about the book Gary- I immediately ordered a used copy through Amazon.

I realize it probably won't make much difference especially with the beams blocking much of the view and the fact that only a part of the skylight is exposed at all, but I'm inclined to try just for the fun of it. The advantage of the approach is that the view can be artifically "lit" so that it shows up better. We'll see. Certainly I'll have to make certain I'm using brass rods to the proper scale. I agree that the skylight will be a heck of a fiddly project all by itself.

The part of the model I'm dreading are the 5 whale boats that have their interiors exposed. After building the MS New Bedford Whaleboat the concept of duplicating them in a tiny scale is daunting. But I suspect I'm a long way from facing that so I'll just ignore it for now.

I really like playing with 3d models and have made very detailed models of the Hunley submarine including the interior and all the workings and a large collection of Civil War Medical equipment (a whole other hobby).

Edited December 19, 2014 by Bruce Evans

[GMO2]

Glad you found a copy,and hope it helps with what you have in mind to do. There should be three fold out drawings in the back of the book. The last is a cutaway showing the arrangement of what you want to show. There is also a drawing of a rigging profile that shows a forward shelter deck,and four square stern windows.That is the configuration Ihave settled on. It represents the 1892~~1908 period,according to a note on the drawing.Ihave also been dabbling with the whaleboats.I ll post my experience with that when I learn a little more.

[Brucealanevans]

Hmm

Got a paperback copy and there are no fold out drawings.

Was this a feature of the hardcover version only?

There are some available used, but don't want to get another copy of the same thing only.

Edited December 24, 2014 by Bruce Evans

[GMO2]

Mine is a paperback copy. I went to Books~a~ Million Ithink it was and they ordered it for me. Mine was a new copy,so I think it is still in print.Let me look at the Mystick site and see if they have it. If not Iwill make a copy from mine and mail it to you if you would like. Menwhile have a very good Christmas~~~~Gary

[Brucealanevans]

I hate to order another copy in the hope that the inserts are in it.

If you can send me a copy of the elevation illustration, that would be great.

I PM'd you my address, in case you are able to.

Have a good holiday.

Bruce

[Brucealanevans]

Gary

Are there several versions of this book?

The page nuMbers you note for a picture of the mess table aft don't correspond to my paperback copy (mystic Seaport 1973) and in fact that picture doesn't appear anywhere in the book. No sail plan and no elevations.

Should I be looking for a different edition?

[Brucealanevans]

Ah, never mind.

Apparently I bought a copy of the first edition which is out of print. The revised edition has more stuff including structural drawings.

Ordered one from Mystic Seaport eBay site.

[GMO2]

That s the one I ve got,so Ithink you ll have what you need now. The Morgan is a fun project,and you are doing a fine job on yours. I have gotten a lot of understanding from John s gallery on fitting the davits and such to the outer bulwarks~~~ details not always clear on the plans. One thing I take away from reading the book is trying to imagine living aboard in such a confined space for aslong as five years . That would be tough to endure.

[torpedochief]

You are doing great work on a great ship. She has to my favorite. Enjoy the build!!

 

Don

[Brucealanevans]

Fair amount of time to work in the shipyard the last couple of weeks, so I've made further progress on the hull.

 

I did have what can only be described as a disaster trying drill holes to get the angled anchor chain pipes in place. I broke so much of the front end work I actually just cleaned up the shipyard and walked away, not at all sure I would be able to proceed. Had a brainstorm and went back and was able to do an acceptable repair over the next few hours, but I will not be able to actually feed the anchor chain through the chocks. So no anchor chain on deck, and anchors will be in stored position. The more I've thought about this, the better I feel about not having the chains running across the deck.

 

At this point next need to add the sea steps and the pinrails - I think I'll wait with the channels until I have the hull permanently mounted since I'll have to rest it on its side to drill the keel holes for the mounting.

 

Here's the overall look now.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Bruce Evans

[Brucealanevans]

Thanks to John for technique for lettering, which I was worried about.

Done in a black text block in Microsoft Word, then cut out and applied with decoupage glue and coated with 2 thin coats.

 

I "glazed" the stern ports with a product from Micro Mark - a white viscous liquid that can be drawn across small windowed areas and dries clear.

 

I ended up doing the 3 starboard and larboard ports the same way, but without the circular frame.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Bruce Evans

[Brucealanevans]

Instead of painting the area black that will be under the skylight, I put in a "picture" from a 3d modeling program. Not much if any will be visible, but it was fun. I'm going to be using very thin rod/wire for the skylight so some of this, at least forward, may show.

 

I'll probably mount a compass in the aft end of the skylight (on top of the virtual beams) as shown in photos of the vessel. Certainly won't show, but I'll know it's there.

 

Put the scupper pipes in as well, just for fun.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Bruce Evans

[Brucealanevans]

Getting pretty close to starting on all the deck furniture, but every time I look at the plans, I find some detail to add that's easier when the deck is clear.

 

I did put in the 4 freeing ports (on the inside). One is visible on the far left side of the bulwark in the second picture.

Haven't decided if I will make them visible on the outside with incised outlines and small hinges, but I suspect I will.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Bruce Evans

[jwvolz]

Nice clean work Bruce, she looks good. 

[texxn5]

Looks great Bruce, I really like how your lettering turned out, and I'm glad someone else had success with the same process. Confirms to me that it's great way to do it, I especially liked how the blacks merged nicely and you don't see any difference in color. Your doing a great job my friend, keep it up and soon you'll surpass me. By the way, I sent you a question by PM on one of our old posts.

John

[Brucealanevans]

The Hull has been declared "done" and mounted on a base.

Will begin working on deck structures next.

Plan to take my time and have the discipline to toss and start over if I'm not happy with anything.

I've been working on this for a year and see no need to rush.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Bruce Evans

[Brucealanevans]

Starting on deck structures, and decided to start with the hardest: the skylight.

Exactly as advertised - the toughest modeling I have done in my short wooden ship career.

After a couple of days of frustration, I made an executive decision that 9 rods in the top panes and 5 in the side panes simply wasn't happening. The tiny basswood strips split every time.

Finally developed a routine, which I'll illustrate with the following pictures.

This "micro" cutting frame and saw, with an adjustable stop (Micro Mark) was very useful for, in this case, cutting 8 mm pieces from a 1/32 x 1/16 strip.

For the side windows, I needed 5 of these.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Bruce Evans

[Brucealanevans]

I made a simple jig to hold the five strips in alignment (reinforced with a piece of tape) that I could put into the x-y apparatus on my drill press. This allowed me to be certain the holes in each strip were in alignment and allowed me to drill cleaner, more well spaced holes than I was able to do with a twist drill.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Bruce Evans

[Brucealanevans]

I put a piece of wood into the window to hold the work while I was adjusting. It had rapidly become clear that otherwise slats or rods would squirrel out and I couldn't finish one until I came up with this. Not necessary on the single panes for the top since those could rest on the table during construction.

Then I lined up the slats, being careful to retain the orientation from the drilling in the jig.

 

I decided to use very small diameter steel rod/wire rather than copper, because it was smaller, and wouldn't bend during adjustment. The perfectly straight rods give a better look, in my opinion.

After cutting a piece slightly smaller than the distance between the pillars, I then would ease the rod through the same hole in successive slats. Trying to put all the rods through the holes and then dropping the assembly into place seemed like a better method, but it didn't work for me. The holes in the slats (smallest drill bit that my drill press would handle) didn't "hold" the rods, and they would inevitably slide out during the manuvering. After multiple tries I had to go to this method, which is maddenly tedious but I was usually able to succeed in one or two tries. Magnification helped to align the rods and the holes in successive slats.

Very difficult, especially for someone who has an espresso addiction and two espresso machines in the kitchen.

The slats could be moved around to allow a fine tweezer access to guide the rod to the next slat hole. One twitch and the whole thing flies out to begin again. It worked best to put the first and last rods in. Once they were all the way in and the rods could drop between the pillars, things were more stable for the following rods.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Bruce Evans

[Brucealanevans]

Once all the rods were in, gluing the end slats to the pillars fixes everything in place. After adjusting the position of the other slats, I fixed them in place with a drop of thin Zap at each joint.

One more side window, and then the two small end windows to go. All the windows for the top are already done.

Looking forward to painting, adding the "glass" and assembly this weekend, perhaps.

 

This thing has been a real challenge to make - everything is so darn small!

I hope with some sanding and a good paint job it will look the way I wanted it to.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Bruce Evans

[Guest Tim I.]

I am enjoying following your log. Your Morgan looks great!

 

- Tim

[texxn5]

Hhi Bruce, nice progress. These deck structures will be fun and test your creativity. Don't spare the details, just be careful and don't get too tall. Those are some nice tools you have, work pretty well don't they? lol. Your skylight looks good. I didn't have the luxury of decent tools when I made mine. Some of the brass rods got crooked and I couldn't get them straight without splitting the basswood. I didn't have a press so they were done by hand. Some good hardwood would have helped at this point. Good for you that your jig is working. Can't wait to see the end product. Keep up the good work. I have just completed building the masts, now ready to start Standing Rigging. I'll keep checking in to see your progress. Nice!

[Brucealanevans]

So, here is the skylight in place.

I'm relatively pleased with the result, although there's too much overhang of the top window panes - the coaming I put in place was thicker than it should have been so the base part was slightly smaller, and I didn't allow for that when I built the top from the plans.

Overall tho, pleased with the result. 2 weeks of intermittent work.

 

Next on to the next most fiddly bit - the tryworks. After a break.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Bruce Evans

[texxn5]

Nice work Bruce. It really is a fiddly thing. I didn't have my press or the X-Y table at the time I made mine and it sure makes a difference with those tiny Basswood slats. Yours are nice and straight....keep up the good work.

John

[Brucealanevans]

Update.

Here's the tryworks. I haven't put the side braces and wood sheathing on yet.

This took time but was not really hard. Took some time mixing paint to get a good brick color that wasn't too red - the admiral didn't like the color on my test wall of bricks.

Almost 500 bricks!

I'm relatively pleased, although the eye goes immediately to the "errors". One chimney is a bit wider, and the walls sloped in enough that I had to mount the cauldrons below the top rather than having the room to drop them through the top.

However, I like the overall effort as my modeling skills improve (3rd wooden ship build).

After the supports/sheathing, probably will make the tank and scrap box before moving on to the next most fiddly bit - the winch. I'll have to dry fit the bowsprit and put the bowsprit bitt in place first, I think, and likely the framing for the anchor deck.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Bruce Evans

[texxn5]

Looks great Bruce, it's a fun little project. I like the colors. You're moving right along.

John

[Blue Ensign]

Another fine whaler in the making, some very fine detailing you have produced there Bruce, nicely done.

 

B.E.

[gerty]

Very nice work - great job !