Gunboat PHILADELPHIA 1776 by Chuck Seiler - Scale 1:48 - from Model Shipways plans

[dgbot]

Fantastic keep up the good work

David B

[Chuck Seiler]

    I have another query for the gallery.  The mast for PHILADELPHIA was white pine.  If you look at the picture in thread #59, it appears they got a nice straight pine tree, stripped off the branches and smoothed it off.  What are your thoughts on making the mast with the bumps/imperfections as opposed to perfectly round?

[Chuck Seiler]

Thanks Dave.

[kurtvd19]

Chuck
You can always try out the look of the "bumpy" mast and if you don't like it make it round and smooth.  The problem that I see is that it might look to observers that you just did a poor job of the mast as it might not look as good at scale as it does full size.  But, you are building the model for yourself not the observer who might not appreciate the authenticity of the bumpy mast.  Share your efforts on this as you are ahead of me on the build and I am curious as to how it will look to scale.

Take care,

Kurt

[Chuck Seiler]

Thanks Kurt,

 

My intent is to enter it into the "Design in Wood" exhibit at the County Fair in June. I don't plan on winning anything, but I wanted to get it out in public. That may be a factor. Perhaps I will make 2 masts...

[captainbob]

Chuck,

 

The Spray had natural masts also.  I cut some 3/8” diameter twigs from a nearby tree, removed the bark, and let them dry. 

Check out the Spray in my signature and see what you think.

 

Bob

[BRiddoch]

I think it's a great idea Chuck.  After looking at Bob's Spray, I say "Go For It"!

 

           Bob R.

[Mike 41]

Chuck,

 

Making two masts is a good idea. One from pine and something like ash for the other. I would keep the lumps and bumps to a minimum.

 

Mike

[dgbot]

Chuck I agree with the above.  The Philly was built fast and cheap.  It would not have the finishing touches a normal vessel would have.

David B

Edited April 1, 2014 by dgbot

[Chuck Seiler]

Egad!!!!!   I need to get a-postin' before I slip to page 3.

 

Here are some shots of last week's work.  We don't need no stinkin' fancy-pants gudgeons!!!!  Just slap on some robust eyebolts....honest.  As indicated in previous posts, they could get away with a lot of things that could not if they planned on the ship being around awhile.

 

 

The rudder (AKA the bard door) is hung.  The tiller has not been added yet.  It will eventually stained the same color as the exterior hull.  The two 1"thickbattens were only on the starboard side.  They were nailed on to the rudder boards and helped hold it together.  The nail were supposed to be less obvious, but the stain enhanced them.

 

You will be hearing more about the hole in the top later.

[Larry_D]

One thought on the mast. It may be that the knots were not so visible when made. After being submerged for 200 years, the wood cells swell being waterlogged. Once the wood is exposed to air, the cells of the softer wood collapse, leaving the harder knots more prominent than they would have been when the mast was new. The knots may have been noticeable due to color differences, but probably not as prominent physically as they are now.

Larry Davis

[dgbot]

That is true but you have to take in scale as well.  Any knots or imperfectins would have to be pretty small.  If prominent they would would not have been wroth anything.

David B

[Chuck Seiler]

Larry,

    What you say may be true.  Looking at various pics of the actual PHILLY, I see it is pretty rough all over.  Not sure how smooth it was to begin with.  I have no good shots of the whole mast.  The one in post #59 and I have one more with a view slightly higher up.  Those bumps/knots are definitely prominent.  How noticable would they have been 200 years ago?  Who knows.  I am going with the smooth mast for the Fair presentation.  It gives mew time to think about it.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Chuck Seiler

[Chuck Seiler]

Progress continues.  I need to post n order to avoid slipping to page 3.

 

This weekend I am working on cats and dogs details, such as mounting eyebolts, bolting in the swivel gun brackets...and stuff.  I am also working on the mast and yards.

 

Last week I got most of the wood work finished for the mast and yards.  I am holding off on the knotty look for now.  Mainmast, topmast and both yards started off as square stock and were turned down in my highly sophisticated lathe...the main was chucked on the ol' Craftsman drill, while everything else went into the Dremel. 

 

The main was roughly octogonalized.  This allowed me to drill the holes for the cleats before I rounded it off.

 

Similarly, I drilled holes into the center of the yards.  This helped me keep symmetry and I will be using the holes later.

[Chuck Seiler]

Mast and yards stained and ready to assemble.

 

 

Cross tree.  Nothing fancy...gets the job done.

 

Now I show you what the holes are for.  I put a peg in the yard and attach it to the mast. (see arrow).  No need for glue.  This holds it in place while the rope bridle is more for show. 

 

I was taking pics outside on the patio.  It was a bit overcast, but lighting as good.  As I was ready to shoot this, the sun broke thru and put a kibosh on the lighting.

 

Mast assembled.  Except for the crosstree, nothing will be glued and can be disassembled in the future.

[Mike 41]

The mast, yards and cross tree looks great! What color of stain did you use?

 

Mike

[Chuck Seiler]

Crap...I didn't know there would be a test.

 

I was experimenting with a couple colors, so I am not entirely sure but mostly sure.  Crosstrees are cherry (two coats).  Yards=1 coat of golden oak then one coat of 'natural'.  Masts=either 2 coats of golden pecan and 1 of natural, or 3 coasts of golden pecan.

[Chuck Seiler]

Progress continues.

 

The catheads (more like cat whiskers) installed.  The bow area s very busy, and it all has to be resolved before the mast is installed.

 

The first thing that has to be done is the installation of the shroud spreader.  This attaches to the eyebolt at the base of the stempiece, at the forward end of the gunslide.  I will pull the eyebolt, attach the spreader and re-install.  The purpose of the spreader is to allow the mainstay to be mounted to the stem piece without blocking the forward gun.

 

Next, the forward 12 pounder has to be installed.  This includes a number of blocks and eyebolts.

 

The after deck railing is installed.  Whose bright idea is this?  Any wagers as to how long before I snap this thing off? 

 

Mast support bracket.  I was concerned that I would have problems twisting the brass the 90 degrees on each side in order to secure it to the mast support beam.  No trouble.  I annealed the snot out of it (certified snot free brass) and it twisted very easily.  A side benefit seems to be that snot free brass is also blackened, so I don't have to use blacken-it.

 

   The mast goes up tomorrow.  Huzzah!!!

[dgbot]

Where can you get snot free brass? Great work.

David B

[Mike 41]

Hi Chuck,

 

I noticed you guys are using the new aluminum cannonballs. Do they give you a greater range than the standard black iron balls?

 

Nice job on the mast support bracket I have had trouble bending brass before and wasn’t smart enough to anneal it. LOL

 

Mike

[Chuck Seiler]

David,

    Take the ol' mini torch to the brass until it gets red hot.  Quench it.  Repeat.

 

Mike,

    Those are actually lead from an old shotgun shell. I guess I should have painted them, eh?

[Chuck Seiler]

 

Bow gun and fore stay spreader mounted.

[WBlakeny]

Nice!!

[Mike 41]

Nice work on the gun. Is the barrel pewter?

[Chuck Seiler]

Mike,

 

It is. I got them from LUMBERYARD. The blackening ears off if you handle the guns, but I decided not to paint or otherwise re-blacken because I thought it gave the guns an interesting look. It goes well with the rustic motif. What do you think?

[Mike 41]

Hi Chuck,

 

I like the weathered look of the guns it gives them more character than a solid black finish. You are doing a great job on the Philadelphia.

 

Mike

[Chuck Seiler]

I'm about to demolish that myth.

[Chuck Seiler]

Behold!  A Masterpiece!

NOT!!!!! 

    Here is what Philly will kinda look like when complete.  As mentioned before, I am trying to get her ready for entry into the County Fair in June.  Entry (with pics) were due today.  Hopefully the guys that build tables and guitars won't look too closely.  The goal was to get it to where it looked reasonably like a completed model.

 

    I got to the shrouds and found that I had made them too short.  They did not stretch as much as I had anticipated.  Good news is that I get to redo the seizings on the shrouds, which I did not like.  I also got to get a better look at the lay of the lines  I determined that I WILL have to glue on the yards, but will be able to remove them at some future date if need be. 

 

    Philly is already stripped back down to basic infrastructure and construction will begin again in earnest on the morrow.

 

Captain Benjamin Rue inspects the rigging job.  "I have morons on my team!!!!"

[dgbot]

Great job Chuck. May you win first prize

David B

[Chuck Seiler]

David,

 

   Thanks, I appreciate the compliment.  Evenon it's best day, though, PHILLY will be hard pressed to beat some of the very fine models that are normally entered.  I am happy just to participate and have thousands of people see it.