|
searchable LOG INDEX
download available to MSON members only (you need the password and it is not "1234") The privilege of membership! Non-members can still download and open the LOG PDF's below |
|
This was our second meeting of the 2021/22 season with 14 modellers participating from Canada, the USA and the UK Mike made a presentation of Pond Boat design of 1904-1906, and his plan to build a replica of the Lulworth racing yacht (1920). He discussed the knife edge (for minimum water resistance and speed) and lead filled keel shape, and described the need and care in keeping her hull balanced (metacentre, centre of gravity and buoyancy) and so keeping the boat stable. A detailed discussion of the Brane Gear steering device and how it operates followed. John presented a few elements his 1:36 scale model of the 64 ft. gun boat Caustic (1814) as built by the British on Lake Champlain during the war of 1812. She had three long guns on rotating tracks. Lead ships had carronades in the midships location instead of the long gun. He described how he solved a holding problem when turning the guns from aluminium stock as it was difficult to grip the part as there were three angles to the outside along it's length. He separated the barrel into three parts that allowed him flat sections to grip on his lathe. He also likes to add figures to his builds to give it visual scale. He found a set of plastic Revel German gun crew figures that he modified with an X-Acto knife to remove details (boots, pockets, etc.) and foil from a wine bottle to build other areas back up. Ray presented his build of three 1:24 scale Lowell Grand Banks Dory kits as gifts for neighbours who have been working at hospitals helping the sick during the Covid pandemic. The design of this model was created by David Antscherl (a MSON club member) and is sold by Model Expo. Ray described the laser cut beginner level kit as a real joy to fit together, with no surprises and well written instructions. Ray added a pull out "storyboard" to the underside of the replacement base that he also added to the kit. His base has a recess into which his acrylic case nests. Alan presented the carving of the Figurehead at 1:64 scale for his scratch build of HMS Bellerophon (1786).
He explained that the original figurehead was destroyed in a collision at sea in a gale storm. As there are no sketches or paintings of the original figurehead, only a description, he created his version from the description. A Clay Marquette was then made to assist in visualising the work in 3D. The actual piece was carved in Castello boxwood using rotary tools, mini chisels, files and sandpaper. The colour scheme was quite simple in this era: the body of both figures were white, javelin black, cloak red, and helmet gold with white plumes.
0 Comments
This was the first meeting of the new season, again conducted virtually via ZOOM. It was quite the success with 21 people in attendance from North America and beyond, and five great presentations.... David talked us through a 39 image slide presentation of his completed scratch build 28 foot American Cutter he had started last season (presented in April). The actual boat it replicates was recovered by the Austrians from the Italians after the battle and is presently located in a museum in Venice. David had a copy of the original drawings and photographs to work from to complete this scratch build. The material is Costello boxwood except for the tholes which are pear. A PDF of the complete package of his images is available here:
Alan presented his Made Main Mast (circa 1786) for a 74 gun British man of war, with Top platform and Cap. He began with research to understand the various smaller pieces assembled into a large diameter mast, created a 2D drawing and then a 3D model to better vizualize it then started cutting, turning, gluing and shaping. The material is Costello boxwood except for the TOP platform is 3 layers of 1/32" yellow cedar glued cross grain into a ply assembly for strength and to reduce any tendency to warp. The metal hoops are card stock or bond paper blackened with a permanent marker, and the rail stanchions are bamboo. The faux bolts are black monofilament fishing line. The leather coat on the cap is natural brown packing paper. A PDF of the complete package of his images is available here:
Joe, joining us from Rochester NY, present his refit of the schooner Laura Goulart that he completed for a neighbour. The model needed cleaning and complete re-rigging. The hull was cleaned and refinished and the sails washed and mounted. The restoration took Joe about 70 hours. A PDF of the complete package of his images is available here:
Robin, joining us from the UK, presented his kit build of Leonardo da Vinci's arial screw, an air ship (helicopter) design of 1480. As he could not attend due to a family commitment this was presented by Ron reading Robin's prepared script. It is a laser cut kit which was quite a fun build and prooved to be something fresh and new for the club to see. it consisted of the base, central column, lower upright arms, lugs for the tensioning ropes and a capstan assembly to manually drive the helical screw. The helical screw wing is a precut parchment/canvas material attached to the spars with clear nail varnish. A PDF of the complete package of his images is available here:
David of Toronto gave an exquisite presentation of his scratch build of the Toronto steam ferry Trillium. You can visit his web page to learn more about this amazing build. At the bottom of his page are two short videos of the working engine and paddle wheel! The site address can be copied and pasted into your search engine: dnelson.ca/Trillium.htm
This was our third successful Zoom meeting with seven local club members and nine guests. We had two presentations from members of the Society of Model Shipwrights (SMS) located in England. John from the Society of Model Shipwrights (UK) gave a very informative presentation explaining the Harold Hahn method of building framed model ships upside down, and enhancements to this well known method. Basically the base is notched to accept extend top timbers and hold them securely in location. Then John adds removable end plates to which copies of body plans can be adhered with spray adhesive. The end plates are notched along the centreline down to the elevation of the keel so a black cotton thread may be inserted to aid in aligning the frames on centre. John's entire slide show presentation can be viewed on the SMS club website at: https://www.modelshipwrights.org/pages/masterclass If you cannot find his presentation, it is likely that it hadn't been uploaded as yet Please try back at again at later date Ian from Society of Model Shipwrights (UK) gave a captivating presentation on three American Schooners. Their designs, shapes, rigs, and sail plans. These were models he had made some time ago of three American schooners: the armed schooner Sir Edward Hawke 1776, The racing yacht America 1851 and the Gloucester fishing schooner Elsie 1906. All three were built at a scale of 1:144 or 1/12” to the foot. The America and Elsie were made in Kenya back in 1963-4 using very basic materials and tools but Sir Edward Hawke was constructed in 2000 using the bulkhead system. The America was his second departure into very small-scale models, the first was a Thames barge! This celebrated yacht was designed by George Steers, a well-known designer of New York pilot boats. America was a development of these but with a rockered keel and with the maximum beam drawn well aft to a point beside the mainmast shrouds; an unusual feature at this time and a complete opposite to the yachts which she was going to race against around the Isle of Wight off England’s South Coast, who favoured the “cod’s head, mackerel tail” form of hull. She had well raked masts of the ‘Virginia’ model as exemplified in the Baltimore clippers and indeed the pilot boats. The next was Elsie. For her size she was a remarkably fast schooner and represented Gloucester in the first of the International Fishermans’ Races in the 1920s. She lost to the big Nova Scotian Bluenose but the latter was almost one and a half times as long as Elsie. So, a hollow victory! These sailors did not believe in handicapping. Both America and Elsie were built out of rough target wood with ammunition box liner material as the centre line and keel. Decks have individual planks and equipment was made out of fuze wire, paper card, dowel and shavings. Sir Edward Hawke was built in America but was bought into the Royal Navy shortly after her completion together with a similar vessel: The Earl of Egmont. Both were destined for Revenue duties around Jamaica. This model is just over 5” long on deck. She is planked with cherry and the strakes are attached to the bulkheads using dyed and sharpened cocktail sticks. She has a very thin ply deck on which individual sycamore planks have been laid. Her gun barrels are 3/16” long and have their full handling tackle laid out. There is some sign of a relationship between the design of Sir Edward Hawke and America, and not just because of the raked masts, but there is little obvious similarity between the America and the Elsie, perhaps because Elsie had to carry a cargo and cope with really frightful sea conditions. Alan from the local club showed a video of basic knots. The presentation did not go quite as planned as he didn't know the secret to ZOOM video and sound presentations. He has since discovered there are two check boxes that need to be picked prior to sharing screen, and then the volume needs to be adjusted to about 80%. A PDF of the presentation can be downloaded here...
Alan has prepared two other videos (1- whipping and 2- splicing) for future meetings. Hopefully he will remember the Zoom check boxes!
This was our second successful zoom meeting with 7 local members, 3 guests from the UK, and 9 guests from the USA in attendance. Ray presented his build of the Muskoka power boat Lady Fay. As there are no drawings he had to make a visit to photograph and measure the real boat and his model looks very much like the real deal! The hull was built up in sandwich layers and shaped. Then the features were added, deck planks and yellow caulking strips, cleats, lights, flag staff, windshield, exhaust pipes and rudder, upholstered cockpit seats, steering wheel, etc. - all from scratch! Joe Lorenzo, a member of the Model Shipwrights of Western New York (Rochester, NY, USA) made a presentation on a model a member of his club (Lacy S) discovered in an Antique shop about 4 years ago. He discussed the process of discovering it's identity: a Sharpie Fishing Schooner. The restoration of this model is the next step and will be posted on the NRG Model Ship World forum. David presented his ongoing build of a 28 foot cutter (which will be found on the NRG Model Ship World forum). This began with making a plug of the inside shape of the boat, then building the shell of the boat over it. The plug was waxed to assist in the clean removal of the boat shell, but that is not what happened! David repaired the damage and carried on. We hope to see the finished product soon. Alan made a short presentation on his research into the history of his build, HMS Bellerophon (1786), which resulted in a 158 page document containing images and a transcribed collection from 86 era newspapers and genealogy research websites, 464 warship articles and letters, and 62 from her period as a convict hulk.
These include vivid descriptions of the Glorious 1st of June, Cornwallis' Retreat, Battle of the Nile, Battle of Trafalgar, Napoleon's surrender, trials and court Martials, collisions at sea and run aground, the prisoner General Rochambeau accusing the Captain of theft, chasing the US frigate The President during the war of 1812, explosions in harbour. His favourite is the report of a young boy, an officer's servant, temporarily assuming command during the Battle of the Nile. We had a successful first virtual meeting via Zoom on the 14th with a total of seventeen attendees: thirteen MSON members, three from other clubs , and one guest. Ray presented his refit of the damaged model of the WWII Royal Naval armed trawler HMS Whitethorn (T127) seen in the above photo. Through slides he described the process of dismantling the complete build, scraping off the paint, and then the rebuild. He then mounted it inside a dust protection case he had built for the refit. You can read this amazing story by downloading the PDF here...
Alan updated his 9 pound naval gun with a properly sized Royal Cypher as seen above. The original barrel had an oversized crest painted yellow ochre because he could not see it! The detail was hidden from him, but recent cataract surgeries took care of that problem. A light brushing of a smokey grey acrylic paint mixture (white and black) highlights the crest and rings around the barrel. Pat showed us pictures of two of his models. One was of the US Coast Guard Cutter Bear (WMEC 901). This is a stationary build he had completed some time ago but had just recently acquired a display case to help keep the dust off her. The second was his incomplete 7-1/2 foot long (1:100 scale) Radio Controlled model of the battleship USS North Carolina that has been under construction for a few years. Alan presented his 1:12 scale build of the one holed Aleutian Hunting Kayak frame. This vessel was described as very light, fast, and silent. This build has been submitted to the Nautical Research Journal for publication.
We have not held any in person meetings for the better part of this year but it would seem a shame to end 2020 without a post, so below is a model just completed by a club member during the pandemic shutdown. Alan had just completed his interpretation of the Mississippi Plank River Raft (1830-1840) as described in Mark Twain's fictional novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It is 1:48 scale (1/4" = 12") complete with raised planks used to build the A-hut or wigwam, raised floor, and firebox. The raft hovers in mid air, simulating it floating above the riverbed below via a copper wire from behind. Stored in the hut are the two blankets and extra dry firewood. One oar is being used by Jim to steer the raft as it drifts downstream, while the other and the spare Jim made are stored to the side of the hut. A lamp is suspended from a forked branch lashed to the hut so they could be seen at night by other boats. Huck and Jim are made in silhouette form from blackened copper plate, as an aid to visualizing the scale of the build. A shrimp and crayfish trap are set on the river bed (placed on the book cover) with lanyards rising to floats set to both sides of the raft. The river bed is made of sandy grout, embedded with tiny shells, stone, and greenery represent weeds. David reports he has been busy creating three prototype kits for Model Expo. He has provided us with photos of those which are shown above in slideshow presentation.
1 & 2 - Dory. 3 - Norwegian pram dinghy. 4 & 5 - Muscongus Bay lobster smack. Due to the ongoing pandemic this was yet another newsletter meeting! There may be a few more of these before things get back to normal. 1) Ray has been working on a special project for a client who had contacted us via this website before the summer just past. The project cannot be spoken about in any detail here as yet because it is meant to be a gift, and although the likelihood of the recipient reading news of it here before the gifting... we do not want to take a chance of ruining the surprise! I hope we can reveal the details soon. 2) Alan brought to our attention the following interesting article about the 60th Anniversary of the launch of the “Bounty” replica in Lunenburg, N.S. https://flip.it/b4h8md 3) Alan has been working on the deck beam templates for “Bellerophon” in his free hobby version of the 3D program Fusion 360. These drawings will be printed locally to assist in his making the deck beams... that is if he ever finishes the framing timbers! 4) Phil reports that after 5 years of construction he needs a break before deciding whether to rig his model of “San Juan de Pasajes”, the Basque whaler which was wrecked in December 1565 during a storm at Red Bay, Labrador. From time to time Phil has brought the model to meetings and described its development. The Red Bay Archeological site, and background on whaling in the 16th Century, is described here: https://www.thecanadanencyclopedia.ca/en/article/red-bay-archaeological-site 5) Alan sent this story from The Welland News about a remote controlled sail boat at on the old Welland canal. https://www.wellandtribune.ca/news/niagara-region/2020/08/07/fair-winds-on-wellands-recreational-canal.html That model is considerably more detailed than most sail boat models, and is so good I would be more than a little concerned at letting water near such a lovely model! 6) Mark sent details of a model of a “Spanish Armada era” ship he bought at a garage sale. Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cWcaDd6BxKa7M5kb8 . An interesting project, Mark, and a nice finished model. Mark reports as follows: I bought this ship model a few years ago at a garage sale. Yes they do sometimes come up if you really look for them. It was made, I would guess back in the 70's or 80's by someone who had only basic knowledge of ship building. I would call it an arts and crafts / fantasy style model. I bought it with the idea of improving it's accuracy to details as far as practicality goes, ie, I'm not going to rebuild the entire hull. It is a Spanish Armada era ship, of the 1580's. From stem to stern it is about 12 inches, estimate of the original, 80 plus feet. This would make it about. 1/80th scale. The ship is definitely smaller than the Golden Hind which had a deck length of 102 feet, built 1577. Incidentally the Golden Hind never sank or was broken up. They attempted to save it for display but due to the lack of preserving methods it gradually rotted away. I believe some furniture may have been made from her timbers. I'll start at the bow and work back. The bows were oddly made, being too short. The base of the foremast would have come through about half way up the cutwater. I extended it as far as I could. The beakhead was way too short, this I extended and painted in white and red stripes, typical for the time period. The anchor was far from correct, a new one was made.No holes were on either side of the cutwater for the anchor cables, I added these. There were no catheads, these were added. The mast tops were square, at this time they were all round. I also tapered the mast tops, they were too thick. Five awkward looking cannons protruded from each side. These I pulled out and glued gunport covers over the openings. The inside of the hull was partly hollow. Then I applied two lengthwise hull bands or strakes, black near the waterline and white just under the deck. The hull was painted brown mainly to cover up the work to extend the bows. Below the waterline the hull was painted white as per models of the time. The rudder was of the wrong design, a new one was made. The stern windows were just two openings. I made a new complete stern window section complete with plastic windows. The window panes should be smaller. Most ships at the time had a sort of catwalk surrounding the stern area below the windows, coming around the sides a little. I couldn't find a name for this feature. One thing I might change is that the main yard is as thick as the main mast. I would need to remove the main sail and replace the yard. You could say the original builder specialized in painting sails, see photo. The rigging is incomplete, missing the stays etc., but I had to end the restoration somewhere. Lastly I added the 1580 date to the base which came with it. I wish now I had taken "before" photos, but the descriptions of the original as found condition are listed above. Enclosed please find 3 photos, please feel free to edit if you wish. Happy model ship building, Mark, 11 August 7) Following on progress on making the bowsprit for HMS Bellerophon, 74 guns (1786) at 1:64 scale, which is detailed in the April website Blog, Alan’s continuing account, of making the spritsail topsail yard and parrel, Downloadable PDF here:
8) Ray and his darling wife have some very good neighbours who made sure that they were kept well supplied with “vittles” during the early stages of the COVID restrictions. As a “Thank you” gift for them he made a couple of models of the Model Seaways kits of the “Grand Banks Dory”, designed by our own David Antscherl. https://modelexpo-online.com/Lowell-Grand-Banks-Dory-Model-Wooden-Model-Ship-Kit-124-Scale-MS1470_p_3957.html Each of them took him a couple of weeks of part time work to complete, and he recommends this kit to all – it makes up into an attractive model, and comes as a complete kit with well-written instructions etc.. It was then on sale for US$25.00, and now US$29.99. David has now developed a new kit of a “Norwegian Sailing Pram” in the progressive ship modelling range for Model Seaways, which Ray is certain will be equally attractive. https://modelexpo-online.com/NEW-RELEASE-Norwegian-Sailing-Pram-112-Scale_p_4239.html
10) Although we will not be able to meet physically until some time I the future we should not allow these restrictions to cause us to lose touch. Alan and I joined a “ZOOM”-type meeting with the Rochester Club in May, actually using a similar video conferencing program called “GOTO Meeting” . For those not familiar with these programs they really are quite simple – download the program onto your computer, (wherever you are geographically!), click on the appropriate link and schedule provided by the coordinator, type in the access code provided by the coordinator, and Bingo! – there you are, on screen! Join and leave at any time! How about having such a meeting? We could schedule it to run as in the same way we do at our normal meetings – Housekeeping items, Show and Tell, a modelling Theme. Let me know, if you would join us if we were to set one up. This is the second newsletter meeting held by the club due to restrictions to gathering because of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Following are submissions from members. In April, Alan joined a Webinar on the restoration of the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's flagship, which sank in 1545. Below is a downloadable PDF summary of the presentation.
Ray has now completed the ratlines on the lower masts of HMS Ontario as can be seen in the photo above. He suggests it was not such a difficult job if you have a white card positioned behind the shrouds with ruled lines to guide even spacing. The card is also useful to help depth perception while tying clove hitches in the dark brown line at each shroud with two pairs of tweezers. Having finished the ratlines he was now able to complete work on the tops for the fore and main masts. Ray made these tops some time ago, but adding the necessary blocks and other fittings has had to wait until now. Below is a downloadable PDF report entitled "Tops and blocks", in which Ray describes the finishing of the fore and main tops for "Ontario". Who knew the tops on a fighting ship were so complicated?!
Tijs reports: "Still working on my 1750 American fishing boat. Here is a photograph (seen above) showing the fish working station they had and the bilge pump at mid-ships. The bilge pump is about 3/4 inch tall." This is a model of a "pinky" type boat with the characteristic pinched stern at the waterline and a distinct overhang at deck level. They were said to sail to windward very well and hence return to shore with their catch quickly against the prevailing westerly winds off the East coast. Ray commented: "That's nice detailing on the black chest, Tijs, and also on the handles on the hatch covers. The frames extensions from deck to bulwarks give a good impression of the strength this construction gave to these boats". Tijs also sent the attached PDF downloadable story of an article on the Spanish flu as it affected Bill Walton and the steam ship "Kawigamong", built in 1913. The ship operated on the Pickerel River, a tributary of the French River, that drains Lake Nipissing into Georgian Bay. A most interesting account. I have added the Wikipedia entry for "Kawigamog". The original was sent to Tijs by a neighbour with a cottage near Tijs' in Port Loring, Ontario.
There was no meeting this month due to concerns for the health of our club members and visiting public because of the present COVID-19 pandemic. Members are encouraged to submit progress on their builds to Ray for publication in his monthly newsletter and also here, on this website. Phil M. reports he has finished planking the starboard side of his Spanish (Basque) Whaling Galleon San Juan. Note that the colour of the planking changed just one strake higher than the upper deck. On the original, the higher up the planking went, the thinner it became until finally it was deal (softwood), although the wales continued in oak. Sometimes, the wale was a “T” shape so that it overlapped the strake above and below, sometimes it was “L” shaped and occasionally a thinner wale was nailed down the middle and on top of a wider plank. He had intended to use Castello Boxwood for the deal, but his stock is largely a darker wood, likely heartwood, and so ended up using Poplar for the lighter coloured wood. Next he will begin cutting Swiss Pear for the Wales on the port side. Even though it will be largely open, the shrouds are fastened to postarios which in turn, are bolted to the wales. Alan reports that he had completed adding the bits and pieces (cleats, saddles, and hoops) to the bare bowsprit he had made last year for his HMS Bellerophon (1786; 1:64 scale). He has also made the two yards for the bowsprit and jib boom assembly. For a full description of what was involved download the accompanying PDF here......
This month's meeting was held at Lee Valley Tools. The theme was Photo Etching with a presentation by John C. John showed us how he uses purchased Photo Etched parts in his models. These items are small, microscopically thin, refined, two dimensional brass or copper parts. They come in sheets containing many individual items that must be removed with care. John uses a dark lexan (PlexiGlas) surface as a cutting board as the contrast it makes it easier to see the joint to be cut with his X-Acto knife or scalpel (photo above). He suggested it would be a good idea to have a white cloth draped over your lap to catch them if they should fall as they can be particularly difficult to find. He explained how they could be soldered, glued with two part epoxy, or with super glue. John prefers the gel type super glue as it is easier to control the deposit. He would sand the sharp tip down on a wooden tooth pick, and use this to pick up a dab of glue from a plastic dish and place it on the edge of the photo etching to glue seams together, or to glue the item to the model. The gel will not run or as easily make a mess of your model. John explained that the Photo Etched surface needs to be roughened up a bit or scoured slightly with micro fine sanding medium to ensure the adhesive will adhere properly to the surface. John has a special "8 inch Mark R Hold and Fold Kit" made by The Small Shop, that is used similarly to an industrial sheet metal brake. The machine clamps down on the Photo Etched plate and the plate can then be folded up cleanly at any angle with the provided blade or a razor blade. It is extremely important to align your plate properly to get the best fold, so care must be taken. John then showed us his metal rolling plate form that has different radius pockets into which different diameter wooden dowels and metal pins fit. The Photo Etched part must again be aligned carefully, and starting at the largest pocket, the dowel is then pressed into it to form the radius. It is then moved down successively to smaller pockets until the desired diameter is attained. He then showed us how to soften the metal over a flame. Softening or annealing the metal removes the hardness imparted by cold forming. For this demonstration he used a candle flame. As the items are micro thin it only takes about a minute to accomplish. The carbon soot was cleaned away by dunking the part into thinner and wiping it off with a soft cloth. Ray brought in a carved spruce sail to show the group (photos above). It is one of the sails from a model of the Bluenose that he is repairing. The Fisherman's stay sail had broken in two pieces along the grain. Ray explained that he did not make a new sail as this model was quite old and a new sail would take many years to match the patina of the original. Using a dental burr grinding tool he created several notches in the edges of the break into which he glued (Weldbond Adhesive) small thin biscuits to strengthen the joint. He explained the notches were wider than the biscuits to aid him in surface alignment to create an invisible mend. The two pieces were reassembled with more glue being applied to the break edge surface and were held together with painters tape until dried and cured. This sail is only about 1/8th of an inch thick! Alan brought in some new tools he acquired to show the group. He purchased a set of Japanese flexible files from Lee Valley Tools that turned out to be just what was need to clean up after he had elongating the gammoning slots on his model with one long nosed micro Excel saw blades used with his X-Acto knife handle. He also showed the club members the 20 Gauge Copper-Phosphorus soldering wire (93% Cu and 7% P) he purchased from the Indian Jewelers Supply Company to use instead of the more expensive silver solder that seems to be the traditional medium. The phosphorous acts as the flux. Soldering is done similarly to silver soldering, with a small butane torch used to heat the part up at the joint area so the wire will melt into it. The solder does not fill gaps, therefore some level of care must be taken to assure items surfaces mate. Heat up the part with a torch, touch the wire to the joint, and when the temperature is correct it will quickly flow to make the bond. This material will chemically blacken without issue. Alan learned about this online at the Model Ship World forum. He intends to be trying it out soon on his rudder pintles and spritsail yard bands of his Bellerophon build.
Alan also showed the group a copy of the research document (downloadable PDF above) he created for his build. It contains sketches. detail drawings, and reference notes that direct him back to his original sources for the rigging and fixtures (cleats, woolding bands, gammoning, saddles, fairlead, and yards) for the bowsprit and jib boom he previously made. By doing this he unravelled the mystery behind understanding all the rigging and paraphernalia associated with these somewhat horizontal masts. It is important to establish the time period your build represents as he discovered many sources contradict each other. In most cases this simply has to do with the era of build they refer to. His build is 1786 which was a busy time with many improvements being introduced.
|
Archives
September 2023
|