School for Shipmodel Building School for model ship building

i was unable to finish the railings this week because i broke the last blade on my 10 inch bandsaw. I could not find the size i needed in any local store so i had to order it on line, still waiting for the blades. So this week i will cover how i made the patterns. Using the plastic from product packaging i cut the width of the railing the scuffed it up with fine sandpaper. A drop of glue on the first stanchion and at the stern on the corners held the railings in place.

Being able to see through the railing it is easy to drill your hole and hit the top of each stanchion dead center



Removing the plastic patterns i stuck them to sheet stock, now you have the shape of the railing and the exact location where you need to drill a hole.



Same with the railings along the sides using the patterns




cutting the railing to the width and clamping or rubber cementing the plastic pattern




Taking a close look the location of the holes are quite clear.

Brilliant! I know that you have been thinking about how to drill these holes and to hit the center of each stanchion. The see through pattern is a great idea.

Roger

Thanks Roger i was thinking i use a lot of cardboard patterns and then i thought i need to see through the pattern and BAM! then idea of clear plastic.

There is no class today because i did not get enough done. As a model gets farther along the details get smaller and more detailed and you cannot hide the mistakes. Even though i have been building models for many years it is not uncommon to do parts 2 sometimes 3 times before i am satisfied with the results. For me scratch building is a constant challenge to figure out how to do something and trial and error is the norm.

the railing at the stern

i put the copper wire into the predrilled holes in the railing



from the underside i did try a fit into the predrilled holes in the tops of the stern timbers and with a little wiggle here and there the pegs dropped in place.



and a top view the copper wire changes depending on the light. Without a direct light the copper is darker looking but as you move the copper will catch the light and show brighter. In time the copper will dull down and blend more into the wood railing.
Years ago i saw a model using silver wire as planking nails, at first glance you did not notice the silver but as you moved the silver caught the light and the nails would appear and disappear.

Dave,

I use A LOT of 1.75" steel quilters pins to align parts for PVA bonding.
Where I have too much PVA and it gets into the holes with the pins, I have to grip the pin with three hemostats and twist carefully to break the bond.
This is a round about way of suggesting that if you use coarse grit sandpaper to scar some horizontal grooves on the body of the copper wire trunnels a dose of PVA will bond them to their stanchions. It will not be epoxy strong, but nothing that Nature does will break it. If you try, the wood will break first.

Oh, congrats on finding a less complex way to get the alignment done. Mylar should work too. Amazon has frosted sheets that works for a pencil.

A NEW PROJECT!

As everyone must know by now, Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of of the Declaration of Independence this July 4th. So why not celebrate by building a model of the All American Boat. No, I’m not talking about an aluminum Lund fishing boat with its outboard motor or, Ugh, a pontoon boat. According to the late Dean of American Maritime Historians, Howard I. Chapelle it’s the SHARPIE.

In a Smithsonian Institution paper (The Migrations of an American Boat Type) he writes:
“For a commercial boat to gain wide popularity and use, it must be suited to a variety of weather and water conditions and must have some very marked economic advantages over any other boats that might be used in the same occupation.”

He then goes on to explain “that of the 200 boat types employed in American fisheries during the last 60 years of the Nineteenth Century,” the Sharpie was unique in that its use spread down the East Coast to Florida, to the Midwest along the South Shore of Lake Erie, and to areas of the West Coast. Today Sharpies are built and sailed by home builders. They are truly All American boats.

One, would, therefore, think that someone would offer a kit that captures the graceful lines of this remarkable craft. A drawing of a New Haven Sharpie is included below. Such is not the case. There is a Midwest kit of a Sharpie schooner, and the Nautical Research Guild offers plans and instructions for a Generic East Coast Sharpie on their website. Sharpie schooners are not nearly as attractive as the original New Haven built craft and the nicest thing that I can say about the NRG’s craft is that “they certainly succeeded in making it generic!”

Instead, we’ll build this one from scratch. We’ll begin with offsets of an actual boat measured in the late 1920’s by Howard Chapelle, prepare a lines drawing, make molds from the lines drawing and use the molds to build one of three models
1. A beginner version.
2. A more advanced version
3. A lean mean racing machine (about more later)
All three are built to the same set of lines. Differences are in the details. I’m building choice #3 but as we move along I’ll include shortcuts for building#1. #2 lacks the yacht like finish of #3.

Acknowledgments to:
Dave Stevens for establishing the School
Greg Davis for his Gold Metal Gundalow model that reminded me of the possibilities for building models of these Nineteenth American working craft.

My intention is to move at a pace that will allow me to post weekly. Stay Tuned.

Roger

Sign me up for some ol’ fashioned scratch building! I’m doing mostly scratch builds now since the cost of entry for many models I’d like to build (Nippon Maru 1/75 from Woody Joe, Dutch speeljaght Leida 1/150 from Corel, and De Zeven Provincien 1/72 from Kolderstock) is out of my range. Happy learning to scratch build in paper and cardstock from my last build, the 17th century Dutch Smalschip 1/48 from plans by Ab Hoving, and moving on to build more Dutch vessels in paper and cardstock. I will be scratch building a wooden Staten Jaght Utrecht, from plans by Ab Hoving and Gil McArdle, two or three builds down the road. Looking forward to the journey!

Hi Roger,

I will be looking forward to watching your work.

Bill