Colonial Schooner Sultana

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

coming up next will be the railing and from the looks of it with the curves and shape it might be a bugger to make.
What you see here in the build log may be the 3rd or 4th try so i will try different way to make the rail and once i find a way that works that is what i will be posting.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

each week i work on the Sultana and on Saturday mornings i post the weeks work. I skipped the last 2 Saturdays not because i didn't get any work done it is because i did not like the way the cheeks and railings turned out so i ripped them out twice and started again.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

to begin i made a cardboard pattern for the railing the plans are not much use because the railings have to fit to the model and your not getting a true pattern directly from the plans.



after the first try i used a piece of high density foam board. This material cuts and sands very easy so it takes just a few minutes to shape out the piece. This was try number 2 and it did not fit right. The problem here it there is to much room from the top that fit under the cathead to where it turns. you can see in the top photo this is try number 3 and it does not have as much bend.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Once i got the shape i wanted i cut 2 blanks out of Basswood.



The thickness of the blanks are equal to the length of the knee under the cathead.



The blanks are sanded down to the profile of the railing.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Once i got the profile i marked out the width of the railing



The cathead is at an angle to the side of the hull so i held the blanks in place and marked the cat head.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

The railing was carved to shape by first cutting down to the line starting at the end and working toward the knee under the cat head.




as i approached the knee i use a drum sander on the Dremel drill to shape the knee.



Keeping both railings the same i clamped them together and worked both at the same time.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

At the same time i shaped the railings i cut notches in the cap rail under the cat head and molding.



The process of fitting the cheeks and railing is a matter of starting with over size blanks and a constant shape and fit and doing it over and over until everything comes together. Once the railing is on the hull the bow timbers are set in and the middle rail is installed along with the figurehead.



the middle rail does not go between the head timbers or in front of them the rail sits on the inner face of the timbers as you can see in the photo



Building the bow section took a little time and a few tries to get it right, this is one part of the build that required cutting and fitting and starting over if that's what it takes.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

building a ship model does have steps in the construction. As an example of what happens when you put one part of the build before another you have to deal with damage control. Building the bow rails, cheeks and timbers required handling the hull to view the work in several directions and also shaping the parts and test fiting over and over.



After trying the fitting of the bow pieces one by one the timberheads took a hit. I woud not be so bad to just reglue the pieces but darn if i can find them. For some reason they just vanished from the work area and the floor and everywhere else, so i need to remake them.



gone missing is one of the pumps, this i found but damaged beyond repair so another rebuild is in order.



A little pre planning may be a good idea and the very reason the last of the build is the poop deck railing, gun mounts and swivel guns.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

the stanchions for the railing is next, on the original drawing there are 5


on the Model Expo drawings there are 6



Harold Han's model there are also 6 you can see them tinted pink.



On the sultana built in Maryland there are 8


for this model i am going with 6

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

The first issue is how to attach the stanchion to the caprail. They are small and just gluing them to the top of the caprail woud be very delicate. I am using a piece of 3/32 square stock for the stanchion. First i drilled a 3/32 hole in a piece of 1/8th inch scrap Basswood. This did work but i would suggest using a harder wood than Basswood. As i was twisting the 3/32 Basswood into the hole after a few stanchions the hole started to get bigger, a hard wood will prevent this.


The idea here is to create a peg at the end of the stick by twisting it into the hole. It is literally forcing a square peg in a round hole, this rounds out the corners.



Keep twisting the piece until it pokes out the other side as round peg.



Basswood is soft and when pushed in tight it will look just right.



I went ahead and cut 10 3/4 long pieces of 3/32 stock and rounder out the ends.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

You may of heard building historically accurate ship models is all the rage for some folks. But that is debatable the original Sultana is long gone so we do not know it there were 5, 6, or 8 stanchions or if they were round or square or tapered. Even having the historical plan does not necessarily mean that is exactly how the ship was built, any number of modifications could have happened in the shipyard while a ship is being built. Looking at the Maryland Sultana the stanchions were a little fancy.



So if you want to take a little extra time and make fancy stanchions that is up to you. I used 3/32 stock a fancy stanchion you need 1/8 stock. Use a longer piece and carve the end, it is easier to hold and control than trying to shape a piece that is a 1/2 inch long.
Start by twisting the piece into the hole to create a peg at the end. Step 2 make a stop cut at the the top and bottom of the square section. These stop cuts have to be square and accurate you do not want a miss match at the final corner. Step3 start about a third of the way up and make a delicate shallow cut to the upper stop cut, do this on all 4 sides, then make a cut from where you started the first one and cut down to the lower square section. This is giving you a rough tapper, now using a file file each side flat.





That's it for a fancy stanchion now do it 10 times.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Back to the model
the stanchions were maked out on the caprail, a starter hole was poked into the caprail so the hole did not drift while drilling.


A peg at the end of the stanchion and a hole in the caprail made a sturdy connection. Push the stanchion in the hole and twist it to line up. Fill the hole with glue and tap the stanchion in tight. The stanchion is directly above a timber head below the caprail so if you make a long enought peg and a deep enough hole you can create a strong connection with the stanchion extending into the timber below.



You may of noticed i am not going with the fancy carved stanchion



and here's why. First of all this is a prototype model for a kit and i am long past the due date so there is a rush to the finish line. Secondly there is more to it that just carving the stanchion. Notice the drawing the rail does not follow the caprail there is more height at the start than there is at the stern plue the rail is not straight there is a slight curve to it. What this means is each stanchion is a different height and they have to be carved to fit their location. What you need to do is carve 5 sets to fit.



I took the easy way and made all the stanchions over size.



Now all i have to do is take a measurement from the plan and cut down each stanchion rather than carving eash one to fit.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

coming up next will be making the swivel gun posts and mounting the swivel guns, making repairs to the pump and timberheads.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

this weeks work continued with the railing. The railing is not a straight piece it has a curve to it so i copied the shape off the plans and cut it from a wider piece of 1/16 material. Another way to get the shape of the railings is to place a piece of cardboard on top of the caprail before you insert the stanchions and trace the shape.



once the two rails were cut i glued them to the top of the stanchions

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Moving on to the swivel gun posts which i need 10 of them, so i had to come up with a way to make them look all the same. first thing i played around with is the iron strap around the top of the post.
First i tried to use rigging line but that did not work out at all, the middle one is a strip of masking tape and the bottom is electrical tape. The post and strap will be painted black so i settled on the masking tape.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Starting the posts i first needed to locate them and cut a notch in the moldings and a shallow notch in the railing. I was iffy about notching thr railing but looking at pictures of the replica Sultana it looked like there was a notch in the railing. The railing sat on the little tops of the stanchions and that was all holding them in place. I thought the notched would add a bit more support to the railing.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

the railing does not run parallel to the cap rail



starting with the first post i placed it into the notches and using a piece of 1/4 thick scrap i marked the top of the post.



the bottom of the posts sit on the molding so each post is marked 1/4 inch above the railing and a 1/4 inch above the molding i also marked the underside of the railing. All four posts are cut to fit their location.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

I like coming up with a system when more than one of the same piece has to be made so they all look the same, in this case i need 10 posts.

To start i use a razor blade and make a cut at the corners of my marks, the top is the under side of the railing and the lower is 1/4 above the molding. Next using an Exacto knife i make a notch at the corners.



This notch serves as a guild and using a diamond burr i round out the notch. Needing 10 posts and 4 notches per post you have to do this 40 times.



For the final touch using a razor blade i bevel the two corners between the curves ends.



The bottom is notched where the post sits on the molding and here is the profile of the post with the beveled corner.
i did scrap a few until i got the hang of it.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

this week i will make all the posts and get them on the ship.

This model is not built from a kit it is a prototype for a future Model Expo kit. I do not know what pieces and parts will be included with the kit but for the prototype everything including the plans are done from scratch.
I have 1:48 scale swivel guns but not the mounts so searching for images of the U shaped mount i see they do vary in shape. I also search for a 1:48 scale mount and did not find any so i have to make them.



The U mount is a tiny piece and i tried several ideas and none worked because they are so small drilling the holes in the end for the trunnions proved to be difficult. Strips of brass and pewter are available but they are straight so you need a wide enough piece to make the rounded ends and cut down the strap between the round ends and drill the trunnion holes.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

If you are a long time model builder your bound to have a stash of parts and pieces so rummaging through my junk box i found there. There are chain plates. Unbelievably there are the perfect size all i have to do is bend them.



i grabbed my wifes jewelry pliers and grabbed a chain plate in the center



the chain plate took a nice even bend



Next i drilled a hole in the bottom of the bend and inserted a brass nail. The thing i found out is once you drill that bottom hole the U becomes very delicate and will break into two. There is only a wisker of brass on either side of the hole. So i solve that problem a drop of CA glue in the hole and then dropped the brass nail in. Then a drop of CA over the nail and under the U made a strong joint. Now i was able to spread the U to insert the swivel gun and squeeze the U tight against the gun.