Newsletter. Contacts. Volume 41, Number 2, Feb. 2014

Transcription

1 Newsletter Volume 41, Number 2, Feb Contacts President: Larry Van Es ( Vice President: Bill Schultheis (714) Secretary: Paul Payne (310) Treasurer: Mike DiCerbo (714) Ocaso Ave, #DD204, La Mirada, CA Editor, Don Dressel (909) W. 22 nd Street Upland, CA Web Manager: Doug Tolbert: (949) Web Site Meeting Wed., Feb. 19, 7 PM, Red Cross Building, 1207 N. Lemon, Fullerton, CA Officers meeting Wed., Mar. 5, 2014, 7 PM, Bob Beech s house, 130 Clove Pl., Brea, CA (714) Work in Progress January 15, 2013 Reporter: Dave Yotter If you did not get your dues in for the upcoming year last month, be sure to bring along a check or cash, $25.00 for newsletter recipients and $40.00 for the snail mail guys. Because of the mailing cost of the newsletter and particularly the additional expense of renting our current meeting location we have been forced to change our dues structure to that noted above. Byrne McLeod is the newly installed Hon. Secretary of the Society for Nautical Research. This group holds an annual dinner aboud HMS Victory. Byrne asked me to let all SMA members know that she is already taking bookings for the Society for Nautical Research dinner on board HMS Victory this year. The date is Saturday 14 June. If any of the members of the SMA are doing a summer trip to Europe, it may be that they could work in a quick look at Portsmouth as they pass by. Of course you will want to do way more than work in a quick look when visiting Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. The newly finished Mary Rose Museum and the ships HMS Victory and HMS Warrior (1860), along with the National Museum of the Royal Navy are all part of the Museum and, for me, a quick look takes a couple of days minimum. If you are at all interested in joining the Society of Nautical Research for their annual dinner talk to Doug Tolbert or myself about our experiences at the 2013 dinner. It is a real privilege to board the ship, enjoy a pimms on the quarterdeck and prowl around the ship on your own and away from the reproachful looks of the daytime crew. 1

2 CUTTER LE RENARD 1812 JOHN SIMMONS Briefly from last month: The Le Renard was a cutter launched in 1812 and armed and owned by Robert Surcouf. She was his eighth and last privateer ship. Renard cruised under Captain Aimable Sauveur until 23 August 1813, when he required a replacement. Command then went to Emmanuel Leroux- Desrochettes. On 9 September 1813, beginning at 5 p.m. and lasting through the night, Renard successfully engaged the British 10-gun schooner HMS Alphea, crewed by 35 sailors. Combat was intense and bloody until at 3:30 a.m. the following morning, when the Alphea took two direct hits from Renard to (presumably) the powder magazine and exploded. There were no reported survivors. Renard lost five men killed and 31 wounded, including her captain, who had an arm shot away and later died of his injuries. Renard returned to France with only 13 able-bodied men. Alphea had carried a crew of 41 men. Le Renard displaced 70 tons, had a complement of 61 and carried 10 X 8-pounder carronades and 4 X 4-pounder long guns. John Simmons has nearly completed his 1:72 Soclaine kit of Le Renard. The kit and drawings are French. The hull is POB and single planked. Colors on the hull are burnt straw and Texas hunter green for the bulwarks. The sails are the ones supplied with the kit and he is adding the ships boats. Next is to complete the rigging. KING OF THE MISSISSIPPI GREG WILCOX Greg Wilcox brought in his 1:80 model of an 1870 western river steamboat, King of the Mississippi. The model he is building started as an Artesania Latina kit. A neighbor had started building the kit when Greg received it, the hull was twisted and in need of a complete rebuilding. So Greg started again and found some apple wood to complete the planking. It turns out that all of the walnut kit wood needed replacement too. In addition to that, the cabins on the lower deck needed to be resized and the paddlewheel ring had wrong sized holes in it for its main shaft. This required filling and redrilling the holes. The kit parts for the circular stairs that connect the main deck and the boiler deck were completely wrong and so these were built from scratch. Greg says: But 2

3 everything else seems to be OK. The walls of the cabin are in place and it appears that the hurricane deck is next. 6-POUNDER GUN REED WEST Reed West brought in a 6-pounder gun on a truck carriage in 1:32 scale. It turns out that the model was a cardstock model built by a friend, Bob Penikas. The kit was downloaded from the Internet. Details include the coin and that even the tackle loops were made from paper. The model was left its natural color, white to show that it was made from paper. Your reporter poked around online for a while and found lots of information on 6-pounders but noticed nothing on these paper models. Then I checked out the information that Reed had provided at the meeting. A free download can be found at: Read also had items to show which could be a real help when adding fine detail to a model whether painting or carving. These were three beam bags about eight inches long and about three inches in diameter. The covering was black and Reed said that the fill was probably some sort of plastic. In use a couple of the bags are placed under the wrist and hand holding the work and the other supports the wrist of the hand holding the tool/paint brush. I thought that he said he found them at Office Depot. DANISH STEAM FRIGATE JYLLAND DON DRESSEL Jylland is the world s last screwpropelled steam frigate. During the Second War of Schleswig in 1864, it participated in the naval action against the Austrian-Prussian fleet in the Battle of Helgoland on 9 May Jylland along with the Niels Juel and Heimdall bested two Austrian frigates and three small Prussian gunboats, but were unable to maintain the blockade of the Prussian North Sea ports. Jylland sustained considerable damage during the battle. In the 1890s the ship was reduced to stationary use and barely escaped scrapping in It was, however, decided to preserve her and she was towed to Ebeltoft in The hulked frigate further deteriorated until she 3

4 was place in dry dock in Restoration proved to be a major task; over 60% of the timber had to be replaced in addition to the rigging, armament, engines and loose gear. In Danish, the ship is known as simply Fregatten Jylland, although several ships have used this name. The restoration efforts were completed in 1994 and the ship is currently on display in the town of Ebeltoft, Denmark. It is advertised as one of the world s longest wooden ships. The National Bank of Denmark has issued a commemorative coin. Art Robinson, an old SMA member and past president, who had disappeared about 20 years ago, gave Don Dressel a surprise call several weeks ago indicating he had some things he wanted to donate to the SMA. One of these items was a partially completed model of the Billings kit of Jylland, a Danish frigate. As far as Don is able to determine, the Jylland kit model is no longer available from Billings. Currently having no set of plans for the model, I do not know the scale. Don brought the partially completed model to the January SMA meeting and sold the model to Steve Lund, an SMA member, who donated $50.00 to the club. The original workmanship on the model was very good. Steve even managed to obtain a good set of plans of Jylland from Roy Roberts, who had previously built the model. We look forward to seeing the final results when Steve has completed the model with masting and rigging. PILGRIM OF DANA POINT MIKE ESKEW The Pilgrim is a full size replica of the brig immortalized by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. in his American seafaring classic novel Two Years Before the Mast. Dana said of the Pilgrim, The vessel I am going on is small, but strong and a remarkably fast sailer having been built for the smuggling trade. The ship was small, 68.5 feet long, for ships going from Boston to the Pacific Ocean. Dana had just graduated from college and wanted to improve his health by an extended time at sea, so he signed up as an ordinary seaman. The original Pilgrim was built in The purpose of its 1834 voyage was to participate in the California cattle hide trade for her Boston owners. The Pilgrim set sail from Boston loaded with New England s manufactured goods such as shoes, foodstuffs and ironware. When she arrived along the Alta California coast, the Pilgrim sold or traded her New England wares, then procured hides from the missions and rancheros to be transported back to Boston. The Pilgrim anchored several times at San Juan Bay (Dana Point). It is not known in what other trade the Pilgrim engaged after her voyage to Alta California, Mexico. However, it is recorded that she was lost in a fire at sea in By this time the hide trade had also suffered demise. Today s Pilgrim started her life in 1945 as a three-masted schooner plying the Baltic coastal trade out of Denmark. In 1975, she was sailed to Lisbon, Portugal by Captain Ray Wallace, the noted marine architect, where she was converted to a two-masted square-rigged 4

5 brig. In 1981 the Pilgrim came to Dana Point Harbor to become a living history of the life and times along the California coast before California became a part of the United States. Today it is the largest classroom of the Ocean Institute where every year thousands of students come to experience and learn about the sea. Mike s model of Pilgrim is scratch built at a scale of 1:96. He noted that liberties have been taken with the rigging such as metal blocks and some of the necessary Coast Guard gear. The sails are nicely presented as furled and were made from rice paper. PACKET SHIP FAIR WIND FRED SCHAFFNER Fred is working on a model of a typical ship of the 1830 s he has renamed Fair Wind of Boston. The model started out as the solid hull of the Charles W. Morgan from the Marine Model Company. Similar to Morgan the Fair Wind is about the same period and size and is bark rigged. She sailed the East Coast through South America. Fred has added an extra deck cabin for the passengers and has coppered the hull. The packet is fully rigged and bult to a scale of 5/32 =1. Ship s boats are next on the agenda, according to Fred. SAN SALVADOR BERT GOLDSTEIN Since spring 2011 the Maritime Museum of San Diego has been building a full-sized, fully functional, historically accurate replica of Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo s flagship, San Salvador. The ship is being constructed in full public view at Spanish Landing on Harbor Drive in San Diego. The keel was laid on 15 April The project gives people the opportunity to see an example of sixteenth century shipbuilding, which was the first modern industrial activity in the Americas. The replica galleon is 92 feet long with a beam of 24 feet. Bert s model instructions and plans were done by Roman Detyna who owns Digital Navy, a company specializing in good quality cardstock models. The scale is 1:100. Burt has completed the hull and also the masts and yards, both in cardstock. The shrouds and ratlines were made by using ¼ foam board to back up the plans and then use pins to position the lines. The ratlines were glued to the shrouds using white glue. The sails were made from plain 5

6 printer paper. A self-healing cutting mat from Hobby Shack is used for cutting the shapes. The mat helps to save blades..and the tabletop. He has found that a #14 blade works well when cutting circular shapes. Go to and the San Salvador can be found under the download tab. BAHAMIAN ISLANDS SMACK BOAT RANDY BIDDLE Randy is well along in construction of his Bahamas Islands Smack Boat. The boat is scratch built on a solid hull at a scale of 1:48. This type of boat is used for fishing and general interisland cargo hauling. The well smack is a sailing fishing vessel once common to the Bahamian Islands and particularly Abaco Island. The model is being built to lines drawn by the late Thomas Gilmer, drawings of deck detail by Captain William Johnson Jr., from articles in Wooden Boat Magazine by Maynard Bray and other sources. The model represents a vessel ca The boat is about 35 feet in length and features a live fish well, a cook stove on deck and a cargo hold forward. The model is mostly of basswood with a solid hull composed of two buttock sections and a sandwiched keel. The rig will be Marconi style and Randy found some very convincing 1:48 conch shells to add to the deck clutter. 6

7 John Simmons cutter Le Renard 1812 Greg Wilcox s King of the Mississippi Reed West s 6 pounder Gun cardstock 7

8 Art Robinson s Jylland Fred Schaffner s packet ship Fair Wind Mike Eskew s Pilgrim of Dana Point Bert Goldstein s San Salvador Randy Biddle s Bahamian Islands Smack Boat 8

9 By Don Dressel Old Salts in Port: John Bakker, Don Dressel, Steve Jones, Greg Wilcox, Don Leyman. Don Dressel also talked about his HMS Roebuck, as he is also starting to install the interior work on the ship. Don has installed the limber strakes, the hooks and clamps and the mast steps. The next step for him is the lower forward magazine area, with the partial deck which is installed as low in the hull as possible below the orlop deck. One of the topics discussed by both Don s was the use of the scrapper to help smooth out the interior of the frames prior to installation of any of the deck beams, clamps, hooks, mast steps, limber strakes and interior planking. The best methods for sharpening the scrappers and just what tools to use to do this were talked about with the major help of our resident expert carpenter, Greg Wilcox. Ship in Port: Derfflinger, HMS Roebuck, HMN Pegasus, Greek Trireme, HMS Bounty. Don Leyman started the official session off talking about his Swan Group Pegasus. He is proceeding with the beginning of the interior of the model and put in the lower deck clamps and mast steps. Don s biggest problem was figuring out where everything went. The mast steps are completed. Nothing is completely glued in yet, however, since he has to install the limber strakes first. He did have some questions about the inside planking plans which he brought, which showed the different plank positions as well as the use of butt & anchor planking in some areas. Don is doing a beautiful job on the model and it really looks good. 9

10 John Bakker then talked about his Derfflinger and the problems he is having with that model, as the instructions were none existent. He is working on deciding just how to install the stern decorations for the model and solving the problems with mounting the metal castings. John also discussed the trials and tribulations he was having with another model, the Greek Trireme, with is another foreign kit that John brought on sale from Model Expo. He also has to make 170 oars for that model! Several suggestions were offered to make this task a little easier. The photo attached will show the wooden filler he used at the bow and stern. Finally, a few comments were made about his HMS Bounty and his rigging problems along with his ongoing struggle with the kit model of the Essex. The meeting was then quickly terminated so everyone could watch football! 10

11 A Brief History of the British Naval Cutter Alert of 1777 By N.R. Cole Alert was laid down January 1777, one of fifteen cutters built for the British Navy during 1777 and She was built at Dover by Mr. Henry Ladd and was launched on June 24, Handed over to the Naval Authorities she was taken to Deptford for coppering, masting and fitting out and was re-floated in the graving dock on July 24, At that time her armament consisted of ten four-pounders and an unspecified number of swivels. She was awaiting orders on August 11, 1777 under the command of Lieutenant John Bazely. On Friday, September 19, 1777 Alert challenged and, after two engagements with a break for repairs, eventually took the larger and more heavily armed American Brig Lexington. The main reason for the smaller Alert s success was the fact that Lexington ran out of ammunition following engagements where she, along with the American vessels Dolphin and Reprisal, had taken fourteen prizes in the previous fourteen days. Alert took Lexington into Plymouth where she herself underwent repairs following the engagement. In January 1778 Alert s armament was upgraded to 12 six-pounders, retaining her swivels. She recommissioned under Lieutenant W.G. Fairfax. When Fairfax was promoted to the rank of Commander in May, Alert was re-rated to a sloop to comply with Admiralty requirements, though she was still rigged as a cutter. When France entered the war in 1778, Alert joined the British Channel Fleet under Admiral Keppel in search of the French Fleet. On June 17, 1778 along with the frigate Arethusa, Alert engaged the French frigate Belle Poule and the armed lugger Coureur. Alert engaged the lugger, which eventually struck her colours. The engagement between the two frigates was inconclusive. The Channel fleet returned to Spithead along with Alert and her second prize. While there is no mention of hammock nettings in Goodwin s work, the French report of the engagement between Alert and the Coureur indicate that when the crew of the lugger attempted to board Alert they could not get over the hammock nettings. This report also confirmed the fact that she carried twelve six-pounders, plus twelve swivels. The French commander later indicated that he felt that the hammock netting seriously compromised the sailing abilities of the Alert. 11

12 The French fleet broke out of Brest on July 8, The next day Admiral Keppel, aboard the 100-gun Victory, and the Channel fleet, which also included two vice- Admirals, Sir Robert Harland aboard the 90-gun Queen and Sir Hugh Palliser in the 90- gun Formidable commanded by Captain John Bazely, first commander of the Alert, commenced a pursuit. During the pursuit the French frigate Junon took Alert, which was alone engaged in scouting operations searching for the French, thus ending the short but successful career of the British Naval Cutter Alert While there are casual, unsubstantiated references indicating Alert threw guns overboard during the pursuit by Junon, I could not substantiate this with formal records or reports. When Alert sailed on her first assignment under the French flag she met with some unknown misfortune, disappearing without a trace. There was no record of an engagement in the war records from either side, nor was there ever any information as to what happened to her or her crew. She, and they, simply disappeared. There are indications that the British built another cutter named Alert. Lieutenants Bazely and Fairfax went on to achieve flag rank. The Editor would like to thank Roger Cole for this fine article and the following pictures of his construction of this scratch built model of the Cutter ALERT. All material is copy righted by Roger and cannot be reproduced without his permission. Any errors are due to the Editor! PORT SIDE FROM AHEAD PLANKING NEARING COMPLETION. Planking is completed up to the fifteenth strake. The sixteenth and final strake will be left off until the hanging knees for the deck structure have been installed. Once finished, the hull planking was polished and protected with a clear finish, followed with two coats of Renaissance Wax. A LOOK AT THE DECK DETAIL FORWARD. The windlass details with the working ratchets and check pawls, the detail in the hammock nettings, guns and tackles and the hatch and companionway gratings. Also seen here are the somewhat muted colours used on the model, reflecting the atmospheric affect that would have been evident had the original vessel been viewed from a distance. 12

13 A LOOK INSIDE THE LONGBOAT. The Longboat is fitted for sailing with the second thwart pierced for a mast; eyebolts used to support the standing rigging used when sailing are fitted to the caprails. The third thwart is not fitted with supporting knees to allow it to be removed when necessary, such as when transporting water casks, supplies, guns or ammunition out to the cutter. The oars have been secured to prevent their loss should the boat be swamped while being towed. HEADWORK AND RIGGING FROM FORWARD Seen here is a wealth of detail including the mast hoops securing the mainsail to the mast; the wooden banks securing the foresail to the forestay, which is cable-laid; and the lacing securing the topsail to the yard. Also visible high up in the shrouds, level with the lower edge of the gaff-jaws, are the shroud trucks used to lead lines from above down the inside of the shrouds and ratlines to belay on the shroud-mounted pin racks. Oddly, once a shroud truck has a line through it, it becomes a fairlead. MASTING, RIGGING AND SAILS FROM THE STARBOARD BOW. This view shows the mast, with the luff of the mainsail seized to the mast hoops; the backstay tackles; and, just underneath the gaff jaws, the shroud trucks (fairleads) leading the various lines down behind the shrouds and ratlines so as to avoid interference with crew going aloft. This also provided a lead for the lines to the appropriate belaying pin in the shroud-mounted racks. The cable-laid forestay is clearly seen in this photo along with the mouse and collar. 13

14 MASTING, RIGGING AND SAILS FROM THE PORT QUARTER. This view shows a wealth of detail aloft. The tablings, gussets, reef bands and reef points can be seen on the mainsail. The mainmast hoops, foresail hanks, ratlines, and cable-laid shrouds can also be seen. There were no footropes on ALERT her spars would have been far too light to support the weight of a man. The spars, shown here finished with shellac, would have been lowered to the deck to replace or unrig sails, and to make repairs to equipment. A LOOK AT THE MOLDING IN THE SAILS. This view shows the molding achieved in the sails while still leaving them on the soft side. The headsails are held out with wire-cored sheets. The mainsail boom and gaff are pinned in place due to the heavier sail and spars. The reef-points on the mainsail are tacked in place with a touch of glue. This view also shows the high gore cut into the topsail to allow it to clear the forestay and preventer. Also seen are the mast hoops securing the mainsail to the mast and the wood hanks securing the foresail to the forestay. The use of hanks prevented the usual snaking where the forestay and its preventer were lashed together in a zigzag pattern. 14

15 FLAG DETAILS. The ensign on the model was made from raw Chinese silk, dyed with French dyes. This process, while long and at times tedious, produces a flag through which light can be seen. ALERT would have carried a complement of five different size ensigns or flags ranging from her number one, down through number four, plus a Jack. In size, the fly of the number one was generally about equivalent to the molded beam of the vessel, the hoist was 5/9 ths of the fly at this time. The other ensigns were proportional and stepped down where the hoist of one became the length of the fly on the next smaller ensign. The Jack was equal to the canton of the largest ensign. ARMAMENT. During her refit in Plymouth in February 1778, ALERT S armament was upgraded from ten fourpounders to twelve six-pounders and twelve swivels. The six-pounder gun shown here with one of the swivels was simply a trial horse, built to prove out the tooling and jigs used in the manufacture of the various components required. This included developing the pattern-turning system to allow accurate replication of the gun barrels. While the gun barrel shown here is close, the six-pounders used on the model were patterned precisely on the John Robertson pattern of 1776, reflecting what was probably used for her upgrade. 15

16 ADMIRALTY MODELS WORKSHOP REVIEW The SMA is still trying to put together an ADMIRALTY MODELS WORKSHOP for the west coast, but the requirement of enough modelers to make the event happen is the main problem. We need a large number of individuals to attend the workshop to have this event. Please consider attending one at a future date and let Don Dressel know. In the late 1960 s the world famous cellist Pablo Casals gave a series of master classes. David Antscherl is continuing that concept. Once or twice a year David presides over a workshop organized by Greg Herbert, his business partner and cofounder of the Admiralty website. Past workshops have covered such topics as mast making, building a ship s boat, planking and carving. The workshop presented this year covered yard making, block making, silver soldering, use of the Jim Burns ropewalk and splicing. Greg Herbert demonstrated his method of making gratings. There are at least two similarities between these workshops and the master classes given by Peter Casals. The first is that both Casals and David Antscherl are considered to be among, if not the reigning Masters of their time. And the second is that they are willing to share their knowledge. Sharing their knowledge, means having a desire to help others produce work of the very highest quality. To participate in one of David s workshops is to observe a master at work; one who makes no compromises and strives to achieve the utmost in detail by re creating in miniature the original fabricating process as much as possible. One would guess that both men feel there is no shortcut to achieving work of the highest standards. It demonstrates that in some way the process itself is an end. When watching Casals teach a class (available on YouTube) one realizes that getting to the end of the piece is not the objective. The objective is to give the piece meaning by making every part of it as perfect and integral to the whole as possible. One way of looking at David s workshops is to view it also as a series of techniques for producing parts of the model as perfect and integral to the whole as possible. Another way is to accept a deeper understanding of the process, where standards and methods become the object and the model becomes a vehicle for expressing one s struggle to achieve perfection. The workshop will be a weekend very well spent! David and Greg both appreciate the difficulty of getting a group together for a workshop. It is a commitment of time and money on both parts. Our most popular topics are the Echo cross section (introduction to actual framing practice) and making a mast from a square billet. The Echo workshop covers the construction of the first two full frames. The keel, false keel and rising wood are done by the participants prior to the workshop. All materials are included in the workshop price and the keel materials are sent out a month in advance. This is our least profitable workshop as the material cost is high but it has proven to be our most popular. Participants can order the full cross section at a later date if they wish to complete it. Please consider attending a workshop. 16

17 SMA Meeting for February This month the meeting location remains the same no change. You may want to consider bringing a model, whether completed or not, to the meeting this is what makes the meetings work! Please observe that the dues are now due members receiving their newsletter via within 100 miles is $25.00, those receiving their newsletter via beyond 100 miles is $20.00 and those receiving their newsletter via snail mail is $40.00 (due primarily to the high and increasing costs of printing and mailing the newsletter). If dues are not received by April, then you will no longer receive the SMA Newsletter. NOTE: dues do not apply to honorary members. Mike DiCerbo will be at the January meeting to collect the dues either cash or check. If you do not make the meeting, then please mail to Mike. SMA SHOW It was discussed at the officers meeting earlier this month the start thinking about the SMA having a ship model show at some time in the near future. We have not had a show since the 2011 SMA Conference & Exhibit and one is needed in order to keep the club alive, active and attract new members. It you have any thoughts you may have on this endeavor, please let any one of the SMA Officers know. Treasurer s Report Our esteemed SMA Treasurer, Mike DiCerbo, indicates that the current balance in the SMA treasury is $ as of January 2, Mike DiCerbo is usually at all the SMA meetings on the third Wednesday of the month, so any questions concerning the dues or any other item of financial concern can be directed to Mike. Mike did not attend the latest SMA Officers meeting, this no new figure is available as to the balance of the SMA checking account. Web Manager s Report Above is the chart of the hits experienced by our SMA web page through the end of December You should check out the web page as there will is great set of articles on the speakers who were at the recent WSMC&E, according to Doug. There are other potential additions to be added to the web site. 17

18 Randy Biddle s Bahamian Island s Smack Boat Donald C. Dressel 908 W. 22 nd Street, Upland, CA Next meeting Wednesday, February 19, 7:30 PM, Hillcrest Park Red Cross Building 18