Newsletter. Work in Progress March 21, 2012 Reporter: Dave Yotter. Contacts. Volume 39, Number 4, Apr. 2012

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1 Newsletter Volume 39, Number 4, Apr Contacts President: Bill Schultheis (714) Vice President: John Simmons (626) 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 Work in Progress March 21, 2012 Reporter: Dave Yotter The usual crowd of about 35 folks showed up for our Wednesday meeting in March with maybe a few more showing up as things progressed. Bahaman Islands Smack Boat Randy Biddle Meeting Wed., Apr. 18, 7 PM, Red Cross Building, 1207 N. Lemon, Fullerton, CA Officers meeting Wed., May 2, 2012, 7 PM, Bob Beech s house, 130 Clove Pl., Brea, CA (714) Randy Biddle brought in his Bahaman Islands smack boat that he is building in1:48 scale from scratch. The boat is used for fishing and general interisland cargo hauling. It is being built to lines drawn by the late Thomas Gilmer and also drawings by Captain William Johnson Jr. from articles in Wooden Boat magazine and other things. Few of these remain. The model will represent a vessel ca The boat is about 35 ft. 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 1

2 keel. It will be painted white on the hull and deck with lots of colorful accents. He hopes to make the mast out of a birch stick so that it will appear as though made from a single log with knots and stuff showing. Cardstock Models in 1:400 Burt Goldstein Burt Goldstein brought in five cardstock models, all in 1:400 scale, all made from JSC Cardstock Model Kits. JSC is a publishing company in Gdansk, Poland that has published a few hundred models. While mostly in the 1:400 scale, they also published in different scales. Their address is The first model shown is of the Maritime platform Petrojarl Cidade de Rio das Ostras, a vessel redesigned (46,000 dwt tanker, ex Che Guevara, built in 1981 at AG Weser) as a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel and is exemplary of the fate of many pre Exxon Valdez oil spill, single hull oil tankers. It takes oil fresh from the well and does some preliminary processing like dewatering and burning off the gasses and then store the oil for later removal by another tanker. Burt says this model is only about 30% complete. The remaining four models were all from one kit. The kit is composed of the SS Narwhal, a WWII submarine decommissioned in 1946, the USS Ballard, a WWII seaplane tender and two attending seaplanes, a PBY and a SOC-1. The PBY Catalina was a flying boat produced by Consolidated Aircraft. The SOC Seagull was a single-engine scout observation biplane aircraft, designed by Alexander Solla of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. HM Gunboat WILLAIM John Simmons John Simmons brought in a 1:32 scale Caldercraft, Nelson Navy model that is still under construction. Purchased by the Royal Navy in 1795, William, under the direction of Sir Sidney Smith, was fitted as a hoy-rigged gunboat at Plymouth Yard. As fitted, William was armed with 1 X 24 pdr long gun, 2 X 12 pdr carronades and a compliment of 25 men. Of special interest is the innovative design of an early form of turret mounting for the 24 pdr. The gun and carriage were mounted onto a bed which in turn sat on a bearing race 2

3 made up of shot, allowing the entire assembly to rotate on the flat (caber less) forecastle. Although capable of sail, with a fore-and-aft style hoy rig, William would have been more commonly rowed. This is further illustrated not only by the evidence of rowlocks and sweeps but by the way the mast is mounted on a pivot allowing it to be lowered down to deck, extending aft, guided by the fore-and-aft mast carlings. The mast would have been lowered in this manner in order to lower the centre of gravity and reduce resistance making the boat far more maneuverable by sweeps. Built for anti-invasion duties, William was manned by 25 men, usually members of the Sea Fencible, the maritime equivalent of the Militia and volunteers. Although unclear, William is believed to have been wrecked in Guernsey Roads on 4 November, Stealth Attack Jet John Simmons John has come up with another original design for an aircraft (airship?). The craft is for a single pilot and uses one F135 engine (from an F-35). It is designed to carry six GBU-glide bombs mounded on a rotary launcher and six internal air-to-air defense missiles all lowered through the bottom surface to maintain a low observable configuration. It is of course, a full stealth aircraft. The model is scratch built in 1:48 scale. Cutter LADY NELSON Don Dressel Don Dressel is continuing work on his 1:64 Victory Kit model of the 18 th century cutter Lady Nelson, which is basically completed. The rigging has been installed per the kit instructions with a number of additions including seizing the shrouds and stays, making a mouse for the main stay, and adding some other lines. The blocks used were Lloyd Warner Woods West blocks, as the blocks supplied in the kit were not up to par. It was mentioned that there were some minor errors in the kit plans showing locations for belaying lines which were changed to correct practice. Consultation was also done with the book Rigging Period Fore-and-Aft Craft by Lennarth Petersson. The British flag, which was NOT supplied in the kit, was made of Japanese rice paper following the procedure as outlined by Gus Agustin (Chicago) and augmented by a CD from Kevin Hudson (Australia). It was Don s first attempt at making the flag, which was successful. Don will probably sell the model in the near future as he has no room at home for the model and the reason for building the model, the Mayflower Group project, has been completed. Don did indicate that the kit was a fun project and the results were satisfying. 3

4 HMS PRINCE Bill Russell Bill Russell is continuing work on his 1:192 model of the Charles era HMS Prince of 1670, a scratch built, miniature Navy Board model. The model closely follows the design conventions used on the original 17 th century Navy Board models. It is very similar to the 1th century model of Prince in London, but ¼ as large. Sources of information include the afore mentioned model at the Science Museum, Lines drawings of the Navy Board model, contemporary prints and drawings, historic documents giving dimensions and books on the Restoration Navy. The model is almost entirely made og wood and includes pear wood for hull framing, holly for deck planking, boxwood for the carvings, white peroba for hull planking, ebony for most of the black areas, bamboo for treenails and gold leaf to cover the wood carvings. Bill has been working on the Prince for at least three years and another year will be needed for completion. Aside from the model itself, a case must be designed and constructed. It will include some wood carvings such as the dolphins to support the model in the case. The model will be displayed with pictures of the Prince from the 1600 s. USS MIDWAY Bob Zmuda Bob Zmuda brought in a 1:800 scale ARII kit of the USS Midway. The Midway was commissioned eight days after the surrender of Japan and later her heavy modernization took place from 1966 to 1970 at a cost of $202 million. The kit shows her in post modernization configuration. This includes the blisters or sponsons, which had to be added to support all the extra weight. This increased her width from 113 to 136 feet to support the increase in tonnage from 45,000 to 74,000. Bob wanted to build the kit straight from the box as he did when he was a kid. This meant leaving all the grey plastic unpainted and only painting what we necessary. The waterline was applied with a black paint marker. So after the detail painting was done and decals were added, the model was sprayed with clear flat to finish if off. 4

5 1776 Continental Frigate HANCOCK Henry Bikhazi Henry Bikhazi brought in his scratch built 1:96 scale model of the Continental Frigate Hancock of 1776 built to Harold Hahn s plans. The Hancock was one of the first 13 frigates of the Continental Navy. Hancock was built at Newburyport, Massachusetts, and placed under command of Captain John Manley 17 April There was a long fitting out period, mainly due to the lack of guns. Hancock, in accompaniment with the Continental Frigate Boston was successful in capturing a small brig, a sloop and the 28 gun frigate Fox (Fox was later recaptured). Later however, Hancock was herself captured by HMS Rainbow and renamed HMS Iris. Her new owners proclaimed her as the finest and fastest frigate in the world. Henry has completed the quarterdeck and forecastle deck planking as well as all the furnishings and fittings. The bowsprit, jib boom and rudder are installed. The main, mizzen and foremasts have the wooldings installed and the iron hops are placed. Henry plans to complete the rigging of this ship with the turning of deadeyes and many other tasks yet to be performed. USS CONSTITUTION Bob Riddoch Bob Riddoch brought in his 1:78 USS Constitution based on a Model Shipways kit. The kit is based on the 1927 Navy drawings, photographs and documentation used during the restoration and Bob is also using the Bob Hunt practicum as a guide. The model will depict the ship as she sits today. The transom and side galleries are completed. The towing bits are in and were made from wood removed from the 1:1 USS Constitution during a recent yard period. He is currently working on the trailboard rails and knees. Bob says that his next project will be his first attempt at carving while working on the trailboards themselves. He has some boxwood for this. 5

6 USS CONSTITUTION Paul Payne Paul Payne brought in his scratch 1:96 scale model of the USS Constitution, 44, launched in Paul is building her in as launched until 1803 configuration with the Hercules figurehead and open bulwarks. He has test fitted one deadeye and is reworking the headrail area. The figurehead from a previous effort is also receiving a little refining. Paul also has a piece of 1:1 USS Constitution oak and is working on a way to include it into the presentation, perhaps as a nameplate backing. Paul also brought in another battleship of sorts, a Russian T-35 Tank. The T-35 was a Soviet multi=turreted heavy tank of the interwar period and early Second World War that saw limited production and service with the Red Army. It was the only fiveturreted heavy tank in the world to reach production but proved to be slow and mechanically unreliable. Most of the T-35 tanks still operational at the time of Operation Barbarossa were lost due to mechanical failure rather than enemy action. Only about 300 of these were made. Paul built the model from a plastic kit in 1:35 scale. Continental Schooner WASP Fred Schaffner Scorpion, a merchant schooner built at Baltimore was purchased for the Continental Army late in 1776, renamed Wasp, outfitted at Baltimore during the winter of and commissioned in December of January, Capt. William Hallock in command. Wasp was one of the original six vessels procured by George Washington for the Continental Army, civilian vessels then converted for military use. Wasp, Hornet and Commodore Esek Hopkins squadron took part in a raid on Nassau, the Bahamas that netted 90 cannon, 15 brass mortars and some powder, an important gain for the eventual success of the revolution. In later operations around the Delaware River and Bay the continental schooner captured the British brig Betsey and took her into Philadelphia where the British officers were placed in jail. The schooner continued to operate on the Delaware and along the nearby Atlantic coast for the 6

7 remainder of her career. Near the end of the year, she took three more prizes Leghorn Galley late in October, Two Brothers in December, and an unnamed sloop that same month. She also recaptured Success, an American ship previously taken by HMS Roebuck. In the fall of 1777 Wasp was lost after operations in the vicinity of the Delaware capes after a clash with British forces under Sir Richard ( Black Dick ) Howe. Fred Schaffner used a Fair American solid hull for his model of Wasp in 1:48 scale. The 70-foot hull was planked over, armed with eight 6- pounder guns and converted to a double topsail rig from a gaff rig. Display case David Okamura 90248; (310) David Okamura brought in a plastic case found in the scrap bin of a local company. He constructed a base from window screen frame material, wood molding and mat board. The plastic top was drape formed and then the sides glued on for a nice frameless display top. David said there were more tops of various sizes in the bin for around $ The company makes display case tops to your measurements too. The address of the local company is Plastic Depot, 758 W. 190 th Street, Gardena, Ca. Philadelphia s Anchors Dave Yotter Your reporter brought in anchor castings in silicon bronze made from my wooden patterns. They were done using the lost wax process. Brad Bluth takes the patterns and makes molds from them and then these molds go to a foundry for casting into the finished product. The patterns were made from beech wood without any sealing or primer coating, which resulted in a nice slightly textured surface to the finished casting. The patterns did come back disarticulated as they were somewhat fragile and it is difficult to remove them from the molds. The final casting needed some filing and a little retexturing where the mold gates attach to the casting. The castings were cleaned by using a pickling compound, Sparex No. 2, to remove any residual oxidation or grease from handling. Sparex No. 2 is used for cleaning of non-ferrous and precious metals. It is a 7

8 powdered acidic compound, which is mixed with water, and best used warm (an old crock pot works well). The castings were then blackened using Birchwood Casey Brass Blake. I do this by just continuously wiping the surface of the casting with a rag wetted with the brass black. This method results in a black coating that won t wear or chip off. Sparex No. 2 is available from any jewelry supply house. Brad charges $75.00 for each mold done and the foundry charge was $24.00 for each piece. Brad s contact information: st Street, Santa Monica, Ca , (310) , brad@modelrailcastings.com. Randy Biddle s Bahaman Islands Smack Boat Burt Goldstein s Cardstock Models 1:400 8

9 John Simmons HM Gunboat WILLIAM Don Dressel s Cutter HMS LADY NELSON John Simmons Stealth Attack Jet Bill Russell s HMS PRINCE Bob Zmuda s USS MIDWAY Henry Bikhazi s Frigate HANCOCK 9

10 Bob Riddoch s USS CONSTITUTION Fred Schaffner s WASP Paul Payne s USS CONSTITUTION David Okamura s plastic case Paul Payne s Russian T 35 Tank 10

11 BY Don Dressel Old salts in port: Steve Jones, John Bakker, Guy Bell, Don Dressel, Don Leyman, Yas Komorita, Greg Wilcox and Dan Hickox. It was a nice day although a little windy. There were some interesting discussions before the individual modelers talked about their models with discussions on plans, building techniques and other things. As usual, the coffee was ready and hot and great cookies were there for those who wanted to partake. Don Dressel again started off with his discussion of the LADY NELSON English cutter, which is basically finished at this point. It is unfortunate that Bill Wicks was not present to see the finished product. Rigging details were discussed and Don brought in his working plans from the kit, which John Bakker indicated he wanted, so Don gave them to him. There were a number of questions concerning the rigging and discussions followed analyzing the various alternative procedures. There was also some discussion concerning the scale of the kit versus the scale of the scratch built LADY NELSON that several of the Mayflower Group were working on. Don Leyman brought in his scratch built LADY NELSON which is 50% larger than the kit version that Don Dressel built. He is now making the spars and working on the rigging. He has served all the shrouds as appropriate and completed the forestay. He also will install his version of a backstay that he thinks is necessary. He also brought in his large version of a seizing machine very similar to the string-along that was shown last month. He finds his seizing machine much better as it can do all the 11

12 seizing in one set-up. A picture of the seizing unit is shown, which was also scratch built using gears obtained from a hobby shop. Steve Jones brought in one of the latest kits from Model Expo, which is the longboat kit. It encompasses a very different approach to planking with the bulkhead used, then removed but leaving the frames in place (see picture attached of supplied material). A picture of the completed model is also shown, which is supplied in the kit. It remains to be seen if Steve will build this model or not. It looks interesting and has some very different challenges. Guy Bell showed us his scratch built model of a Periagua gunboat based on plans by Christian Berge and the plans in the book by Chappelle plus rigging details from Eighteenth-Century Rigs & Rigging by Karl Keinz Marquardt. He also showed us his scratch built blocks, deadeyes, strops, and mast hoops for the sails. The sails are also made from scratch. There was a long discussion about the strange rudder arrangement. Also discussed was the use of silver solder and how difficult it was to get the flux and silver solder just right. Don Dressel mentioned silver solder paste in a syringe tube which was very easy to use (used by jewelers). This is available from Starr Gems, Inc. at Tiny amounts of silver solder can be applied very easily. 12

13 Greg Wilcox first showed us his Model Shipways cannon kit that he had purchased at a very reasonable price. It was a fun build but the painting gave Greg some problems. By the photo, it turned out very well. Greg also showed us the Midwest Models LOBSTER SMACK that he is building. It is supposed to be a beginners kit but Greg is of the opinion that it is definitely NOT a beginners kit (see photo). Some modelers would be turned off due to the fact that the hull is composed of balsa wood, but the model made by Greg looks good in its present condition with a very fine finish. Let s hope that Greg finishes the model and brings it in again to show us the completed model. Painting and finishing techniques were discussed along with other minor details. Finally, Dan Hickox introduced himself again and the new kit on the block and solicited advice as to where to start in the wonderful hobby of wooden ship model building. He obtained a lot of hints and tips, with strong suggestions that a solid hull model would be a good place to start and checking out Model Expo and the kits offered by Model Shipways was a good approach. It was offered that the modeler should really like and want to build the ship selected. I would offer the SULTANA solid hull kit by Model Expo as a good beginning as the hull is not too difficult and the rigging is only two masts, she has a good history, and is a very picturesque model when completed. It was another successful Mayflower Group meeting. There are a number of SMA members who cannot attend the regular meeting for various reasons and the Mayflower Group meeting at John Bakker s home is a wonderful substitute. As evidenced by Dan above, much can be learned at the meeting by all those who may want to attend. We all seem to learn something every time we go and a lot of good information is exchanged in a very congenial atmosphere. The next Mayflower Group meeting will be on May 20, so those who desire should mark their calendar. The Mayflower Group meeting is always at John Bakker s home and is usually the first Sunday after the regular SMA meeting unless announced differently (in the newsletter). 13

14 FAMOUS SHIPS The SAN FELIPE By Don Dressel As it turns out, this is a famous ship MODEL, not a famous ship. Since I am in the process of starting to work on a 1:112 scale model of the SAN FELIPE, I thought a little research was in order. The SAN FELIPE is a favorite ship among the ship model builders. The model is elegant, very beautifully designed, and makes a decorative piece of art to be displayed at home or in the office. However, a Spanish three decker with the name SAN FELIPE most probably did not exist in In fact, some of the descriptions of the ship given by the manufacturers of the kit have invented the ship and even claimed things done by another Spanish ship of a much earlier period. It does not take long to check out the original source of the model. She was not involved in a huge fight with 14 English Men of War in the early 1500 s and certainly did not sink as a result of the battle with a ton or two of gold aboard. It seems that the SAN FELIPE was originally designed and drawn up by Mr. Vincenzo Lusci in the early 1950 s and the kit was copied by several kit producers including Amati and Mantua. You can check out the book Modellismo Navale Statico Anrtico by Vincenzo Lusci, which is in Italian (I think). In any case, it does have a lot of beautiful pictures and shows a lot of model construction hints and tips. To return to the model, the original hull was built by Richard Keyes (Australia) by reducing the 1:75 plans published by Mantua by 67%. When I was visiting Australia several years ago I spent some time with Richard and saw the model, which was covered with dust. On inquiry, it was a project that came to a halt and was not going to be pursued. Several years late the model was sent to my home by Richard, as I was interested in building the model. The basic hull is complete with planking and a lot of the decking was completed, but nothing else. I wanted a small model, so have decided to built her as launched, which means she will have no cannon, spars or rigging. The carvings will be enough to keep me busy for quite awhile. I had Clyde Emerson use his CNC machine to rough carve the ornamentation to scale, and am now working on building the hull. I also have some authentic Spanish flags being made by Gus Agustin for me. I think it will be the first Spanish ship modeled with Spanish Launching flags. The model will join my French LE MIRAGE, which is also a ship of the Line which actually did not exist in the real French Navy. Anyone wishing to comment on the model or the history of the SAN FELIPE can contact me if they desire or check out the large volume of material on the Web. You can just Google San Felipe Spanish Ship. 14

15 SMA Model Display at Brea Library There is currently running an excellent ship model display of some of the SMA modelers at the Brea Library. There are 15 models currently there on display. The Brea Library has informed Bob Beach, the organizer that the models may stay on display until the end of April. More models may still be displayed if desired contact Bob Beach. Models can now be removed at any time through the end of April. SMA happenings Unfortunately, the power point presentation of flag making by Kevin Hudson was not shown at the last meeting due to the projector not making an appearance. We will try again this month to have the projector at the meeting along with a computer to enable the showing of this technique. Also, Doug Tolbert, our Webmaster, has indicated that SMA s collection of Ship Modelers Handy Hints is now available in the Research Room on the SMA Web site (for members ONLY). Check all the new things on our web site at Possible Admiralty Model s work shop in California Guy Bell has contacted Greg Herbert of Admiralty Models to inquire what it would take to have a work shop locally. The cost would be $ each. Currently 12 SMA members have signed up and 8 more are needed for a successful event. Treasurer s Report Our esteemed SMA Treasurer, Mike DiCerbo, indicates that the current balance in the SMA treasury is $3, as of the end of March Web Manager s Report 15

16 Bob Riddoch s USS CONSTITUTION stern Donald C. Dressel 908 W. 22 nd Street, Upland, CA Next meeting Wednesday, April 18, 7:30 PM, Hillcrest Park Red Cross Building 16