Newsletter. Work in Progress January 18, 2012 Reporter: Dave Yotter. Contacts. Volume 39, Number 2, Feb. 2012

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1 1 Newsletter Volume 39, Number 2, Feb 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 Meeting Wed., Jan. 18, 7 PM, Red Cross Building, 1207 N. Lemon, Fullerton, CA Officers meeting Wed., Feb. 1, 2012, 7 PM, Bob Beech s house, 130 Clove Pl., Brea, CA (714) Work in Progress January 18, 2012 Reporter: Dave Yotter There was a very large group of SMA members and a few guests who attended the January meeting on a very nice, warm evening. Don t forget that your dues are $25.00 for the year and are DUE NOW! Also if you ordered a new name badge to replace an old or lost one you owe the treasurer $6.00 for that also. Name badges for new members or members who never had a name badge are included in their membership Continental Frigate HANCOCK Henry Bikhazi Henry Bikhazi brought in his scratch built 1:96 model of the Continental Frigate Hancock of Woods used in this model include maple frames, ebony wales and other bulwark details, pau marfim planking, holly for the deck planks while the deck fixtures are a mix of paduk and boxwood. The guns were sourced from Bill Wicks and Tony Devroude did the carvings. The model was last brought in about a year ago and he is finishing the deck beams on the forecastle and quarterdeck. Henry also brought a 1:1 DVD/CD rack that he recently completed from plans by Rob Cosman. The woods used in this piece were ash,

2 2 maple, walnut and paduk showing off the nicely done hand cut dovetails. USS CONSTITUTION Bob Riddoch Bob Riddoch brought in his 1:78 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. Recently he has been working on the gallery and transom moldings. The practicum included some 65 pages on transom details alone and Bob says he has spent about four months on the stern lights and quarter galleries. The rivet detail on the inside of the bulwarks is very impressive. The model looks very imposing right now with it s all black hull but the appearance will change soon as the copper plates have all been cut and will be installed as soon as all the nail head detail is finished. Pilot Schooner(s) DOVE Jim LeFever The DOVE was a Canadian built pinky type (sharp at both ends) build by Sylvester S. Baltazar in 1875 in Nova Scotia on a fishing model and used as a pilot boat at Eastport, ME. H.I. Chapelle, in his book on the American Fishing Schooners, reports that she was a late and yacht like design and was noted for her sailing qualities. In fact, his drawings were taken from a half model and set of drawings by the builders son who intended to build a copy for his own use. Jim LeFever s concept is to explore two techniques of modeling, frame and solid hull and to simultaneously show the construction and interior fittings and the final fitted out form of the same vessel. Both vessels will be mounted in the same case where Jim hopes they will tell the story of the ship as completely as possible. Both models are scratch built in 1:48 scale and built of basswood and copper fittings. On the frames model, recent work includes the anchors and chocks. This model is nearly complete. On the solid hull model, Jim has recently completed hatch covers, anchors, a main topmast, chocks and the copper bottom. All bits of ironwork and anchors are built up from brass rod and shapes. GOLDEN HIND Paul Carter The Golden Hind was probably built in the shipyards at Altenburg, Suffolk and then moved to Plymouth, Devon in Originally named Pelican she weighted 150 tons, had a length of 80 feet, beam 19 feet and depth 9 feet. Her sail area was 2500 square feet and she had an armament of 18 guns of various sizes. The Pelican was renamed Golden Hind on Sir

3 3 Francis Drake s voyage of 1577 and was the first English ship to circumnavigate the world. Drake started out with a fleet of five ships and only the Golden Hind returned. Paul Carter is building the Golden Hind starting with a 15 year-old Mamoli kit in1:53 scale. He reports that the drawings are good but the wood is of a previously unknown species splinter wood. The kit included a nice silkscreened frieze detail but hand painting was necessary to have both sides of the ship appear the same. A chronology of the Golden Hind s circumnavigation follows: 1577 Left Plymouth 15 Nov. but had to return due to contrary winds. Left Plymouth again on 13 Dec. with five ships: Pelican, Elizabeth, Swan, Marigold, Benedict. 20 Jun 1578 Thomas Doughty tried and executed for mutiny. The Swan and Benedict were broken up and the stores and crew were transferred to the remaining ships. 20 Aug. Golden Hind enters the Straits of Megellan. 6 Sept. Reach Pacific Ocean. 30 Sept. Marigold lost. Golden Hind and Elizabeth blown 300 miles south to Cape Horn. 7 Oct. A violent squall separates Golden Hind and Elizabeth. Elizabeth waits for Drake but eventually returns to England. 5 Dec. Raid on Valparaiso. Captures a Spanish ship laden with gold and wines. Ship refitted here. 1 Mar Took the Carcafuego, 80 pounds of gold, 13 chests of pieces of eight, 26 tons of silver, jewels & pearls. Also captured two Pacific pilots. 15 Apr. Golden Hind reaches Central America. 1 Jun. Lat 48 N, now Vancouver, found that the northwest route was too great a hazard and returned to New Albion. 23 Jul. Leave new Albion. 16 Oct. Arrive the Philippines. 3 Nov. Golden Hind reaches the Spice Islands (Moluccas). Trade relations established with the Sultan of Ternate. Six tons of cloves were taken aboard. 9 Jan The ship struck a reef and 8 guns and 3 tons of cloves were jettisoned. When the wind changed the ship slid off the reef. 26 Mar. Golden Hind reaches Java and then left for the Cape of Good Hope. 22 Jul. Reached Sierra Leone without stopping since leaving Java. 26 Sep. Golden Hind returns home to England with 58 men left over from a fleet of 5 vessels and 164 men Drake knighted on Golden Hind by Queen Elizabeth I. The ship was taken to dry-dock in Deptford for public exhibition and rotted after 100 years of neglect.

4 4 CSS ARKANSAS Rob Boynes The Confederate Ram Arkansas had an armor that plated the sides of her casemate consisting of rows of dovetailed double thickness ordinary railroad iron collected all over the state. Only the forward and rear sections of her casemate were angled. She had a heavy iron beak on her bow for ramming. Her hull had a flat bottom Mississippi River design and she had twin screws. To conceal the Arkansas, the ship was painted a deep earth brown to match the color of the Mississippi River but every eyewitness account says she was rust colored due to the poor quality of the pigment in the Confederate paint. On July 15, 1862 the Arkansas steamed down the Yazoo River. There she fought the Tyler, the Queen of the West, and the Carondelet. She sank the Carondelet and chased the other two Union vessels down the Mississippi where she then fought her way through the entire Mississippi squadron of ships commanded by Admiral Farragut! The Arkansas 28 days of glory came to an end when her engines failed while supporting Confederate troops in the land attack on Baton Rouge. To prevent her from falling into Union hands, the Ram was run aground and burned. Rob Boynes has completed his Old Steam Navy 1:96 scale model of the Confederate Ram Arkansas. The kit consists primarily of resin and pewter castings. He has finished it well weathered to match the eyewitness accounts. Rob also brought in a 1:35 scale model of the USS CONSTITUTION fighting top. This resin kit by Flagship Models is a nice large scale and comes with a few figures (more figures can be purchased separately). Rob will man the top with a complete crew consisting of three marines, three sailors, a captain of the top and a midshipman. HMS UNICORN John Simmons John Simmons is working on a model of HMS UNICORN from a 1:75 Corel kit. He is about one month into the model s construction. It will have a fully rigged gun deck, at least the part you can see and he plans to include two chase guns. John also plans to add a full complement of ships boats. He has use of a vinyl cutting sign machine for the ship s name. HMS UNICORN did not have a spectacular career but was a typical frigate of 32 guns.

5 5 New York Pilot Schooner MARY TAYLOR Fred Schaffner Mary Taylor represents the classic American pilot boat from the mid-19 th century. As the pilot service was competitive in New York at this time, these boats were built for speed. The faster they could sail, the more likely they could beat out their competitors to the ships sailing into the harbor and in need of their services. Mary Taylor was designed by George Steers, who was so successful in his pilot boat designs that he went on the build the yacht America, which was also built on the pilot boat style. Fred Schaffner built this model from a 1930 s Boucher solid hull kit. The scale is 1:48 and it is planked over a solid hull with a coppered bottom. 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 configuration up to 1803 with the Hercules figurehead and open bulwarks. Paul admits to some reduced progress since we last saw the model. He has been working on chains and deadeyes, soldering links, etc. The head rails are temporarily in place as is the figurehead. He did indicate that some items will require a third attempt and maybe more to come. The next project up is the spar deck twelve pounders and the wheel. The pin rails are only glued down and he is concerned they may need more security when the rigging starts. Continental Gunboat PHILADELPHIA Dave Yotter The PHILADELPHIA was built in 1776 on Lake Champlain under the direction of General Benedict Arnold for defense of Lakes Champlain and George from the British. PHILADELPHIA was sunk, in action, on October 11, 1776 as a member of the fleet that participated in the Battle of Valcour Island. She was raised in 1935 and donated to the Smithsonian Institution in PHILADELPHIA is the country s oldest existing war ship. Dave Yotter is building the model to a 1:16 scale representing a hull 53 feet long, 13 feet wide and drawing 2 feet of water.

6 6 Displacement is 29 tons. The model is constructed using beech wood to represent the oak construction of the original and Sitka spruce for the spars. The guns were sand cast by Dave in silicon bronze and finished with a blackening agent to represent the finish of a cast iron gun. The rock ballast was obtained from an aquarium supply store and is held in place with acrylic mat medium. The finish is tung oil. The original is likely to have been finished with linseed oil only, as there was no evidence of paint found on the hull. The most recent work consists of putting some of the rigging together. The line was spun up on a homemade ropewalk from linen thread and I have been stropping blocks and making such bits as thimbles and hooks. Also a few of the gun tools, the sponge and ram and the pry bars used to elevate the guns have been made. LADY NELSON Don Dressel Don Dressel brought in his 1:64 scale model of the LADY NELSON based on the Victory Models Kit, made by Amati. It is a double plank on bulkhead kit with all material supplied including brass pedestals and a mahogany base board. The kit is being built in conjunction with the scratch models of LADY NELSON by the Mayflower Group, the scratch model being 50% larger in size. Don has been trying to build the kit strictly from the kit but has had some problems with the material supplied in the kit, for which he has substituted his own wood. The deck is planked with holly. A few small items, like treenails in the deck, have been added to the model. Items completed within the last few weeks have been the deck furniture, bitts, cathead, timberheads, winch and bowsprit assembly. The outer hull has been coated with Deft and the lower hull spray painted white. All eyebolts have been installed. Yet to be completed is mounting the model on its baseboard, completing the hull fittings, installing the cannon and swivel guns and getting ready to make the spars. In a departure from the kit, the birch dowels supplied will not be used for the spars, but lemon wood spars will be turned on Don s lathe instead. There is indication that some of the birch dowels are already warped. Don also had on hand his model of the SAN FELIPE. The model is a scratch plank-onbulkhead built to a scale of 1:100 based on the original plans by Mantua. The hull was built by Richard Keyes in Australia. Don saw the model when visiting Richards s home and was dismayed to discover that Richard no longer wanted to work on it. Following negotiations, Richard agreed to trade the model to Don for a ship modeling book. The model safely arriving by mail at Don s house, it is his intention to complete the hull, doing all the carvings with the help of Clyde Emerson and his CNC machine. Much thought and research is now going into the model to determine the next step. Photo-etch may be the key to some of the very small details such as the gun port brackets.

7 7 Whitehall Tender Bill Schultheis The Whitehall originated around 1820 by the New York Waterfront, used by runners who would row out to incoming deepwater vessels to accost the local crews, pitching the local establishments, ship chandlers, and the like. Bill Schultheis is working on a 1:10 Whitehall boat from a Midwest products kit. Skill level is described as intermediate and is strip planked making a very nice looking model with a length of 12. Bill has the thought that having models such as this available could be used to attract younger modelers to our hobby. He has observed, as have the rest of us, that most of our SMA meeting attendees are old, male and white haired (or hairless in some cases). Models like this could (and should) be recommended to those interested in trying out model shipbuilding rather than the scenario that many have fallen into; I wanted to try building a ship model and I bought this kit of HMS VICTORY Viking Ship & German Ferry SCHARNHORN Burt Goldstein Burt Goldstein wanted to go a different direction from his recent larger and more complex cardstock models. The first model of this pair is a Viking Ship at 1:135 scale and can be downloaded from Canon Paper Models and printed on your own printer. The finished model is about nine inches long representing an actual ship length of about 115 ft. and would be named by 12 oarsmen. The second model, SCHARNHORN was a steamship of 1907 and served several functions during its lifetime including carrying refugees, a survey ship and a ferry. The ship was 137 feet in length (model length 6 ½ inches, 1:250 scale) and was a coal fired steam ship with two 1200 HP triple expansion engines. It took Burt about a week each to assemble these models. Byrnes Model Machine Rope Walk Mike Lonnecker Mike Lonnecker brought in a prototype version of a ropewalk soon to be available from Byrnes Model Machines. As are all the products that Jim Byrnes produces, this one is a precision piece of work in both fit and finish. The motor and controller on this example will appear differently on the finished product. The machine will make three-stranded right hand or left hand rope or three-stranded rope with a center core. Jim expects that these will be available as a finished product within a few weeks. The sales price will be about $ Mike demonstrated the ropewalk use using DMC cotton thread. This thread is available in 6 stand

8 8 RH twist and sizes of 10 to 100 (0.009 to in.) (I hope I got that right). The rope he made looked very nice. Mike said that there is a learning curve for successful rope making. Careful attention needs to be paid to loading of the supply bobbins and that equal tension between all three of the bobbins is necessary. Also, the spacing between and the location of the guides where the rope comes together as a single strand is important as is tension on the take-up reel. Henry Bikhazi s NANCOCK Jim LeFever s two DOVE S Bob Riddock s USS CONSTITUTION Paul Carter s Golden Hind

9 9 Rob Boynes Arkansas John Simmons HMS UNICORN Rob Boynes USS CONSTITUTION main top Fred Schaffner s MARY TAYLOR Paul Payne s USS CONSTITUTION Dave Yotter s USS PHILADELPHIA

10 10 Dave Yotter s USS PHILADELPHIA bow Don Dressel s SAN FELIPE Don Dressel s HMS LADY NELSON Bill Schultheis s Whitehall Tender Burt Goldstein s cardstock models Mike Lonnecker Jim Byrnes Ropewalk

11 11 BY Don Dressel Old salts in port: Steve Jones, John Bakker, Guy Bell, Don Dressel, Greg Wilcox, Don Leyman and John Vanderneut. Don Dressel started off with a discussion about his LADY NELSON kit model by Amati. There were several items in the instructions that were missing and other instructions were listed on the plans rather than the instruction sheet, so careful attention should be paid to the plans as well as the written instructions. The locations of some items, like the cathead, had to be determined, since the cathead was shown in several different locations on the plans. Also discussed was the method of mounting the model on the pedestals supplied in the kit. The keel is too narrow to take #6 or even #4 wood screws. Greg Wilcox suggested using piano wire with epoxy, which turned out to be a good way of installing the pedestals. Brass tubing of various sizes was used to reduce the large hole in the pedestal. Don also discussed his HMS ROEBUCK and the progress he was making. Some discussion evolved around the interior work that will be done, with a number of suggestions as to how to proceed. Don Leyman was next up and he discussed his scratch built LADY NELSON. He used the plans supplied by Greg Wilcox, which are enlarged plans based on the Amati kit. Don did some research on the ship and found reference to a LADY NELSON that was a replica built in Australia. This ship was a brigantine, which had two masts. Don has decided to follow the plans as supplied and rig the model as a cutter with one mast. So far, he has utilized wood from his ditty box, which is wood left over from other projects. Greg Wilcox and Yas Komorita are going to have to catch up with Don, who has basically completed the hull of LADY NELSON and done a beautiful job.

12 12 John Vanderneut brought in his USS CONSTITUTION, based on a very old Artesania Latina kit. He has painted one side of the model black and installed the quarter galleries. He has also decided to install the single gun port lids instead of the double ones. He asked about the best material to use for his decking, which is the next step. It was suggested that he use thin plywood, covered over with holly planks 1/32 inch thick holly on 1/32 inch ply. It too thin a plywood is used, it does not work well. Greg Wilcox discussed his SCOTTISH MAID, another old Artesania Latina ship model kit that Greg is basically scratch building. Discussed where the problems presented by the channels and belaying pin racks, since they are very flimsy as presented in the kit. Suggestions were made as to how to strengthen these structures, as they will have some force applied to them when the rigging is done. Also discussed was the process of bending boxwood and what size of base stand to make for the model. Greg also showed his scratch built deck furniture for the ship and talked about his method of making them. Last but not least, John Bakker talked about the problems he is encountering with the SOLEIL ROYALE. There are problems with the deck locations in relationship to the gun ports and the installation of blocks for the cannon installations, some of which are not mentioned at all, which would result in the inability to install the cannon at a later stage of construction. He is also encountering problems with the installation of the quarter badges, the locations of the stern decks, and proper installation of the stern and quarter badge ornamentation. John has made up a dummy quarter badge to try and fit it properly to tie in with the stern. I am sure John will find a great solution to his problem he has had a lot of suggestions from the group. Basically, another fine day spent at John s house discussing ship model building with lots of examples on hand. Your reporter has always come away from one of these meetings having learned something of value in ship model construction as well as being able to enjoy the fellowship of kindred modelers. Cookies and coffee are always supplied (no charge).

13 13 Brea Library Ship Model Display Don Dressel There is a fine ship model display being done at the Brea Library by members of the SMA and more are encouraged to display their models. The display has been in progress for about 1 week already with a lot of great enthusiasm by those who have come by the Brea Library expressly to see the models. There is still a lot of space available for more models. Bob Beach can be contacted for more details and to arrange for you to drop off your models. It is highly recommended that all ship models be in cases.

14 14 Passenger Cabin Doors By Frank Wilhite A question being asked concerning the method Frank used to make his passenger cabin doors on his ferry ISSAQUAH, the following description of his method along with a couple of photo s was submitted by Frank. The passenger cabin doors are typical Arts and Crafts style, five recessed panels, and are 72 high, 30 wide and 2 thick. The doors were fabricated from pear wood. It was decided to mill the recessed panels for all four doors out of a piece of X x 8 pear wood. The wood was taped to a 0.75 thick block of hard wood using doublesided tape. The block was clamped in the mill vice and was trued using a dial indicator mounted in the chuck of his mill. All the panels were outlined deep using a 1/32 end mill. A 1/16 end mill was then used to finish each panel. Photo #1 shows the over all set up (note the shim at the left to level the block), and photo #2 shows finishing a panel with the 1/8 end mill. I hope this explanation and accompanying photo s fully explains Frank s methods. Frank always prefers to use his mill to do many things on his models, as other methods do not work well for him and greater accuracy is achieved. For those interested, there are a number of sources for the procurement of mills There is a MicroLux milling machine for $ (plus shipping and tax) with a lot of accessories. The Sherline milling machine starts out at $ and goes up from there, depending on what you want they offer CNC capability and many accessories also. There are others check them out on the internet. Frank uses a Taig milling machine for his work.

15 15 SMA Meeting for February Please note that the SMA Meeting at the Red Cross Building this month will start at 7:30 PM, not the usual 7:00 PM. This is the only month that this will happen, as March, April and May will all be at the usual time of 7:00 PM at the Red Cross Building. Future meeting dates are yet to be determined beyond May Dues are Due This is a reminder that the SMA dues are due for next year. Any questions regarding dues can be addressed to any officer of the SMA. Treasurer Mike DiCerbo will be at the meeting to accept your cash or checks. The deadline is this coming March. 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. Names will start to be collected this month. When a total of 20 hearty ship modelers are signed up, then determination will be made as to when the work shop will take place and where. Contact Don Dressel if you are interested in this special opportunity. Treasurer s Report Our esteemed SMA Treasurer, Mike DiCerbo, indicates that the current balance in the SMA treasury is $2, as of the end of January Web Manager s Report Above is the chart of the hits experienced by our SMA web page through the end of January 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.

16 16 Henry Bikhazi s HANCOCK stern view Donald C. Dressel 908 W. 22 nd Street, Upland, CA Next meeting Wednesday, February 15, 7:30 PM, Hillcrest Park Red Cross Building