Work in Progress January 16, 2012

Reporter: Dave Yotter

Randy Biddle announced that he is partnering with Sam Manning to produce modeling plans for a 1763 merchant sloop derived from admiralty plans. He invited input from anyone regarding items that would be of assistance to model builders and which should be included on a complete set of model building plans. Please contact him at: windships@earthlink.net if you have any suggestions, pet peeves or ideas that you have thought of to improve plans for ship model building. These plans will be part of the result of Randy’s research into H. M. Sloop Chaleur of 1764. The Royal Navy purchased Chaleur as one of a group of six Marblehead sloops and schooners somewhere between 1761 and 1764. She started life as a merchant sloop or schooner of 116 tons and about 70 feet on deck. If you have not done so try going to the National Maritime Museum’s site at: http://www.rmg.co.uk/ and just poke around. It’s amazing what is available on line these days. USS Revenue Cutter Jefferson Davis – Don Dressel Don Dressel brought in his model of the 1:55 (7/32” = 1’) scale Jefferson Davis of 1853 built from a Bluejacket Shipcrafters kit. USRC Jefferson Davis was a United States Revenue Cutter Service topsail schooner of the Cushing class built in 1853. She was named for Jefferson Davis, then United States Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce, and later president of the Confederate States of America. J.M. Hood of Bristol,

Newsletter

Volume 40, Number 2, Feb. 2013

Contacts

President: John Simmons (626) 339-5151

E-Mail j444apple@verizon.net Vice President: Larry Van Nes

(714) 936-0389 E-Mail larry@uswheel.com

Secretary: Paul Payne (310) 544-1461

Treasurer: Mike DiCerbo (714) 523-2518

15320 Ocaso Ave, #DD204, La Mirada, CA. 90630

Editor, Don Dressel (909) 949-6931

908 W. 22nd Street Upland, CA 91784-1229

E-mail: roebuckdres4@gmail.com Web Manager: Doug Tolbert:

(949) 644-5416 Web Site

www.shipmodelersassociation.org

Meeting – Wed., Feb. 20, 7 PM, Red Cross Building, 1207 N.

Lemon, Fullerton, CA. 92832

Officers meeting – Wed., Mar. 6, 2012, 7 PM, Bob Beech’s house, 130 Clove Pl., Brea, CA. 92821 –

(714) 529-1481.

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Rhode Island built the ship, a topsail schooner, for $9,000.00. One online Coast Guard source describes her as a 90-plus foot vessel with 150 short tons displacement; exhibit text at the Coast Guard Museum/Northwest describes her as a 94 foot vessel with 177 short tons displacement, 23 feet beam, and 9 foot draft, with six 12-pounder guns. After surviving a hurricane in 1853 with slight damage, the ship put into Charleston,

South Carolina for repairs, then sailed around Cape Horn and arrived at San Francisco in July 1854 to serve on the West Coast. Continuing up the coast to arrive in Port Townsend, Washington September 28, 1854, Jefferson Davis became the first cutter stationed north of San Francisco. Under Captain William C. Pease, Jefferson Davis participated in the suppression of a Native American uprising in Olympia, Washington in 1855, during the Puget Sound War. Later, in Bellingham, Washington, the entire crew except for the captain deserted to join the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. One Coast Guard source says Jefferson Davis was converted to a “Marine Hospital Boat” in 1862; however, other sources (including exhibit text in the Coast Guard Museum/Northwest) say that the ship was sold that year to Grennen & Craney Co., of Utsalady, Washington for $2,920.00. According to one of the latter sources, Grennan & Craney Co. “refitted and sent her to China, carrying as cargo a flat-bottomed sternwheeler, which was to be supplied with the engines from Tom Wright’s old Enterprise, dismantled on the Chehalis.” Don reports that the model itself was a lot of fun to build and was one of the first “plank-on-frame” models which came supplied with a set of “frames” that had to be beveled and shaped to fit the hull shape. The figure standing next to the swivel cannon is carved out of box wood and the cannon itself was turned on Don’s lathe, made out of brass rod. Much of the hull and all the frames are made from good quality basswood. Some woods such as holly, ebony and boxwood were also used to make scratch items for the model. The cannon swivels in the middle of the hull and was based on details given by Chapelle in his book on Baltimore clippers. The model is not rigged due to the fact that Jefferson Davis was transported to Japan for one of the ROPE Exhibitions a few years ago. If the model is rigged, it would require a large case to house the model.

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Colonial Schooner Hannah – Don Dressel

The Colonial Schooner Hannah was the first armed American naval vessel of the American Revolution and is claimed to be the founding vessel of the United States Navy. She was owned by John Glover’s in-laws of Marblehead, Massachusetts and was named for his wife, Hannah Glover. The crew was drawn largely from the town of Marblehead. General George Washington hired the schooner into the

service of the American Continental Army. Washington commissioned Nicolson Broughton to command the Hannah on 2 September 1775 and ordered the vessel to cruise against the enemy. Hannah set sail from the harbor of Beverly, Massachusetts on 5 September 1775, but fled to the protection of the harbor Gloucester, Massachusetts two days later under the pursuit of HMS Lively and a second British vessel. Leaving Gloucester Harbor, Hannah captured the British sloop Unity. Hannah’s brief naval career ended on 10 October 1775, when she was run aground under the guns of a small American fort near Beverly by the British sloop Nautilus. After an engagement between the British ship and townspeople on the shore, Hannah was saved from destruction and capture, but was soon decommissioned as General Washington found more suitable ships for his cruisers. Don Dressel brought in the model of the Hannah, which is a plank-on-frame model built using Harold Hahn plans. The frames and much of the planking is apple wood, which makes a very intriguing looking model. The work is still ongoing and has not yet been completed. Don plans to eventually complete all the deck furniture and fully mast and rig the model. HMS Victory – Henry Bikhazi HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. Armament aboard Victory at Trafalgar was 104 guns and included; 30 32-pounders on the lower deck, 28 24-pounders on the middle deck, 30 12-pounders on the upper deck and 2 12-

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pounders and 2 68-pounder carronades on the forecastle deck. Henry Bikhazi is continuing work on his scratch built 1:300 model of HMS Victory. The hull is made from orange wood, scaled down from plans; hand carved and then sanded using an oscillating sander. Most recent work includes finishing of the bowsprit, job boom and the dolphin striker. The head rails are also completed. When the model is complete it will be mounted on a stand containing a clock, the clock being fabricated of North Carolina cherry Burl. CSS Albemarle – Burt Goldstein

Burt Goldstein brought in a cardstock model of CSS Albemarle. The model was downloaded free from the internet as a 1:250 card stock kit from Magnus Mork. CSS Albemarle was a steam-powered ironclad ram of the Confederate Navy (and later the second Albemarle of the United States Navy), named for a town and a sound in North Carolina. All three locations were named for General George Monck, the first Duke

of Albemarle and one of the original Carolina Lords Proprietors. HMS Pegasus – Don Leyman HMS Pegasus was a 14-gun ship sloop and the fifth built for the Swan class, launched on 27 December 1776 at Chatham Dockyard. She was commissioned the same month under commander John Hamilton Gore and – after completing on 3 March 1777 – sailed for Newfoundland on 3 April. She was lost with all hands in a storm off Newfoundland in October. The Swan class measured 97’7” on deck; 27’ beam and 12’ depth of hold, displaced 300 tons and carried 125 officers and men. Don Leyman is building the

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model in 1:48 scale following the methods outlined by David Antscherl and the four-volume set of books by David Antscherl and Greg Herbert. These methods he finds are much more detailed than the Hahn method and have the appeal of building the ship upright. Don has already built several models using the upside down method (Harold Hahn). In addition to the books hd ordered five sheets of plans for Pegasus from the National Maritime Museum. The model is being built using boxwood obtained from Hobbymill. The carving of the rabbit on the stem, keel and sternpost required some new chisels and Don found an excellent book on sharpening chisels from Lee Valley (The Complete guide to Sharpening (1995) by Leonard Lee). Using chisels also suggested to Don that a Teflon glove was then helpful. CVSN ATTACK Carrier Prototype – John Simmons

The Simmons Skunk Works continues unabated, this time with a nuclear powered attach carrier concept, circa 2050. The main feature of this carrier includes three SWATH hulls. A Small Waterplane Area Twin (in this case triple) Hull, better known by the acronym SWATH, is a triple-hull ship design that minimizes hull cross section area at the sea’s surface. Minimizing the ship’s volume near the surface area of the sea, where wave energy is

located, maximizes a vessel’s stability, even in high seas and at high speeds. The bulk of the displacement necessary to keep the ship afloat is located beneath the waves, where it is less affected by wave action. Wave excitation drops exponentially as depth increases (Deeply submerged submarines are normally not affected by wave action at all). Placing the majority of the ship’s displacement under the waves is similar in concept to creating a ship that rides atop triple submarines. Other features include stealth configuration (should go without mentioning), six launching rails and two landing routes. The ship uses nuclear propulsion, triple screw and is capable of 40 to 60 knots. It also features submerged missile defense with a total of 160 anti-air and anti-ship missiles. John scratch built the model from basswood to a scale of 1 ¾” = 100’.

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26-ft. Armed Longboat – John Simmons

John Simmons has completed construction of a 1:48 plank-in-frame kit of a 26-foot longboat designed by Chuck Passaro from Model Shipways. The design of this model was based on a contemporary model in the National Maritime Museum of a longboat circa 1750 to 1760. (Once again we have a recommendation to visit online collections section of the NMM website.) Another good source of information on longboats is found

in The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War by Brian Lavery. John outfitted his model as if for cutting-out operations. The boat is armed with a 3-pounder carronade and one each 2-pounder and 1-pounder pivot guns. A crew of eight men and officers would man the boat. Jerry Blair made the sails for this model. French Ship Valmy – Bill Schultheis The 120 gun ship Valmy was laid down at Brest in 1838 as Formidable and launched in 1847. When she entered service in 1849, she was the largest warship in the world and would remain so until 1853, when the British three-decker Duke of Wellington (6,071 tons and converted to steam power while on the stocks) entered service, but she would remain the largest sailing three-decker ever built. Unlike most similar ships, that featured a pronounced tumblehome, she had vertical sides; this significantly increased the space available for upper batteries, but reduced the stability of the ship; wooden stabilizers were added under the waterline to address the issue.

Valmy was thought to be the largest sort of sailing ship possible, as larger dimensions made the management of rigging impracticable with mere manpower. She was engaged in the Crimean War, where she proved difficult to maneuver and, like other sailing vessels, often had to be towed by steam ships. During the bombardment of Sevastopol, the only time she fired her guns in anger, she was towed by the new

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steam two-decker Napoléon. Thereafter she was used as a school vessel for the French Naval Academy. Bill Schultheis has finished his restoration of this model of Valmy. The model is huge, thought to be about 1:48 scale and is between 100 and 120 years old. A good cleaning was all that most of the hull required. All the rigging was there but almost completely broken. Bill used the Vasa as a model for help in rebuilding the rigging. There were many carvings between the gun ports and on the stern done of ivory and whalebone. To replace missing carvings Bill found that knife makers use camel bone as a carving material and used that material for his replacement carvings. The sails on the original model were not replaced at the request of the owners. Baltimore Privateer of 1812 – Fred Schaffner

Fred Schaffner brought in his model of an 1812 Baltimore Privateer he built using a Marine Model Company kit of Fair Rosamond. He has not decided for a name for his model yet and noted that there are several candidates from the 1812 period in Chapelle’s books. The model represents a ship of about 85 feet on deck in 1:64 scale. She is armed with eight brass carronades. The hull is planked over solid with copper plating.

Fred found a good on-line source for brass gun barrels at eBay, #320934106168, $19.99 for 10 pieces: Turned and drilled brass barrels (10 pieces) Length – 29mm/1.14 inch, max. diameter – 5.5mm/0.22 inch. Another on-line source for guns among other things is the Ship Wright Shop at www.shipwrightshop.com.

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         US Revenue Cutter Jefferson Davis – Don Dressel                   Colonial Schooner Hannah – Don Dressel                         HMS Victory – Henry Bikhazi                                              CSS Albemarle – Burt Goldstein 

             HMS Pegasus – Don Leyman                                        CVSN Attack Carrier Prototype – John Simmons 

          

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   26‐foot Armed Longboat – John Simmons                         Baltimore Privateer of 1812 – Fred Schaffner                                                               French Ship VALMY – Bill Schultheis 

              

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By Don Dressel 

Old Salts in Port: John Bakker, Don Dressel, Don Leyman, Steve Jones, Mike DeCirbo, Doug Tolbert, Richard Shirley. 

Ship in Port:  Dutch Gunboat, Albatros, Mystique, HMS Bounty kit, San Felipe, Pegasus. 

John Bakker again started off the meeting by showing the latest little OcCre kit he purchased from Model Expo on sale.  Called the Albatros, John indicated that it was a simple kit and fun to build – he spent 1 1/2months building it to completion!   It is a cute model and John spent some time making the sales for her, which turned out real nice.  

John also showed us his Dutch Gunboat, an old Mantua kit model (1970?) of the Cannoniera Olandese N.2 at a scale of 1:43.  John was impressed that the kit had written instructions in four languages.  He has installed all the bulkheads on the keel, stem and sternpost and so far has had no major problems with the kit.  It is an old kit which John purchased at a recent SMA 

auction.   

John also showed us his recent purchase of the kit HMS Bounty, which was on sale at Model Expo a few months ago.  It is a Mamoli kit which seems to be complete with seven sheets of plans, which are again in four languages.  Everything is laser cut 

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and should be a fun built.  We will see if John can complete in a short time! 

Last, but not least, John showed us progress on his Mystique, which he is finally rigging after several years of inactivity.  He had problems with the rigging, but finally decided to just follow the instructions that come with the kit.  The main problem with the rigging is the foremast, which is different (lateen rig), but he is slowly figuring out how he is going to complete the job.  His mizzen mast is already installed and rigged.  Perhaps, by the next Mayflower Group meeting, he will have 

the model completed! 

Richard Shirley then discussed his progress on his Model Shipways kit of the Mayflower, which is progressing very nicely.  He is now working on the masting and rigging aspects of the model and getting a lot of hints and tips from the guys in the Mayflower Group, especially Steve.  He has attached all his blocks to the yards as required prior to trying to install the yards, although he has not completed his masts yet.  He did not install his rudder or gun port lids yet, waiting until he has completed the rigging so as not to damage them while rigging.  He had some problems with his installation of the gammoning, but successfully completed that part of the rigging.  

Richard has used the book Rigging Period Ship Models  by Lennarth Petersson with great success. 

Don Dressel then discussed his progress with the San Felipe and the problems he is having with the head rails at the bow.  It seems that everyone has a problem with the head rails and each model seems to present another aspect of the situation.  Don discussed several variations or methods of arriving at a satisfactory result with the head rails and is having problems with the plans resulting in a major 

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difficulty with prospective drawings to determine the correct shape of the head rails with the added problem of three head rails which are equally spaced apart.  The kit version, which is much larger, comes with brass parts to install the head rails – John Bakker did an excellent job on his head rails of the San Felipe kit model he built.  More anon next month when Don hopefully will have solved his problem and came up with a satisfactory solution. 

Don Leyman then discussed his Swan scratch built model of the Pegasus, which he has just begun to build.  He constructed the building board and laid out the plans of the frames on it.  The frame is installed and Don is now working on the stern area.  He stated that he made a jig out of Bristol board to help him with the installation of the fashion pieces and the transom and has also ordered the book The Naiad Frigate (38) 1797 by 

Edward J. Tosti.  He plans to use the jigs and tools described in the book to help him with the construction of the Pegasus. 

Following the presentations, there was a very long discussion on rigging procedures and practices at varying levels.  The different procedures for installing the lanyards attached to the shrouds were given the full treatment.  Methods for installation of ratlines, clove hitches, types of line used, deadeye and other rigging methods including preventer stays (there inclusion on the model depends on the period) and other aspects of rigging were talked about along with the methods for making a “mouse” on the fore, main and mizzen stays.  The usage of “bees wax” on rigging line and what affects it has on the line itself, both pros and cons, generated a lot of interesting dialog.  John again brought up the methods involved in rigging his foremast on the Mystique which prevented him from completion of the rigging of that ship for quite some time.  The detail involved in some of the discussions went to the fine details, like the methods of applying “bees wax” to rigging lines.  Should the lanyards be black or white (the general opinion was that Lanyards were tarred, which means they were black).  All in all, another enjoyable afternoon at John Bakker’s house with fun had by all and a lot of general information provided. 

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Some pictures of the large French ship Valmy.  Upper two photos’s and lower photo of the rigging condition show the model as originally received.  The middle left photo is hull under repair; the middle 

right photo shows the model in advanced state of repair in Bill’s garage 

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* * Hold the date * * Saturday, April 20, 2013

THE GUILD WILL PRESENT ITS ANNUAL SPRING

Ship Modeling Seminars AT THE

HOUSTON FOOD BANK CONFERENCE CENTER HOUSTON, TEXAS

FEATURING SPECIAL BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE WORKSHOPS

This edition of our popular educational event should more accurately be called a Workshop rather than a Seminar. In response to your requests we have put together a set of hands-on practical sessions where you can try out the techniques that you will hear about during the classroom presentations. You also said that there were not enough topics for the beginner/journeyman modeler, and we have done our best to meet that need.

As of this writing the program is planned to include popular author Kurt Van Dahm, who will explain how you can end up with a museum quality model even if you start from a less than perfect kit. He is also an expert on the airbrush, and will bring in his equipment and let you play with it. Chairman Dan Pariser will reveal some of the mysteries of rigging, and then you can practice his tips for serving a line, stropping a block, and tying a clove hitch into a ratline. Other talks may cover the planking of a hull, with a hands-on demonstration of spiling, that most baffling of techniques. The final schedule will be circulated through the Guild’s email system and to the clubs as we get closer to the date.

Houston is a short flight from anywhere in the central USA and has a surprising amount of maritime landmarks, including the battleship USS Texas and the Houston Maritime Museum. A short day trip to Galveston brings you to the restored bark Elissa, if you want to make a weekend of it. A packet of information, directions, and recommendations for local hotels and restaurants will be sent to you when you register.

Your cost, including continental breakfast and lunch, is $75. You can find a registration form on our website at www.theNRG.org or call the home office at 585-968-8111.

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SMA happenings The regular SMA DUES are DUE. The SMA treasury has to be refreshed. Please pay your dues as soon as possible – the deadline is April 2013 when your newsletter will be cancelled if dues are not in. The SMA club dues are $25.00 for regular members within 100 miles of the club meeting location and $20.00 for those beyond that point. We still have to pay our rent for the meeting location, mailing of snail mail newsletters, etc. Upcoming SMA Major Event The special construction workshop with David and Greg (Admiralty Models) has currently been cancelled due to lack of participation. The minimum requirement for the workshop was 20 individuals at $300.00 each and we only reached 15 members within the SMA and 3 additional members from the San Francisco area. If there is still interest, perhaps we can try again for next year. Again, contact Don Dressel if interested. Treasurer’s Report Our esteemed SMA Treasurer, Mike DiCerbo, indicates that the current balance in the SMA treasury is $1,050.04 as of February 6, 2013. This low treasury amount should be augmented in the next several months via membership dues. According to Mike, so far 30 SMA members have renewed their dues. Web Manager’s Report Doug Tolbert reports that the CD shown of Kevin’s Lathe for Model Makers procedure at the July SMA meeting is placed on the SMA web for members only. Doug keeps on adding things to the web site, so check it out. The web site also has additional items on the HMS AJAX for SMA members only – check with Doug or an officer to determine how to gain access to this information. Past SMA newsletters from the beginning are also being posted.

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Bill Schultheis’s restoration of the French Valmy

Donald C. Dressel 908 W. 22nd Street, Upland, CA. 91784-1229

Next meeting Wednesday, February 20, 7:30 PM, Hillcrest Park Red Cross Building

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