http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:52:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-62-helpful-hints-for-ship-model-builders/ http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-62-helpful-hints-for-ship-model-builders/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:19:02 +0000 Admin http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/?p=135 http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-62-helpful-hints-for-ship-model-builders/feed/ 0 Fiber also may be used for rails and skylights, but in the heavier sizes it may be necessary to cut out the square holes of a skylight with a small drill, later finishing it smooth with a file. Windows may be made from old camera film, washed clean of emulsion. On many of the old-time frigates, line-of-battle ships and other war vessels, the after side of each top was arranged with a small rail which was put there to keep the sharpshooters from falling overboard or to the deck. (See Fig.4.) These rails quite often had a fine-mesh rope screen woven into them, and in making a small model, it is extremely difficult to do this. However, the difficulty has been solved by procuring some of the extremely fine copper or brass screenings used in making and repairing gasoline filters on automobiles. A framework should be made of light copper wire and the screening fastened to it by sewing with fine thread or copper wire. The same copper screening may be used for the hammock berthing along the main rail of most of these old naval-ship models, this screening also being supported by wire uprights set at appropriate distances. More [...] http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-61-helpful-hints-for-ship-model-builders/ http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-61-helpful-hints-for-ship-model-builders/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:17:29 +0000 Admin http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/?p=133 http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-61-helpful-hints-for-ship-model-builders/feed/ 0 By W.F. Crosby THE SHIP model builder who attempts to make his own blocks out of wood will probably find that he is up against a real problem, particularly if he tries to make these close to actual scale. In order to overcome the difficulty, the use of ordinary wire solder, as shown in Fig. 1, is about the best possible way of making non-splitting blocks. This solder may be obtained in several different diameters, it is soft enough to be drilled easily and may also be cut with a knife to the desired length. The groove for the running rigging cut at right angles to this. Another method is to use small pellets of plastic wood slightly flattened out. A thin wire strap may be worked around the pellet just before it is hard and a hole drilled without much difficulty for the line to pass through. This material will not split, and blocks may be made with great rapidity and with the utmost ease. The only thing to watch out for is that the blocks are all off exactly the same size. The deck of the average sailing ship will be found to contain several gratings of fine [...] http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-60-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/ http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-60-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:16:07 +0000 Admin http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/?p=131 http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-60-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/feed/ 0 Divide the space to the left of the zero mark into twelve equal spaces, which will each represent 1 in. Marks for the half inches should be omitted, as this fraction can easily be estimated, and the marks will only make the scale hard to read. Now, the dimensions of the original drawing are read on the 1/4-in. scale, and those of the new model laid out with the 3/4-in. one. Ship-Model Kinks Sandpaper, in addition to smoothing surfaces, is a splendid medium for reducing and shaping small objects that cannot be satisfactorily handled with ordinary tools. For instance, spars and masts, after being roughly formed with a block plane, may be quickly brought to size and shape by drawing them back and forth through a fold of sandpaper held in one hand, or rubbed with a sandpaper block. I have found small 1/2 and 1/4-in. pins excellent for fastening parts that are too small for the use of ordinary brads. They do not split the wood and have good holding power for their size. In driving larger pins, they are much less likely to bend is the shank of the pin is grasped firmly with the thumb and forefinger [...] http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-59-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/ http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-59-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:14:18 +0000 Admin http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/?p=129 http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-59-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/feed/ 0 All one has to do is trace the water lines on the half-breadth plan on heavy wrapping paper and cut out the templates for making the lifts, as described in the article on the “Half Moon” previously mentioned. Care must be taken to make the wood used for the lifts the same thickness as the distance between the water lines. If working from a small drawing, as in a magazine or book, the lines of the hull can usually be enlarged without much trouble also. For example, the drawings of the “Santa Maria,” given here, show a hull 43/8 in. over all. If this is enlarged twice, it would be suitable for a small space; enlarged three times it would be 13 1/8 in. long, which is a very nice size for a larger model. The procedure of enlarging is simple. Draw a center line on a sheet of paper, measure the distance from station to station with a pair of dividers, then, starting at station 1, step off this distance twice with the dividers and make this point station 2. Do the same all along the line for the other stations. At these points erect perpendiculars to the center [...] http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-58-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/ http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-58-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:12:41 +0000 Admin http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/?p=127 http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-58-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/feed/ 0 These lines are of more importance to the designer than the model builder, but they do serve to a point a warning, and that is, that, no latter from what angle the hull is viewed, when completed, all the curves should be “fair,” as the designer calls them, that is they should have a smooth, clean sweep from one end to the other, with no humps or hollows in them. When we take a loaf of bread and slice it, we produce exactly the effect of the lines in the body plan. The lines in this plan represent cross sections of the body as they would appear if the block were cut straight across at regular intervals along its length. Note the upper right-hand drawing in Fig. 2. These lines are very important for the modeler, since from them he cuts the templates that enable him to give his hull the correct shape. The cross sections are taken, as stated, at regular intervals along the hull; these are called the stations, and are numbered from 1 to 13 in Fig. 1. The stations are similarly marked on both sheer and half-breadth plans. The designer does another thing with the body [...] http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-57-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/ http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-57-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:10:46 +0000 Admin http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/?p=125 http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-57-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/feed/ 0 A plan view of the section sawed off would then have the shape shown by line A in the half-breadth plan, and if another section were sawed off along line B, the shape of the upper side of the section would be the same as shown by the line B in the half-breadth plan, while the shape of the underside would, of course, have the form of line A. This is the principle upon which the bread-and-butter method of making the hull of the model “Half Moon,” described on pages 20 to 24 of this volume, is based. The half-breadth plan looks rather difficult to understand, at first sight, but it is not really so. This is a view of the ship looking down on it from above, but, in order to save making two drawings, the designer makes two in one. The plan view of the deck, showing the arrangement of the deck fittings, such as the ship’s boat, the deck houses, companion ladders, masts, fife rails, etc., as well as the length of the forecastle and poop decks, and is just as the ship would appear if you looked directly down on it. The upper part of the [...] http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-56-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/ http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-56-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:09:05 +0000 Admin http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/?p=123 http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-56-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/feed/ 0 Plan drawing of the Santa Maria, 1492. << Previous PageNext Page >> http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-55-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/ http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-55-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:07:26 +0000 Admin http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/?p=121 http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-55-how-to-read-and-use-ship-model-drawings/feed/ 0 BLUEPRINTS and drawings for almost every type of ship that the model enthusiast desires to make are easily obtained, but the amateur, who has been fired with the ambition to make a model of such historic ships as the “Mayflower,” “Santa Maria” or “Constitution,” or one of the famous clippers of the age of sail, often finds himself up against a dead wall when his blueprints arrive and he attempts to start the job, because of his inability to “read” the drawings. Not that ship drawings are at all hard to understand, but, just as in reading radio diagrams, one must be familiar with the conventions and symbols employed in order to read them without difficulties. The drawings for the hull of the model ship, known as the lines of the ship, usually consist of three plans. One is the sheer plan, illustrated at the top of the full-page drawing, Fig.1, the second, is the “half-breadth” plan, shown in the center of the same page, and the third, shown at the bottom, is the “body” plan. The sheer plan, as may be seen from the drawing, is simply a side view of the hull, and takes its name from the [...] http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-54-sovereign-of-the-seas-part-ix-running-rigging-and-final-details/ http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-54-sovereign-of-the-seas-part-ix-running-rigging-and-final-details/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:06:02 +0000 Admin http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/?p=119 http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-54-sovereign-of-the-seas-part-ix-running-rigging-and-final-details/feed/ 0 The permanent base for our completed man-of-war is also an optional matter with the builder. The type illustrated is commonly used in museums and shows the hull lines to good advantage. Two posts, as detailed, support the keel, and 3-in. wood screws of small diameter are driven through the base, through the centerpost holes and into the hull. Supplementary supports of 1/8-in. polished brass rod are then screwed to the hull and base midships on each side to take any side strain. If the model is placed in a sealed glass case, a small dish of ordinary table salt should be set inside to equalize humidity and prevent dry-rot. So ends the construction of our model – as proud a little ship as her glorious namesake. Possibly the building of this exceptional model has required more of your time than many simplified models, but, we have never yielded to a compromise of design or materials to save the few extra hours of work. She faithfully carries on the brave tradition of a brave old ship. Sail on, “Sovereign!” << Previous PageNext Page >> http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-53-sovereign-of-the-seas-part-ix-running-rigging-and-final-details/ http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-53-sovereign-of-the-seas-part-ix-running-rigging-and-final-details/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:03:43 +0000 Admin http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/?p=117 http://www.thesovereignoftheseas.com/1637/page-53-sovereign-of-the-seas-part-ix-running-rigging-and-final-details/feed/ 0 The fore topsail yard and fore royal yard lifts are used as guides for rigging other upper yards, and should follow the lower-yard rigging. The braces vary quite a bit and each should be considered individually. If you will get a clear mental picture of each line as shown on the plan before you place it, you’ll have little difficulty. No detail is necessary for the two “spreaders” used to attach the crowfeet to the mizzenyard. These are the same as those used for the spritsail-topmast backstay, described previously with the standing rigging. As now rigged, the lower yards are in positions to bend on their sails, while the upper yards appear lowered to the positions to bend on their sails, while the upper yards appear lowered to the positions they would occupy with sails removed. This eliminates the obstructions that the lower yards would represent at rail level if they, too, were in the relative positions of the upper yards. As for fitting the sails, this is an arbitrary point among model makers. However, the majority seem to agree that, if the rigging is carried out in exact detail in a model made to this small scale, the “blanketing” [...]