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U.S. Brig Niagara Instruction Manual

Summary of Niagara

  • Page 1

    Model shipways kit no. Ms2240 u.S. Brig niagara i n s t r u c t i o n m a n u a l technical characteristics scale: 3/16" = 1' (1:64) overall length: 43" overall height: 27" overall width: 11".

  • Page 2: Hist

    2 the original niagara was commodore oliver hazard perry's second flagship during the battle of lake erie on september 10, 1813. His victory over the british secured the northwest territory, opened supply lines, and lifted the nation's morale. Six ships in perry's fleet of nine, including niagara, w...

  • Page 3: Able of

    3 t t able of able of contents contents brief history 2 introduction and credits 4 before you begin 5 tools needed to start construction 5 how to work with plans and parts 6,7 painting and staining the model 8,9 stage 1: framing the plank-on-bulkhead hull 10 1. Bending wood 10 2. Center keel assembl...

  • Page 4: Instruction Manual

    4 instruction manual u.S. Brig niagara 1813 –1990 plans and instructions by ben lankford model by william hitchcock model shipways developed the niagara kit in 1996. Plans are based on the 1990 reconstruction drawings, research sketches, and specifications prepared and supplied by the designer, nava...

  • Page 5: Before You Begin

    5 before you begin tools needed to start construction niagara is a beautiful, interesting ship and makes a splendid model. Assembling the plank-on-bulkhead hull develops an understanding of how real ships are built, while laser-cut parts assure an accurate shape. The kit contains more than 150 laser...

  • Page 6

    6 how to work with plans and parts before starting the model, carefully examine the kit and study the plans. First, determine if all the listed parts are present. Handling them will produce a better understanding of the kit's require- ments. Try to visualize how every piece will look on the model. A...

  • Page 7

    7 sorting the wood in the kit by thickness saves time. After selecting and cutting what is needed, return the remaining stock to the proper thickness pile. Don't worry about using a piece for one item that was intended for another. Model shipways supplies enough extra wood to complete the model befo...

  • Page 8

    8 painting and staining the model beginning with directions on applying finishes may seem strange, but it isn't. Much time and effort can be saved and more professional results obtained if the finishing process is carried out during construction. Paint small parts, masts, and spars before they are i...

  • Page 9

    9 brushes must be soft and of the highest quality. Artist grade sable or synthetics are the best. Use wider brushes for paint- ing broad surfaces. If too narrow, the bristles will cause excessive streaking. When applying paint or stain with a brush, lay down one thin coat in a sin- gle stroke, then ...

  • Page 10: Stage 1

    10 framing the plank-on-bulkhead hull 1. Bending wood building a p-o-b hull requires bending some wood without distorting its desired position (doing so stresses glue joints and fasteners). Although the term steam bent is used to identify the process, there are three ways to do it. Steam bending : h...

  • Page 11

    11 using a pencil, mark the reference line on each bulkhead. It must align with the ref- erence line mark on the center keel. This assures an accurate hull, because each bulkhead is correctly related to the others. Next, use a tick strip to transfer the bevels from the plans to the bulkheads. Mark t...

  • Page 12

    12 6. Installing the stern blocks and transom framing refer to sheet 2. Port and starboard filler and corner filler blocks butt into bulkhead q and the center keel. They provide more area on which to glue hull planking. Some waterlines are included to aid in carving these blocks to the cor- rect hul...

  • Page 13

    13 not the case, enlarge the slots to accept the planksheer. Once installed, fill any gaps with wood filler (figure 1-10). 10. Installing the knightheads and forward timberheads make the knightheads and bow timber- heads, then glue them into the filler blocks' precut notches. Add the laser-cut stiff...

  • Page 14: Stage 2

    14 planking the plank- on- bulkhead hull before starting, it’s a good idea to know some shipbuilding terms used in the planking process. Plank : single length of wood used to plank a hull or deck. A strake is a contin- uous line of planks from wherever it begins to where it ends. Garboard : planking...

  • Page 15

    15 3. Planking butts few trees grow as tall as ships are long. Consequently, real planks were general- ly 20 or 30 feet in length. Some builders think a plank as long as the model is easier to use. They scribe in fake butts or omit them. Although this can be done, working with shorter planks has its...

  • Page 16

    16 6. Outer hull planking belt layout : planking widths are fairly equal from the main rail to about 1/4" below the gunport sills. From there on down, planks taper fore and aft. Consequently, the hull below this point is divided into belts a through d. On sheet 2, use a tick strip to mark the belt s...

  • Page 17

    17 install the planks. Repeat the process for the next strake, but stagger the butts. Install a plank from: the hull now has two strakes of five planks each running from bow to stern (figure 2-5). Moving to the next planking strake, stagger the butts starting at bulkhead f. Continue until the other ...

  • Page 18: Stage 3

    18 fashion pieces : some modelers install the fashion pieces on the port and starboard quarter stanchions, then butt the hull planking into them. However, in ship- wright practice, fashion pieces fitted over the planks (figure 2-6) to seal their end grain. 7. Ceiling (inboard) planking ceil the tran...

  • Page 19: Stage 4

    19 mounting the hull mount the hull as soon as basic framing and planking are completed to prevent damaging fittings when handling the model. Proper mounting is important, because future alignments will require a true waterline. Two brass pedestals and a baseboard are supplied. Another approach to d...

  • Page 20

    20 a fancy, interlocking corner joint joined the sides of deck structures (see plans). However, this detail can be omitted. 3. Hatches, and grating laser-cut grating material eliminates a lot of work. Grating strips can be assem- bled two ways (figure 5-2). Edge-to- edge gluing creates thinner, more...

  • Page 21

    21 11. Catheads and anchors cut notches in the laser-cut catheads so they'll fit around the rails, then drill sheave holes for the rigging (figure 5-7). Bower anchors are britannia castings. Wood can be substituted for the metal stock. Stow anchors on the bulwarks per the plans. Niagara also carried...

  • Page 22

    22 16. Rudder and tiller shape the laser-cut rudder per the plans. Fashion pintles and gudgeons from brass or paper strips (figure 5-12). Attach the preventer chain to the rud- der, then install it. Now secure the pre- venter chain to eyebolts in the counter. Shape the laser-cut tiller and insert it...

  • Page 23

    23 how much detailing to include is an individual choice. Frames, floor boards, thwart knees, moulding, and other items shown on the plan add to the model, but might be a little difficult to make. Don't be afraid to try. Just keep the scale in mind. Boat stowage on davits: the plans show the boats o...

  • Page 24: Stage 6

    24 mast and spar construction 1. Shaping and tapering masts and spars dowels are provided for the masts and spars, but require shaping and tapering. Spars with square or octagon sections are sized to their corners across the square or octagon. After cutting the dowel square or octagon, file or sand ...

  • Page 25

    25 after completing the basic masts, drill the required sheave holes. Since the yard halliard tye covers the sheave, don't install real ones. Add all cleats, eyebolts, and the spanker boom rest. Spanker mast : the spanker mast has no taper, but is square with chamfers at the deck. It also has a seat...

  • Page 26

    26 the jibboom begins as an octagon, becomes round, then returns to an octa- gon. Drill the required sheave holes. The jibboom passes through a hole in the cap and lashes to a saddle on the bowsprit. The flying jibboom is mostly round with a short octagon section at the end. Mount it starboard of th...

  • Page 27: Stage 7

    27 general rigging and sailmaking newcomers to the nautical world should learn the following rigging terms. Old salts can skip this part and grab a mug of grog. Each edge and corner of a sail has a name. On a square sail, the top is the head , bottom the foot, and sides the leech. Lower corners are ...

  • Page 28

    28 sheets : lines holding the lower corners of a sail or boom. When not in use, sails are furled (bundled on the yards, booms, or masts). Clew lines pull up the corners of a square sail, leechlines pull up the sides, and buntlines pull up the belly for furling the sail. Brails are like buntlines, ex...

  • Page 29

    29 5. Belaying pins, cleats and their lines sheet 6 includes a complete belaying pin plan. Each belaying point and its appropriate line have the same number. Some lines reeve through fairleads before they belay. Sketches on the plans show which lines have fairleads. As rigging progresses, belaying p...

  • Page 30

    30 using line a in figure 7-4. Fold the hem, iron it flat, and sew as close to line b as possible. Tuck the ends and hand stitch the corners. The sail is ready for stretching. Stretching sails : this assures the sail's proper shape, since sewing may alter it. Using the original pattern, trace the sa...

  • Page 31: Stage 8

    31 needed for a neat, tight furl. Even furled sails need some seams and hems, as these details are visible. 9. Rigging the model with no sails or furled sails no sails : include the lines that remain when sails are removed; i.E., clewlines, sheets, buntlines, leechlines, and fore and aft sail hallia...

  • Page 32

    32 use a fixture to set up the fore and main topmast and topgallant backstays. Chain plates are shorter and not as wide as those for the lower shrouds. The royal running backstay hooks with a tackle to an eyebolt in the waterway. Note: pendants splice into the lower blocks and belay to eye- bolts. T...

  • Page 33

    33 then sets up to laser-cut hearts and an eyebolt on the starboard bowsprit bitt. The chock on the foremast bends the stay down, while applying tension. Main topmast stay and spring stay : these stays reeve through a collar with thimble on the foremast and belay to bullseyes and eyebolts in the dec...

  • Page 34: Stage 9

    34 5. Footropes, fixed lifts, and cranelines as noted earlier, footropes for yards, spanker boom, and ends of fixed lifts are more easily installed with spars in hand. Footropes may require some adjusting before they hang naturally. Cranelines are footropes running athwartships from the lower fore a...

  • Page 35

    35 near the boom head. Attach these short lines and the downhaul blocks to a grommet on the guys. No sails : attach halliards to the down- hauls and lead them to the end of the bowsprit (figure 9-1). Halliard runs are identical to a rig with sails except for the head block's location. Remove sheets ...

  • Page 36

    36 march on to the square sails. 4. Fore and main course yards mount blocks to yards and reeve as many loose lines as possible. Lace the sail to the jackstays, then attach sheets, tacks, bunt- lines, leechlines, and clew garnets. Footropes and yard tackles should already be installed. Remember, leec...

  • Page 37

    37 6. Fore and main topgallant and royal yards niagara has a fully rigged royal, furled topside and braced like the topgallant. However, melbourne smith intended it to be a free flying rig. Since it is set from the deck, the yard has a halliard and down- haul, but no braces and footropes. Either way...

  • Page 38

    Diameters in tenths of an inch diameters converted to 3/16" scale inches in 10ths ÷ 64= 5/16" .3125" .005" (.12mm) 3/8" .375" .006" (.15mm) 1/2" .5" .008" (.20mm) 5/8" .625" .009" (.25mm) 3/4" .75" .012" (.30mm) 7/8" .875" .014" (.35mm) 1" 1" .016" (.40mm) 1-1/4" 1.25" .020" (.50mm) inches in 10ths ...

  • Page 39: Modeler'S Log

    39 date time notes modeler's log.

  • Page 40: Model Shipways

    40 model shipways a division of model expo, inc. P.O. Box 229140 hollywood, fl 33020 modeler's log date time notes.