Knight Templar 1872 Iron screw steamer

[Ray S]

7 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

In a larger scale you could drill those flats on the ends of the davits and install pulleys. In a larger scale though Ray, I wouldn't recommend it at 1/300. 😱

 

Phew! I will rest easy tonight!

 

The sum total of my bench time today was ten minutes, and I gave the davits a coat of black paint, having somehow managed to prime them in advance yesterday evening. Who said I cannot plan ahead?

 

I have decided that most metalwork on this will be black, and I hope the davits were metal.

 

Ray

[Ray S]

After a shot break, I had some time at the workbench today. I finished off the aft helmsman's station, a little artistic licence in the structure has taken place. The ship'd wheel is a 1/350 etch piece from North Star, it was well detailed and I gave it a coat of Revell Wood Brown and some Brass for the spokes, although I left the hand grips wood:

 

 

I am not sure if the supports are too high, if they are, the structure can be easily removed as I only used PVA to glue it to the deck. I had added some 'panelling' to the box with some 0.7mm Aizu tape prior to painting it, and that has broken up the otherwise plain surface. I think it has worked.

 

I also took the plunge and added the first four davits of the ten needed, those either side of the main deckhouse. I could not remember what sort of structure was below the main deck, and whether I would find any awkward obstacles to a drill going in. Thankfully on these four, no such problems. I had made some 'plates' to act as mounting points for the davits, 2mm x 2mm squares, with a hole drilled centrally to accept the davit, and painted them black this morning. I slid one onto the davit and slipped it to the highest point, then popped the davit into the hole, and used an 11mm jig (cut plastic card!) to ensure the davit was the right height relative to the deck - this was where making them over-long the other day came in handy! Once adjusted, I applied CA, then slid the mounting plate down and CA'd that to the deck, and a little extra to the davit. I had tested the part-completed ship'd boats to ensure that the davits would take them, and they do, thank goodness.

 

 

I will have to re-do the black paint on the davits as the mounting plates were a tight slide, and removed some of the paint. Anyway, I am quite happy how they have fitted, and they all seem to be symmetrical with each other, which was a surprise!

 

Hopefully I can get some more done over the next few days, slow and steady. PS, If you think the helmsman's station is too high, please let me know, and I will reduce those supports a bit.

 

Thanks for looking and for the comments and likes,

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all.

 

I just want to let you know that the aft helmsman's station did not survive for very long. The ship's wheel very rapidly fell (or was knocked) off, but by some miracle I found it in my orange/brown carpet - how I know not! I then found I had not glued it on quite on the centreline and was instantly very pleased I had only used PVA to attach it.

 

I made up the forward helmsman's station, and this time used some U-channel strip to make the supports. That has now been painted and varnished, and is almost ready for fitting. This evening, I tackled something that had halted work for a short while. On the plans, it looks like there are cables from the deck, up to the top of the davits, and then back down to the deck:

 

 

I don't know why they are illustrated by dotted lines, there is something similar for the anchor davits forward too. I am also not sure about those vertical lines which go from the deck to the underside of the ship's boat. I have asked in the Historic Vessels to 1914 section as to whether they were supports for the boats, but I cannot quite visualise how they would work. Now, my problem had been how to attach the lines to the deck, and where. I have taken a punt and chosen where they will attach, and also used some 0.3mm rigging loops from North Star's photo-etch set. Crumbs, talk about small! They do have clear holes in them though, so I am hoping I will be able to thread some rigging line through them! I will reinforce the CA with a dab or two more tomorrow.

 

 

I have fitted four so far, for the forward pair of davits, and it was nerve-wracking, and an interesting few minutes of trying the pick them up in the first instance ensued. I then have added a cross 'grille' over the funnel opening. Whether Knight Templar had it or not I know not, but I think funnels look wrong without something up there.

 

 

I used speaker cable core for this, and fixed it in place with CA. It was surprisingly difficult (or maybe not knowing me) to get the cross central, and I don't think I managed it - from some angles (like this one) it looks fine, but viewing from the port side, it does not. The grille has been painted Anthracite since.

 

Anyway, the upshot is that it has been a good day, small progress but it has given me confidence for some more work.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

[Bertie McBoatface]

I’m thinking those lines on the plan might be dotted because it’s running rigging (rope?) as opposed to the standing rigging (wire?). 

[ShipbuilderMN]

Very nice model.     The lines from the deck to the davits are for lowering the boat.   They go through a block at the top of the davit and down to a  hook that is hooked into the boat.    The span between the davits  has vertical ropes with knots ever few feet that hang down into the boat.      When the boat  is down, anyone left aboard, such as those who lowered the boat, can slide down the knotted rope into the boat.   The knots make it a lot easier to get down and stop one sliding down at top speed and burning hands.

As for the funnel grill, I doubt very much if the Knight Templar had one.   It seemed to be a fitting confined to warships, and I have no idea what its purpose was.   It would certainly not stop a bomb or a shell going down!    I sailed in 19 merchant ships and none of them had funnel grills, and I have never seen any on detailed plans of merchant ships.

[Ray S]

@ShipbuilderMN, Thank you so much for those explanations! They will be very useful indeed for me. The funnel grill can come off later today.

 

All the best,

 

Ray

[ShipbuilderMN]

The lines from the end of the davits were used to stay the davits and stop them moving when in position.   The actual lowerimg lines were separate and went through the blocks down to the hooks, but were in practically the same location.

Here are some lifeboat pictures that show the set-up a lot clearer - https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/lifeboats-in-atlantic-convoys-during-wwii/58760

[ShipbuilderMN]

Here is a drawing that makes the whole thing a lot clearer -

https://www.shipsnostalgia.com/threads/titanic-lifeboat-question.78170/page-6#lg=thread-78170&slide=1

[Ray S]

@ShipbuilderMN, Thank you again so much for those links, they help me out a huge amount!

 

All the best,

 

Ray

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

5 hours ago, ShipbuilderMN said:

 

As for the funnel grill, I doubt very much if the Knight Templar had one.   It seemed to be a fitting confined to warships, and I have no idea what its purpose was.   It would certainly not stop a bomb or a shell going down!    I sailed in 19 merchant ships and none of them had funnel grills, and I have never seen any on detailed plans of merchant ships.

Interesting!
 

I too have often wondered what they are for. They must be useful for something as nearly every warship seems to have one. If anyone knows please sing out.

I’ll make sure Xantho doesn’t get one now.

[Ray S]

With the helpful information that has been so kindly given, I have had an uplift in how I am feeling about this build, and have had a good day with it again, and actually have done quite a bit. The remaining six davits are in, the aftmost being the one where I had to keep an eye on my drilling, as it is close to the undercut at the stern - I did not want to drill a hole right through the hull...

 

 

 

I have fitted the rigging loops for the remaining three davit pairs, and also the six for the funnel stays. I mentioned yesterday that the North Star etch loops were small, well, here they are, with a standard sized scalpel blade for scale:

 

 

I think every single one of the loops had a clear central hole, which will make life easier (relatively) than it could have been. I have some cage aerial spreaders by another manufacturer which would have been quite good if their holes had been open too for a couple of my 1/700 WWI projects I have for the future. Anyway, the inner child has again come to the fore and I could not resist adding the masts (dry-fitted only) to see how Knight Templar is going:

 

 

When I finish online, I will remove the funnel grille as per Robert's (@ShipbuilderMN) suggestion, I bow to his knowledge and skills as a merchant ship modelmaker. It is because of him and his models that I have taken to attempting scratchbuilding these civilian vessels, so 'Thank you' Robert.

 

That is it for today, what a great day it has been,

 

Ray

 

PS, I am thinking about changing the davit colours to a light-ish grey for aesthetic reasons. Some need repainting anyway as the paint scraped off when I threaded the 5 thou plastic mounting plates, so that means they should be easy to deal with*

 

*Where have I heard that before?

[Bandsaw Steve]

She’s looking great! 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

55 minutes ago, Ray S said:

Anyway, the inner child has again come to the fore and I could not resist adding the masts (dry-fitted only)

Gidday, haven't we all done that at some time? 🙂

 

56 minutes ago, Ray S said:

PS, I am thinking about changing the davit colours to a light-ish grey for aesthetic reasons.

Your model, your choice obviously, but how about having them the same colour as the masts and deck-houses?       What ever colour you decide on they'll look good.       Regards, Jeff.

[Ray S]

3 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

She’s looking great! 

 

Thanks Mr Bandsaw!

 

2 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Your model, your choice obviously, but how about having them the same colour as the masts and deck-houses?       What ever colour you decide on they'll look good.       Regards, Jef

 

Hmm, Jeff, you might have given me an idea there!

 

Cheers, Ray

[Bertie McBoatface]

2 minutes ago, Ray S said:

 

Thanks Mr Bandsaw!

 

 

Hmm, Jeff, you might have given me an idea there!

 

Cheers, Ray

 

It's a good idea. Company colours and so on. A limited palette looks classier. 

[Ray S]

Yesterday evening, after having seen Jeff's ( @ArnoldAmbrose) suggestion, I anti-virtually googled (looked in my reference books!) to see if any ships had brown davits, and found a couple of illustrations in CV Waine's book 'Steam Coasters and Short Sea Traders' which showed them. Result! It showed it was possible, so I gave the davits two coats of thinned enamel Humbrol 26 Khaki in rapid succession. I have found that with small details at least, I can get away with that. I use Naphtha thinner and it seems to allow the second coat quickly, as long as it is a single brush stroke on the second coat. Doing the ten davits twice only took twenty minutes, and they look fine this morning. I also removed the grille on the funnel, and just need to clean up the glue spots before retouching the paintwork.

 

So, thanks Jeff for that great colour suggestion, it fits so nicely with the scheme, and I had not thought about that colour at all!

 

Ray

[Dave Swindell]

18 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

Interesting!
I too have often wondered what they are for. They must be useful for something as nearly every warship seems to have one. If anyone knows please sing out.

I’ll make sure Xantho doesn’t get one now.

Grids inside a funnel uptake will be for structural rigidity. The domed grids seen above many Grey Funnel Line chimneys was for support for heavy canvas weather covers. The deposits found inside funnel uptakes combined with moisture form very corrosive acids which will attack the uptakes, and also run down inside and cause damage to boilers, engines etc. When the engines/boilers are running this isn't a problem as the temperatures are above the dew point and the gas flow helps prevent ingress. Merchant ships are only earning money when they're moving, tied up they're costing money, and shipowners are notoriously parsimonious, so they rarely spend any significant time stopped, whereas the economics of GF line are distinctly different, it costs far more money to send them to sea than it does to keep them laid up for months on end, they also have a cast of thousands on board for layup/activation who can be usefully employed to fit/remove said canvas covers to prevent moisture ingress during extended periods of inactivity.

I've seen grids/stays fitted inside uptakes on merchant ships I've served on, but as @ShipbuilderMN notes, you rarely see the same domed grid structure as fitted on naval ships on merchant vessels, however several I've served on have had removable grids stowed inside the funnel structure for supporting uptake covers, never seen them used though....

[Bandsaw Steve]

Wow! Thanks! That’s a great answer. I have definitely hit my ‘learn something every day’ target today. 👍

[ShipbuilderMN]

Thanks for funnel grid explanation - makes sense.    Most of the funnels I sailed with had a deck inside the top of them that you could walk on, and the exhaust gases came out of individual pipes.   That was in the motor ships.   But I never looked in the top of the funnels of the seven steamers I sailed in.     I have asked ex RN men about them in the past, and this is the first time anyone has known what they were for.     But it also suggests that they didn't know because the canvas covers  were seldom used on the ships that they sailed in.    Yes, in the MN, we did tend to spend most of our lives at sea and on the move, but cargo ships were often in port for a week at a time, and I was on one general cargo/log carrier that spent about five weeks in Abidjan first discharging general cargo, and then loading a full cargo of logs every voyage.    In the Union-Castle liners, we spent about ten days in Southampton each voyage, but the funnels were certainly never covered up during that time.

Anyway, my knowledge has increased - Thanks again for the explanation of the use of the grids in RN ships.

[Ray S]

Wow, what a learning experience as regards the funnel grids. Thanks @Dave Swindell for the explanation, it explains a lot.

 

After work today I got a varnish onto the masts and the newly-painted davits:

 

 

 

I am very happy with the brown finish to the davits, to say the least. My next task will be to spray and paints some railings, again scaled at 1/350 from North Star.  I will look at dealing with the ship's boats too and get them fitted before adding the railings. It will probably be Monday before I get chance to work on this again.

 

Thanks for looking, and also thanks again for the information given.

 

Ray