The Baltimore Clipper P R I D E O F B A LT I M O R E II Early History A type of sailing vessel known as the Baltimore Clipper first appeared during the American Revolution. Because the ship was so fast, it’s hull design became a favorite and was patterned after by privateers, slavers, and others desiring rapid transportation on the sea.
Instruction Manual The Baltimore Clipper Pride of Baltimore II 1988 By Ben Lankford, 1994 Built-up Model by Bob Bruetsch, 1994 Detail photos of actual ship by Bob Bruetsch, 1994 The Model Shipways plans for Pride of Baltimore II were prepared in 1993 and 1994. They were developed from the original design drawings for the ship by Naval Architect Thomas C. Gillmer. Mr.
(Continued from cover) It was as a privateer during the War of 1812 that the Baltimore Clipper became most famous. With sleek lines and few guns, the Baltimore Clippers were light and exceptionally fast. Their maneuverability made it possible to wreak havoc on the British; the speedy privateers could overtake and outrun the enemy with ease, and this enabled the privateering owners to take large profits from the many prizes they seized.
CONSTRUCTION STAGES AND TABLE OF CONTENTS Brief History Introduction/Credits Before You Begin What You’ll Need to Start Construction How to Work With the Plans & Parts Painting & Staining the Model Cover, pg 3 Pg 4 Pg 7 Pg 7 Pg 8 Pg 9 Stage A: Framing the Plank-On-Bulkhead Hull 1. Bending Wood 2. Center Keel Assembly 3. Cutting the Rabbet 4. Installing the Keel/Stem & Sternpost 5. Installing the Bulkheads 6. Installing the Transom Framing 7. Covering the Mast Slots 8.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO START CONSTRUCTION The Pride of Baltimore II is a very beautiful schooner and makes a splendid model. The plank-on-bulkhead hull construction with laser-cut parts offers a unique building experience. It assures an accurate hull form, and develops an understanding of how real ships are constructed. The following tools and supplies are recommended for the construction process. Modelers who have built before may have their own favorites.
HOW TO WORK WITH THE PLANS & PARTS Before starting model construction, examine the kit and study the plans carefully. Familiarizing yourself with the kit will serve two purposes. First, it will let you determine that all parts have been supplied as listed. And second, you’ll be surprised at just how quickly handling the parts allows you to better understand the kit requirements. Try to visualize how every part will look on the completed model. Also, determine ahead of time what must be done first.
Before painting the cast-metal fittings, clean them up by removing all the mold-joint flash. To do this, use a No. 11 hobby blade to cut the flash, then file or sand with fine sandpaper. It is also suggested that you clean the fittings thoroughly with warm soapy water before applying primer. Make sure they are rinsed thoroughly and allowed to dry before painting. 6. Soldering & Working with Brass The Pride of Baltimore II is a replica ship of a period that had very little iron fittings.
STAGE A FRAMING THE PLANK-ON-BULKHEAD HULL 1. Bending Wood Building a P-O-B hull requires some wood bending and twisting, and the wood must remain in the desired position so as not to put too much stress on glue joints and fasteners. The term “steam-bent” will be used throughout the text whenever such a process is necessary. However, here are three ways to do it. Steam-bending–For actual steam-bending, hold the piece over a kettle of steaming water and bend. Hold the wood in position until it cools.
4. Installing the Keel/Stem & Sternpost The ship has no real point of change between the keel and stem, so we will call it a keel/stem. The laser-cut keel/stem, and sternpost can now be added. Taper the keel/stem according to the plans before gluing in place or do it later. Dowels can be used to help align and hold the pieces. Remove any glue squeeze-out from the rabbet before it sets (see figure 3).
Next, check the fairness of the hull form and sand in the slight bevels that were not pre-cut. To do this, use a stiff basswood batten about 3/32” thick and lay it across the bulkhead edges and deck in various locations (see figure 8). If not fair, sand the bevels that stick out, or add shim material if there are dips. This is an important check. The planks must lie flat against the bulkheads without incurring any bumps and dips on the surface.
Glue the two-piece planksheer together, then glue it to the top of the bulkheads, port and starboard. The planksheer should extend beyond the edge of the bulkheads by 3/32”. After the hull planking is added, the planksheer will protrude out from the planks by 1/32”. The planksheer across the stern must be fitted between the stern knees as shown on the plans. The bulwark stanchions on the real ship are not extensions of the hull frames, but separate timbers set between frames.
STAGE B PLANKING THE PLANK-ON-BULKHEAD HULL Before getting started, it is a good idea to know some of the more common shipbuilding terms that apply to the planking process. Consider the following few key words as you work: 1. A plank is a single length of wood used for planking a hull or deck. A planking strake is a continuous line of planks, butted end to end from bow to stern, or wherever the strake begins and ends. 2. A garboard strake is that strake of planking adjacent to the keel. 3.
4. Spiling Edge-bending planks on a real ship is done, but it is limited. The wood is very stiff, so many planks must be cut to shape. Spiling is the term used for laying out the cuts (see figure 16). It’s simply a matter of transferring curves to a straight plank, then sawing the plank to shape. For the Pride of Baltimore II model, the wide planks landing at the sternpost should be the only strakes you need to spile.
FIG. 17 – Batten Layout Main rail Planksheer Look for smooth flow of battens Bottom wale “A” “B” “C” “D” Battens lose them. You could now remove the temporary battens or leave them in place until they need to be removed in order to add a plank. FIG. 18 – Sloping the Plank Edges Sloping Plank Edges: As you proceed with the planking, you may need to slope the edges of a particular plank so it butts flush against the adjacent plank.
Laying the Planks in Belt A: Each belt of planking should be done separately. Consequently, you can start with any belt. For discussion, let’s start at the top and work down. Belt A has six 1/16”–thick plank strakes below the wale. The maximum plank width is at Bulkhead G and is roughly a 9” real ship width (a little over 1/8” model scale). The planks should taper both forward and aft to about 3/32”. On the real ship, the planks taper to no less than 5-1/2”.
7. Planking the Transom & Counter For the model, the side hull planks can be extended past the counter (bottom curved portion of the stern overhang), and the 1/16”-thick counter planks butted into the hull planks or vice versa. On the real ship, however, the counter plank meets the hull plank in a miter joint. If you elect to do this, first cut the ends of the hull plank that you left hanging over, then add the counter planks. Cut the miter on each plank, then glue them in place (see figure 23).
The top 3/64” plank should continue across the gunports. Apply a 1/32”-square vertical strip of wood on each side of the gunport, simply to cover the end grain of the bulwark plank (you could omit this on the model). Next, fit a fashion piece on each side of the transom as shown (see figure 26). 9. Planking the Deck Hatch & Trunk Coamings: Before planking the deck, you must decide how you want to treat the hatch and trunk coamings.
STAGE C COMPLETING THE BASIC HULL STRUCTURE 1. Correcting & Sanding After all the planks are installed, look over the entire hull. If you find seams with starved glue joints, rub some wood glue in the cracks and, if necessary, add some wood filler. When seams are filled, sand the entire hull and deck plank smooth. 2. Gunport Lids & Interior Rail The gunport lids can be made now or you could add them later. Make the gunport lids from three planks, 1/32” thick, or you may use a solid piece.
STAGE D STAGE E MOUNTING THE HULL ADDING THE HULL DETAILS Before continuing with additional work it is best to mount the hull. Doing this step will help prevent details from becoming damaged while you handle the model. It will also allow you to make any alignments that require a true waterline. So, proper mounting of the hull is very important. While any modeler can devise his own mounting, this kit contains a building-ways mounting system.
Some details of the various components on the tops of the trunks are shown (see figure 32). Companionway slide rails and some of the other components must be 1/64” thick. Sand down the 1/32” stock supplied. You could also use 1/64” aircraft plywood, but as mentioned earlier, it will not stain the same as basswood, so you probably would get a mismatch in color. 4. Ventilator Boxes & Mushroom Vents There are two ventilator boxes. One is a long box with doors on each end for storing miscellaneous gear.
The steering wheel on the actual Pride of Baltimore II. The binnacle as it exists today. Pride of Baltimore II cabin trunks & hatches.
8. Deck Lockers There are five deck lockers which are simple boxes. One has a set of doors. It contains propane tanks. Like the vent boxes, these boxes do not have built-in coamings. All the lockers are complete boxes (have their own bottoms), but are permanently secured to the deck with bolts and in the locations shown on the plans. Some of the boxes have rope handles on the ends. Sometimes the boxes are removed from their locations during repairs, so the handles are used to lift the boxes.
12. Pin Rails The pin rails at the shrouds are attached directly below the main rail to the bulwark stanchions (see figure 40). The real ship rails hold 19”-long conventional belaying pins. Brass belaying pins are provided in the kit. The pin rail at the bow is actually a triangular platform. It has two bronze rod pins outboard, but three cleats inboard since there is little clearance underneath because of the bowsprit. There are no pin rails aft, only a single belaying pin in the main rail itself. 13.
17. Steps The small steps port and starboard shown on the plans are used for stepping up to the gangway when in port. Make these using 1/32” basswood sanded to 1/64”. 18. Lifelines The kit provides brass wire for making the lifeline stanchions for inserting in the main rail (see figure 44). At the bow and stern, insert an eyebolt in the rail for securing the ends. The line should run through the eyes in the stanchions.
23. Props & Struts The props have been supplied in the kit as Britannia castings (see figure 46). Paint them to look like brass. The struts should be made from brass strip and tubing. Brass rod is provided for the shaft. The shaft should be steel so it can be painted silver or a dull black. Make sure your layout on the hull is correct so the port and starboard props are at the same level.
30. Ship’s Name The PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II name should be lettered on the stern and bow as shown on the plans. Also, the name CHASSEUR must be applied to the stern of the ship’s boat. The best way to add these details is to use dry transfer letters. These can be purchased at a number of art and office supply stores. After applying the lettering, paint over the letters with a coat of flat varnish. You can also find decal lettering from model railroad stores.
STAGE F MAST & SPAR CONSTRUCTION At this point, your model should have a considerable amount of stuff on board. Take another look, correct any mistakes and touch up paint blemishes. Go over the plans again. Did you miss anything? The Pride of Baltimore II has a lot of detail on the deck. When all looks well, get ready for the masts and spars. 1. The Importance of Scale While the scale of masts is important, the yards and gaffs are probably the most critical spars to consider in regard to proper scale.
gon is equal to the diameter of the round part of the mast above. This means that the distance across the corners of the octagon is larger than the diameter of the round part of the mast. The dowel provided in the kit is 5/16” diameter, which is the diameter of the round part. If you cut the octagon into the dowel, the distance across the flats will be too small. On the other hand, since you will have a mass of cleats and belayed rigging lines in this area, you may not notice the difference.
Cleats: Finally, add the cleats around the fore mast as shown on the plans. The cleats are supplied as Britannia fittings but you can make them from wood if desired. In any case, drill a hole through the cleat and insert a pin for securing the cleat to the mast. Glue alone will not do the trick; the cleat will probably fall off as you belay a line. Mast Assembly: With all parts made and pre-fitted, and the mast hoops in place, assemble tops, caps, and the topmast on the lower mast.
There are a number of cleats, yokes, and other fittings that need to be added to the shaped spar. Plan sheet 4 shows all of the detail. You will discover the use of the various cleats when you get to plan sheet 5 and start the rigging process. By the way, some cleats are the ones with two horns for belaying lines. The other type of cleat is a simple piece of rectangular wood used so an eyesplice or line passed around a spar will not slide along the spar.
STAGE G GENERAL RIGGING & SAILMAKING INFORMATION Rigging Terms Defined If you are new to the nautical world, there are a few rigging terms you should know. You old salts can skip this part and grab yourself a mug of grog: 1. A sail has names for each of its edges and corners. On a square sail, the top edge is called the head, the bottom is the foot, and sides the leech. The lower corners are the clews.
not as top heavy as the one in item A, but still has some of the drawbacks of cutting out the detail. Actually, a topsail schooner is a better candidate for sails than a square rigger. Fore and aft sails look nice on a model. With fewer square sails, the overall effect is less heavy. Model with Furled Sails Furl all the fore and aft sails and the topsail. Stow the furled topgallant sail on the port bulwark aft of the shrouds (it does not get furled in place). The topsail yard should be lowered on its lifts.
Rigging lines belayed to fore mast cleats. Details at the lower main mast. Pride of Baltimore II windlass. Swivel gun at the railing.
tackle before it goes to the belaying pin. In this case a detail will be referenced to show the tackle, then the belay number is referenced. On this particular ship, conventional belaying pins as we know them are used at the side pin rails at the shrouds, and in the main rail aft. All the pins in the fife rails, at the head, and in the main boom and boom rest are actually fixed 1/2-inch diameter bronze rods, instead of regular removable belaying pins. For the model, glue in a piece of brass wire.
piece of scrap cloth and set the tension so the thread does not make puckers in the stitch line. No actual reinforcement patches need be used. Instead, simply sew two stitch lines to represent reinforcements, such as the reef bands (see figure 70). After the stitching is completed, you may iron the sails. Be careful not to burn them. Next, cut the sail shape using line “A” as shown in the sketch. Then roll the hem according to the sketch, iron it flat, and then sew (as close to line “B” as possible).
STAGE H STANDING RIGGING Keep your standing lines handy, sorted by sizes, and have them all nicely beeswaxed before you start. For seizings, you can use cotton, silk, or nylon sewing thread. These also should be beeswaxed beforehand. Keep your white and super glues handy for dabbing to seizings, if necessary, to hold them in place. 1. Shrouds Begin the standing rigging with the lower shrouds. The lower deadeyes have steel chain plates. These are made of brass strip provided in the kit.
4. Fore & Aft Stays Install the fore and aft stays after you have completed the shrouds (see figure 76 for some detail at the mastheads). The Pride of Baltimore II has two mainstays, one port and one starboard. Both have a running tackle at the deck so one can be slackened if necessary to get it out of the way of the foresail. The forestay is also two separate stays, the starboard one a little forward of the port one at the bowsprit. The fore staysail is fitted to the port forestay.
STAGE I RUNNING RIGGING It is now decision time. Will you rig with sails, or rig without? The following paragraphs discuss both choices and how to go about rigging them. Each particular sail, along with its spars, is presented separately so you can finish one sail grouping entirely before moving to the next. The sequence is not that critical, but it is recommended that you start at the bow. Do all the fore and aft sails first, then add the square sails.
5. Main Gaff Staysail Add all the necessary lines to the sail before installation. Seize the sail to the mast hoops, then run all the lines to their respective belaying points. Like the head sails, there is a port and starboard sheet. One is tight, the other passes over the main gaff loosely to the other side. If you want to rig furled sails, plan sheet 6 shows how this sail should be neatly furled on the port or starboard side of the main masthead.
7. Studding Sails Bend the stunsail to the stunsail yard with lacing similar to the gaffs. The halliard should go through a block on the topsail yard. Notice on plan sheet 6 that the stunsail tack goes to deck at the aft cavel when in use. If no stunsail is installed, the tack line is knotted off at the block, and the running end of the line is coiled up and stowed on the topsail yard. When the sail is omitted, the yard also should be eliminated.
board on the main shrouds. The details of this tackle and the stowage method are shown on plan sheet 6. 10. Final Touches After all the rigging is in place, recheck every line, and make sure all the seizings are sound. If necessary, add another touch of super glue to seizings. Check to see if there are any shiny places on the rig. If necessary, touch up the standing rigging with black paint, or black liquid shoe polish. For running rigging, use a tan stain, or brown liquid shoe polish.
RIGGING LINE DIAMETERS BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. The Baltimore Clipper, by Howard Irving Chapelle. 1930, Marine Research Society. Reprinted by Bonanza Books, Crown Publishing. This is a complete history of the Baltimore Clipper type. It contains many plans of contemporary schooners. 2. Sailing With Pride, by Greg Pease, Thomas C. Gillmer and Barbara Bozzuto. 1990, C.A.Baumgartner Publisher, Baltimore, MD. A little history, but mostly great photographs of both Prides. 3.
