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i have been building Caldercraft Granado for several years, due to personal circumstances it is taking a long time. I was unhappy with the original deck which I laid, and replaced it but then I splashed some brass blackener on the deck, although only small I have managed to repair it as the build is too far gone to start again. Unfortunately the replaced planks stick out like a sore thumb, I thought if I applied a light stain to all of the decks it may not be so noticeable. Could anyone please advise what type of wood would have been used on ships in this period.

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I used the kit tanganyika on my Caldercraft Badger, which I thought was ok, but switched to maple for my Pegasus.  Maple is a really great wood to work with, but you do have some color waves in the grain.  You can take a look at my Pegasus build (linked below) to see what it looks like.

 

If you want a wood that is uniform in color, some people use holly, which I find a bit too white.  Others use boxwood, which can be nice.  

Mike

 

Current Wooden builds:  Amati/Victory Pegasus  MS Charles W. Morgan  Euromodel La Renommèe  

 

Plastic builds:    SB2U-1 Vindicator 1/48  Five Star Yaeyama 1/700  Pit Road Asashio and Akashi 1/700 diorama  Walrus 1/48 and Albatross 1/700  Special Hobby Buffalo 1/32  Eduard Sikorsky JRS-1 1/72  IJN Notoro 1/700  Akitsu Maru 1/700

 

Completed builds :  Caldercraft Brig Badger   Amati Hannah - Ship in Bottle  Pit Road Hatsuzakura 1/700   Hasegawa Shimakaze 1:350

F4B-4 and P-6E 1/72  Accurate Miniatures F3F-1/F3F-2 1/48  Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat built as FM-1 1/48  Special Hobby Buffalo 1/48

Citroen 2CV 1/24 - Airfix and Tamiya  Entex Morgan 3-wheeler 1/16

 

Terminated build:  HMS Lyme (based on Corel Unicorn)  

 

On the shelf:  Euromodel Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde; Caldercraft Victory; too many plastic ship, plane and car kits

 

Future potential scratch builds:  HMS Lyme (from NMM plans); Le Gros Ventre (from Ancre monographs), Dutch ship from Ab Hoving book, HMS Sussex from McCardle book, Philadelphia gunboat (Smithsonian plans)

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For warships oak originally for strength and durability.  The grain of oak unfortunately doesn't scale down and maple (hard, rock or sugar, all the same tree) would indeed be a good choice for a quality model.  The decks of warships were washed and scraped/sanded every day so the color would be almost white.

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Although holly is white when freshly cut it will tone down and, after a few years, is almost indistinguishable in color from Castello boxwood.

Be sure to sign up for an epic Nelson/Trafalgar project if you would like to see it made into a TV series  http://trafalgar.tv

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I also use and like maple, either soft or hard.  After scraping the deck I use a light oil stain.  

 

American birch (Betula papyrifera) is also one of my favorite modeling woods.  The heartwood is creamy white; it polishes well and takes dyes and clear stains better than pigmented finishes.  For full disclosure, I have not used it for a deck yet, but have used it on scale model model trains with excellent results.   

 

Duff

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  • 2 weeks later...

i have been building Caldercraft Granado for several years, due to personal circumstances it is taking a long time. I was unhappy with the original deck which I laid, and replaced it but then I splashed some brass blackener on the deck, although only small I have managed to repair it as the build is too far gone to start again. Unfortunately the replaced planks stick out like a sore thumb, I thought if I applied a light stain to all of the decks it may not be so noticeable. Could anyone please advise what type of wood would have been used on ships in this period.

 

A good friend and fellow model builder built a model of Model Shipways "EAGLE." In the process, he dropped a paint brush on the deck. The bristles were full of red paint. Strangely enough, though the spot left on the deck was rather small, instead of trying to clean it up, he made a figure of a deckhand carrying a paint bucket of red paint and a brush. The brush was dropped, by the figure, on the deck. It too was full of red paint; guess where the deckhand's brush was dropped...right where my friend foiled the deck when he dropped his brush. It was one of the most ingenious repairs I ever saw on a model! And it looked planned. Fret not my friend.......all mistakes are repairable.........

Edited by TMAN
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I have a pile of Holly that was purchased 30+ years ago by my uncle and to this day it is as white as fresh snow,  He bought a pickup load of cutoffs from a NC sawmill for the price of firewood. I will purchase Holly anytime when I can find a bargain price for holly. and it is great for decking and carving. yes some holly will degrade in color, was I lucky ,yes. We have a member who sells Holly,his name escapes me now, in PA I believe,  who sells QUALITY white holly.

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Hi Hooite;

 

In the Royal Navy,  initially decks of warships were planked with oak all over.  However,  as the 17th century progressed,  the supply of timber from English forests became severely reduced,  at the same time that supplies from America became cut off due to loss of the colonies.  This meant that shipyards were forced to start buying timber from Northern Europe,  which was shipped from the Baltic.  This was known as 'Crown Plank',  or 'East Country Plank' and was pine,  or deal.  In the later part of the 17th century,  this was used for most of the decks,  only the outer 3 or 4 planks,  and the first ones at the bow and stern being made of oak. 

 

How this was applied to Granado I am not sure.  I believe that there is an AOS volume dealing with her,  and more information might be found here if there is.

 

Happy modelling!

 

Mark P

Previously built models (long ago, aged 18-25ish) POB construction. 32 gun frigate, scratch-built sailing model, Underhill plans.

2 masted topsail schooner, Underhill plans.

 

Started at around that time, but unfinished: 74 gun ship 'Bellona' NMM plans. POB 

 

On the drawing board: POF model of Royal Caroline 1749, part-planked with interior details. My own plans, based on Admiralty draughts and archival research.

 

Always on the go: Research into Royal Navy sailing warship design, construction and use, from Tudor times to 1790. 

 

Member of NRG, SNR, NRS, SMS

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So I looked up Silver Ash,

Looking at the color of the wood I certainly like it too.

 

Janos,

Why did you buy the material from the US, seems like it is common wood species in Australia.... at least the little I read.

 

Please, visit our Facebook page!

 

Respectfully

 

Per aka Dr. Per@Therapy for Shipaholics 
593661798_Keepitreal-small.jpg.f8a2526a43b30479d4c1ffcf8b37175a.jpg

Finished: T37, BB Marie Jeanne - located on a shelf in Sweden, 18th Century Longboat, Winchelsea Capstan

Current: America by Constructo, Solö Ruff, USS Syren by MS, Bluenose by MS

Viking funeral: Harley almost a Harvey

Nautical Research Guild Member - 'Taint a hobby if you gotta hurry

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  • 1 month later...

yep. just like the figurine mentioned by TMAN well placed buckets, barrels etc. can be very effective.

 

chris

Ahoy Vossy, I'm currently building a 1/8 scale of GERTRUDE THEBAUD (1929). I've already prepared about 20 barrels of different sizes for placement on the deck when the rigging is complete. Reviewing several publications about 1920's fishing schooners, photos of real boats showed numerous bucket & barrels to be filled with the "catch" on the decks; so many, in fact, that it seemed as if the crew had no place to move around freely. these details, in my opinion make the model "real!"

TMAN 

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