Mark P

Hi Thistle; The gun-port cills and lintels (also called cills, actually: upper cills) were aligned with the curvature (sheer) of the deck, maintaining a constant distance from the deck at the side of the vessel. The sides of the ports are at right-angles to the keel, parallel to the station lines (there are some exceptions, but this is by far the general rule) This means that the gun-ports are not square, except for a few right amidships, but are actually a parallelogram shape, with the angles increasing towards the stern and bow. To answer your question about guns moving: when they were not being used the guns were stowed by raising the muzzle to its maximum and hauling the gun tight to the ship's side. The muzzle then fitted into a curving recess cut into the back of the upper cill. The gun-tackles were lashed up taut, and an additional rope lashed around the muzzle and made fast to an eye-bolt in the side above the port. Hope this helps. All the best, Mark P

Hi John; There are at least two books, '18th century rigs & rigging' by Karl Heinz Marquardt, and 'The masting and rigging of English ships of war' by James Lees (which I can see that you have borrowed from the library [must be a good one, to hold such titles] but perhaps not yet read) which deal with the matter stage by stage. They start with the masts and associated rigging, then the yards and associated rigging, and then the sails and associated rigging. They finish with sections on different types of blocks, and belaying. Neither of them has a glossary, unfortunately, which would be helpful for you; but you will read about shrouds and stays in association with the masts, and braces, lifts and halliards in association with the yards; then sheets, tacks and buntlines in association with the sails. By the time you have read Lees' book, you should have a thorough knowledge of the basics. Deeper knowledge can only come from re-reading, drawing rigging diagrams, and from rigging models. Lennarth Peterson's book, by the way, despite its title, only deals with the rigging of one particular ship at one particular period. So whilst it is very good for a model of this type, for earlier or larger vessels, it is a somewhat limited source. All the best, Mark P

Hi Toni; Thank you for sharing the pictures of the cannon, and all the rest of your log. I made the cannon for my current project at a scale of 1:64. I then decided that I just had to build it at 1:48. So my cannon were consigned to the 'might use one day on something' box. But having seen the cannons you have made, and some of the others' work on here making them, I think that I would have re-made them anyway, as they just are not up to the standard that can be achieved. Keep up the good work. Mark P

Hi everyone; Another nice touch here is the name of the author! I thought he'd been dead for about 300 years! All the best, Mark P

Hi everyone; I can see the thought behind Rob's posts, and that his posts are correct, but I agree with Druxey that the crucial part of Alan's initial query is the phrase 'in each scarph' I have read quite a few of these contracts, and the specification detailing the scarph joints normally lists immediately after it the number and size of bolts to be used to fasten the scarph together. All the best, Mark P

JB is right, this is a range cleat. Other versions, also horizontal, had a timber-head, with a sheave just before it, worked on each end. These are then sometimes called kevels. The two pictures attached (excuse the poor focus, flash not allowed) are of a model of HMS Endymion, a 44 gun ship of 1779. The almost upright one is a Kevel, the almost horizontal one is a range cleat. Both types could have sheaves, but I am not sure if the date for those with sheaves is any different from those without. All the best, Mark P I have added a third picture, from the coppered model of 'Bellona' in the NMM (one of the few models still on display) This shows stagshorns and kevels. The kevels have brass sheaves in them.

Hi Everyone; The larger ships of the Royal Navy (not sure if the numbers for the smaller rates matched) carried 4 main anchors, which although in earlier times they were somewhat different in size, became very similar. All of these were much too heavy for ship's boat to handle. So in addition, they carried a much smaller anchor, the Kedge anchor. This was the anchor taken out by the launch or longboat, then dropped, and the ship would haul in the anchor cable to move itself. This operation was called kedging. Falconer's dictionary is available on the internet as a free pdf download. Type in the title of the book. I seem to remember that it is from the National Library of Australia. There are also many fairly recent publications, too numerous to list, aimed at the modeller/naval historian which contain chapters on anchors and anchor work. All the best, Mark P

Greetings Druxey; It is so impressive that the partly-built hull can be removed from the plug like this. A testament to the accuracy of your work (and the efficacy of your glue!) All the best, Mark P

Thanks Druxey; I will take some pictures of these unknown parts. I should be at the NMM within the next couple of months. I will keep you informed. All the best, Mark P

Greetings Druxey; I have some photos of the stern, with mermaids holding dolphins, and other carving details, but unfortunately none of the rowing benches. I do remember that they had the typical central plank joining all the thwarts, and parallel to the keel. However, I will be back at the NMM before too long, and I will take some more pictures for you. In the meantime, I am posting those I have already taken. For anyone else interested in the details of the carving, I will also post these on the contemporary models gallery. All the best, Mark P The first two (they were last when I uploaded them!) are of the interior of the cabin, and taken through the glass. It takes a few moments to realise what is inside the glass, and what is a reflection.

Greetings Druxey; A clear explanation and a very useful tip. Many thanks for showing us. The photographs are a great help also. This will be a very interesting model to follow. It always seemed a miracle to me that these unseaworthy-looking vessels managed to stay afloat even in the relative calm of a river. They are lovely to look at, though. Following on from Siggi's post above, I have some close up shots of the carving on Prince Frederick's barge in the NMM, which I have been intending to post on the contemporary models gallery. Some of these show the interior, although I had to take them through the glass, so they are somewhat obscured. I can post them here as well, if you wish, or send them by PM or other method. All the best, Mark P

Greetings everyone; I am not sure which vessel it is, but it is certainly not a model of an English warship. The deeply curved head rails, the 'rose' type carving where they meet the forecastle, and the gun-port wreaths, all match with pictures I have seen of 'Soleil Royal' so that would seem to be a good suggestion, as Jan mentioned above. All the best, Mark P

Greetings everyone; I just thought that my experience with obtaining boxwood may be of interest to some other members. I live in the countryside, and I have mentioned to friends and acquaintances that I am interested in obtaining supplies of boxwood. This paid off for me in Autumn 2014, when one of them told me that he knew a gardener on a large country estate, who was felling a couple of box trees and had offered to let me have the wood (even better, FOC, though I gave him something) Naturally, I bit his hand off, and carted them off home. I had to band-saw them down and then put the planks into sticks to season, but it was well worth the time and effort. However, this set me to thinking, and I contacted a very large country estate not too far away, and soon discovered that they had a whole plantation of box trees, and I could take some away at the cost of about £33 per 100kg! (220lbs for our friends over the Pond) All I had to do was mark the trees, and they would fell them for me to collect (I can tell you one thing, fresh-felled boxwood is incredibly heavy for its size) Soon there were more planks in sticks, drying out. Then today, another contact, a gardener on another country estate, called me, and said that he had just felled a box tree, and would I like to take the logs away. Needless to say, these are now in my shed awaiting ripping down. So I now have a good supply of boxwood seasoning, and although none of the planks are lumber sized, and many are quite small, I anticipate a use for most. Another plus is that I can take advantage of curved logs (and boxwood has many of them!) to band-saw them up in a way that gives me compass timber, which will be very useful. So if anyone is looking for boxwood, try spreading the word, or contacting some nearby estates, and you may be successful. Happy modelling! Mark P

Sorry gentlemen, it's definitely not Tremendous. I have the as-built draught of her for my current project, with the name written on her counter. However, I chose her after considering many others, one of which was HMS Cumberland, which is what the draught in the background is of. The stern view of Cumberland also shows the name, so there cannot be any doubt. All the best, Mark P

Hi grsjax; This certainly seems to be an interesting new development. Many thanks for bringing it to this site. All the best, Mark P

Congratulations Tarjack; This is an inspirational project, beautifully carried out, in an unusual material. Your story of the police coming to visit is great; at least they didn't dig up the patio! I will follow your build with great interest. All the best, Mark P

Hi HKC; I'm with jb on this. When these nettings first appeared, they were rigged above the bowsprit, and their purpose was to hold the staysails when lowered. It was only later that they were rigged below the bowsprit, to catch those who lost their footing while working on the headsails. All the best, Mark P

Hi Kurt; Thank you for the reply. I will keep them all together. All the best, Mark

Hi Everyone; I want to start my build log soon, it will be of HMS Tremendous, a 1:48 scale model of a 74 gun ship launched in 1784. I intend to display her in a case with her ship's boats placed around her on the base, but near the glass so that they can be seen. I shall build the boats at intervals during the build. I would like to check how to post them, though. I assume I should start a separate build log for each boat, and not place them all under the same log as the main ship herself. Can someone please confirm that this is how I should do this, just to be sure. All the best, Mark P

Hi Mike; All the illustrations I have seen have just showed a pin like a steel rivet. When dropped in from above, the dome-shaped head stopped it falling through the hole. Happy Christmas to All!! Mark P

Hi Mike; You're quite right there. Trouble is, that doesn't work on the top deck, because there's no upper cill. All the best, Mark

Hi Mike; In the Royal Navy, carronades (at least those mounted inboard, not the very early ones) when not in use were swung parallel to the bulwarks, with their pivot pin placed differently, and lashed (or pinned?) in position. There is a good contemporary illustration of this parallel position on page 132 of Brian Lavery's 'Arming and Fitting.' With the long guns I am not sure what was done, but it would seem that they would need to be run out until the front of the carriage was tight to the bulwarks, and then lashed to the timberheads. This both freed up the maximum amount of deck, and left no slack in the ropes for them to heave around in a seaway. There would be no reason to change this when docked, so I say 'run 'em out!' Happy modelling! Mark P

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

Hi Jason; The gripe and the cutwater were leaded. The principal reason was to protect against chafing from the anchor cable as the ship swung in tides or currents. The paragraph below is from a contract for building the Bellerophon, signed in January 1785. She was launched the following year. However, the contract is a standard printed form, and was used for other vessels around the same time, and also in hand-written versions, where the wording is very similar. This is under the heading 'GRIPE' on the contract. 'To lead the Gripe with thick Lead of 12lb to the Foot Square, to lap each side 6" and buried in a rabbit, fastened with proper Nails, their Heads dipt in Lead, and to run up from 8' abaft the Ends of the Keel, so high as the lower Cheek, the ends to be let into the Wood and well fastened, to have Horshoes to the Gripe properly fastened.' I am not sure how this practice continued after coppering became standard, but as that was in the early 1780s, it must have been usual at the time of this contract, so maybe it was still done under the copper, or maybe its continued mention was just another example of bureaucratic inertia. All the best, Mark P

Hi Gary; You may well already be aware of this, but certainly in the Royal Navy gunports were a set size for a particular poundage of gun. Contracts also stipulated the height of the gunport cill above the deck, and the number and size of eye bolts and ring bolts to be used on each deck. All the best, Mark Po