Blue Ensign

Looking good Walter, and that's a good clean line you have achieved at the waterline. Not sure about being 'calming and relaxing' but you do get into a sort of rhythm with this task, much as you do with ratlines. I'm still glad I progressed both sides together so I wasn't faced with having to do it all over again.🫤 B.E.

Post 57 Fittings (Part 4) There is a neat Fore platform at the bow of Harpy complete with gratings and access steps. Cut from 0.8mm pear the base frame is a delicate piece, mine had broken into three pieces before I even cut it from the fret. I took the pre-caution of tracing all the pieces onto card to create a template to check the fit before messing with the actual pieces. 0903 I seemed to have a lot of trouble with this seemingly simple addition. Apart from needing some tweaking to get a good close fit to the bow timbers, several of the grating sections fell out which presents a tricky repair job as the grating is integral to the piece. I did manage it after some time having cannibalised a scrap grating piece. 0901 The four replaced sections are just to the right of the stem. Waterway These are not represented by kit parts but would fit beneath the spirketting if worked up from scratch. I do usually represent these on models using a small quadrant piece glued against the spirketting, and pierced with the scuppers. I use 1.5mm Boxwood square stock for the purpose, shaved down using a scalpel blade to form the quadrant. 0898 As I suspected, even a waterway of 1.5mm impacted on the limited deck space to support the carronades, making it necessary to add additional deck sections to avoid the rear trucks looking as if they were about to drop off the edge. 0906 Five scuppers are placed along the hull and because of the scale the lead flanges are represented by paint. 0913 Don’t quite know why my old Pentax Bridge camera is showing a lurid pink/purple shade to the ochre paintwork on some photos, but suffice to say it is not representative of the true effect. Onwards, B.E. 22/03/2025

it's Vallejo Black/grey, makes for a better scale effect I think. For the same reason I tend to use lesser whites - White/grey and Ivory rather than pure white. B.E.

Post 56 A general clean-up session A time consuming exercise of sanding, masking, varnishing, painting, and re-painting of the exterior hull. The wale is re-painted and further coats of W-O-P applied to the Topsides. 0084 Once dry, the tedious task of cleaning up and painting the insides of the Gunports and sweep ports beckons. To line or not to line, at least the Gunport cills, my main concern here is to avoid seeing the layered effect of the three sections that make up the bulwark. On my build there were in places a slight difference in height between the outer cill level and the inner spirketting level at the gunport. To file them completely flush would result in the spirketting dipping down across the gunports, not a good look, but the effect would be largely be covered by the Carronades. 0885 I used a very fine filler to smooth across the cill line, before painting. A case of fill and sand until the desired effect is achieved. 0027 0896 0033 03595a 03596a 03599a I’m pleased that this aspect of the build has been completed, but as always touch-ins will be required and ongoing right up to completion. Looking better now to my eye, but I’m thinking about lightening the Topsides colour to reflect a more traditional ochre look. I will have a play around with various finishes on spare Pearwood. B.E. 19/03/2025

A beautiful model, Mark, and well done to the workers in the sail loft. 👏 B.E.

Good luck with the plating Walter. There are a couple there that look a little suspect, but remember that they ping off quite easily with the point of a scalpel blade. Any you feel less than happy with are best removed and replaced, there should be plenty of spares to allow for this. Try and get them as close as possible to the adjacent plates and cover any gaps. Keep you eye on the top line, you may find it necessary to slightly overlap in certain places to maintain the line, but if it starts to run off the effect will be magnified strake upon strake. B.E.

Post 55 The hull is inverted to re-check the plates, a couple were replaced where they had been marked. Once the deck fittings are in place inverting the hull becomes more difficult. 0876 The plates remain as supplied, apart from cleaning with acetone they have not further been cleaned up. On balance I prefer the look as is, rather than either scrubbed bright, or patinated. 0877 0878 I don’t know what surface coating was originally given to the plates to give that sea scoured pinkish look, or whether it will eventually patinate over time. Protective coats I had it in mind to fit a Rudder coat and an inverted hull gives the best position to attend to the job. 0857 I last fitted a Rudder coat on my Cutter Alert build and I think Harpy really needs one too. That gaping hole leading directly thro’ the deck would obviously need sealing. Rudder coats are a tricky item to make and I detailed my approach on the Alert build. There is a fair bit of trial and error involved here. 0866 Once the coat has been fitted there is still the opportunity to tweak it. Here I’ve added strips of modelling paste to increase the impression of looseness and small folds in the ‘canvas’ material. 0869 0868 Maybe a little more tweaking, but that can be done with the hull upright. With the hull the right way up there is still work to do. There is a sort of helm housing included as part of the kit, but it leaves the area around the rudder head open thro’ to the rudder head opening in the lower counter. There is something of sorts shown on the Adm. plans but the detail is quite vague. 0874 Chris has had a punt of what it may look like and I’ve had a punt further by adding a Helmcoat. These are common fittings around the rudder head on open decks, where the rudder is cut thro' the counter. 0881 I did find that I had to sand down the bottom of the helm box a little to allow free movement of the tiller. 0875 For the coat I simply used microporous tape which gives a good impression of tarred canvas. B.E. 17/03/2025

Thanks James, saved me the trouble of composing an answer. B.E.

Post 54 Fittings (Part 3) Wheel As with other recent kits the wheel is a photo-etched assembly. Having cleaned the wheel parts it was assembled using cyano. 0782 It was then chemically blackened to give it some tooth, following which primer was applied. I have been quite happy with Vanguard wheels and have not felt the desire to replace them with something more traditional. If they have one weakness it is that the handles are invariably very fine, and susceptible to damage. The stanchions for the wheel are a matched pair but given the rise in the deck towards the stern the aft stanchion should sit a tad lower to keep the barrel and wheel level. This distinction is clearly shown on the Adm plan. 0825 0824 I took 1mm from the bottom of the aft stanchion to bring the wheel level. 0827 The wheel needs a lot of cleaning up but I wanted to get the set on the deck correct first. Closely associated with the Wheel is the Binnacle. In this case a single compass cabinet, pretty little thing, but a couple of questions do come to mind.🤔 There is a centrally located chimney, presumably relating to the internal lamp used to light compass cabinets at night, but where would the lantern be? Such lamps were usually in a separate compartment with a glazed screen separating it from the compass.(s) The placement of this Binnacle between wheel stanchion and skylight would effectively block any view of the compass by the Helmsman. The kit arrangement shows the open section facing forward, a position that would also not afford the Helmsman a view. 0838 With a single compass cabinet it would make sense for the Binnacle to be offset to port or starboard. With smaller cabinets is it likely there would be two, one each side of the wheel. 0841 In assembling the cabinet I glazed the compass section using acetate, and re-made the top sans the chimney hole. I do like this Bijou Binnacle but I would set it slightly outside of the wheel, glazed side facing the wheel. With this set-up it would be nice if the kit had two binnacles. Purely out of curiosity I ordered a Pearwood double Binnacle at the princely sum of £2.80 just to see if I preferred it. 0834 0835 A bit of basic fettlin’ – blocking off the central section where the lamp would be, glazing the compass compartments with acetate, and filling in the viewing panels on the forward side. 0832 Even with this arrangement the cabinet is so close to the wheel that there is barely a view of the compasses. On balance I think I like the single cabinet look better, but would have preferred to have two. 0850 0851 This particular figure from the Vanguard collection does pass muster as a helmsman, and I may well use him as a scale indicator. B.E. 15/03/2025

Thanks Chris, can't help these things cropping up in my mind. There is around 9ft 6 inches of space available between the capstan and the wheel and that would mean stepping over the companion light on the aft side, unless of course the light was removed and the ladderway boarded over during use of the Capstan. There is just about enough room on the forward side before the winch becomes an issue. B.E.

Post 53 Fittings (Part 2) Companion Light Immediately aft of the Companionway is the light which sits over what would be part of the Captains cabin area. The kit item is of standard design at this period but I felt the glazed areas were little less than convincing with two small Georgian squares. These are provided without glazing so if that is desired, sections of thin acetate or perhaps one of the glazing stuff products will need to be obtained. 0485b I chose to modify the glazing by reference to the Adm. plan which shows a run of four rectangular panes much in the style of the Cutter Cheerful. 0787 I removed the broad central pillar from the frames, added thin acetate at the rear, and inserted bars cut from 0.6mm pear fret. 0794 0797 Companionway This cover over the aft ladderway is a common feature on smaller vessels, but is not shown on the Adm plan for Harpy, which doesn’t mean the absence of one during Harpy’s career. It is a nicely detailed piece with hinged roof section and double doors. The sides are nicely panelled but fitting those tiny pe hinges tested my eyesight and dexterity to the limit. The only puzzlement I have is what kept the lid open, it surely needed a support method which is absent from the kit. I wanted the hatch open to give a view of the ladderway but felt that a lid at an angle without support looked odd. 0789 This arrangement taken from The Global Schooner by Marquardt is what I’m thinking of. This book is also a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in ship modelling. I firstly added ledges to support the lid when closed using 1mm square section. 0804 Wire was used to represent the supports when the lid was open. Finally the doors were fitted another testy little exercise featuring tiny hinges. I did try Syren handles on the doors, but felt that ring latches suited better in this case. 03579a When dry fitting it on deck it did strike me that this cover appears to present a significant obstacle to working the Capstan. Perhaps that’s why the Adm. plan only shows a ladderway that could be covered by boards or a grating. Always more questions than answers…. B.E. 14/03/2025

Understandable that your mind may have been elsewhere Glenn, hope things go well. The Mk 2 version plating looks a great improvement.👍 B.E.

Post 52 Little gem fittings (Part 1) As a change of scene I have turned my attention to assembling the deck fittings, which are more time consuming than you may think, at least for me they are. I start with the Winch. 0733 Tiny brass photo-etched parts that need blackening and which try to escape at every opportunity. Pearwood parts that require careful cleaning up before assembly and painting. 0734 The deck slots need checking for fit. 0742 The winch is conveniently assembled on the model following painting. Capstan Need to refer to the plan for assembly to ensure that the various sections are added in the right order. 0752 The Capstan is assembled on 6mm ø dowel which represents the spindle, and everything fits perfectly. 0753 The spindle extends down to the lower deck where the heel slots into a step. In reality the spindle tapered below deck but that’s a detail I haven’t followed on this build. I decided to bring out some of the detail on the drum head, by painting in the iron reinforcing ring. 0759 When adding the final topping piece to the Drumhead, the holes for the Capstan bar retaining pins should align with the bar mortises. 03576a 0374a Having assembled it, I wasn’t too keen on the engraved Drumhead patterns, so I reversed the cap to show the plain side. B.E. 13/03/2025

Nice work on the stern facia and Quarter galleries. 👍 B.E.

Even with the use of proper Gudgeons and wire pintles the rudder remains vulnerable. It's usually the Gudgeons that break away from the sternpost with that set-up. Using a small bulldog clip to secure the rudder and keel helps. B.E.