Blue Ensign

The Jotika/Caldercraft Surprise sadly looks very clunky compared with the finely scaled details of present day Vanguard kits. Chris has done to the established ranges of many long established kit manufacturers, what HMS Warrior did to the Wooden sailing navy. B.E.

Thanks Chris, I can now see where the idea of a cill fixed carronade bed came from - Marquardt's drawings in the Frigate Surprise book. This was a bit of a 'surprise ' to me, as the only versions I recalled seeing are the 'inboard' and 'outboard' variants. Presumably you have tested a PolyBak structure is sufficiently robust to stand the odd inadvertent knock? Cheers, B.E.

I think she's a winner Chris.👏 Can you expand a little on the Carronade fixings, seems to be a bracket pinned thro' the cill, I'm not familiar with that arrangement. B.E.

Great planking job David, well done.👍 B.E.

I note that Boudriot does not show Lodging knees in his Seventy-four gun ship tomes, as neither do the construction photos of the replica French Frigate L'Hermione. In practical terms they would in any case not be visible on your Surprise kit and it would only be of relevance to kit fiddlers like me who may leave deck sections un-planked. In the case of Surprise I thought you would check it out and I am content to concur.👍 Cheers, B.E.

Just a thought Chris, will you be providing the Lodging knees to the deck beams as you did with Indy? B.E.

A fine looking model, well done, she is an interesting subject.👍 I always fancied building a Granado especially as there is the AotS book on her by Peter Goodwin. I don't know if the standard of fittings has been improved by Amati, as she is quite an old kit, but I suspect that there are many fittings that could be replaced with Syren and Vanguard versions. B.E.

Thankyou so much for your generous comments, and also to those who have shown interest and ‘liked’ my stuff. It is very satisfying to know that my ramblings and musings have been of some help to my fellow modellers. Only one question remains…. 8199 Where am I going to put this fine addition to my Vanguard collection. 5504a For the present she will remain in my office beneath her protective cover. Thank you Chris for providing the makings. B.E. 22/08/2025

A few things to enjoy from the bow image. Look at the subtle curve of the hull form. The elegance of the headworks, and graceful sweep of the main Rail. The provision of double seats of ease. The hinged bracket for the Boomkins in the False rail. The cills around the gunports. A fine figure for the head. and knowing that behind the bow the space is properly formed allowing the detailing of mangers and Bowsprit stop. The Maturin figure, provides the interesting task of getting that subtle patina to the cello surface. Tasty stuff indeed Chris.👌 B.E.

Post 107 Completion photos part 2 Close-up shots. 5471a 5464a 5466a 5439a 5467a 5469b 5470b 5444a 5457a 5442a 5437a 5434a B.E. 20/08/2025

Post 106 Completion After eight months of fairly concentrated work this project is now complete. This has been an interesting kit to make and one that has taken more time than I had initially imagined. I had a lot of questions in my mind about certain details and fittings etc; for which there is scant information, and which remain unanswered. Even so, Chris has done an excellent job of creating ‘Harpy’ which makes up into a very attractive model with lots of deck interest. A fine addition to the Vanguard range of kits. The completion Photos (part 1) These are the full hull shots that will feature in my usual build Photo book. 5446b The display stand has been completed, I do like keel blocks as part of the support, a design that has featured in several of my models. 5448a 5450a 5461b 5452a 5453b 5458a 5462b 5472a 5474a 5476a 5480a Part 2 will cover the close-up shots. B.E. 20/08/2025

Sadly not Ron. A bit of a time traveller is Bob, think Outlander. 02806 He began his journey as an able seaman serving on a Flower Class Corvette circa 1940. 1388 He was next sighted working as a rigger on a 14 gun sloop of war circa 1776. This was around 2013 in our time. 04570 In 2020 he was to be found serving on the Cutter Alert circa 1777. Bob’s current muster on Harpy is likely to be his last, but you never know with time travellers.🤔 B.E.

Post 105 Rattlin’ down. There are different approaches to this repetitive task; 5276A I only use a card template to work out the number of lines. For me a card behind the shrouds is more of a hindrance than help. I prefer to fit them by eye using a 5mm planking strip to gauge the spacing. For the Ratlines I am using Syren 0.20mm line which is pretty spot on for scale size. It is dyed before use, an approach I recommend; the suggestion that it be dyed after fitting is a high- risk undertaking. The kit arrangement shows ratlines across all shrouds for the full length. Steel however indicates that for the first six lines top and bottom, ratlines are omitted to the first and last shrouds. Whether this was applicable to all vessel sizes is not clear, but on Harpy I don’t think that would be a good look, particularly on the Fore shrouds. I will extend the Ratlines across all shrouds. The Top ratline is 5mm below the futtocks and the bottom starts just above the shroud cappings. I have also belatedly noticed that Steel indicates that on brigs the aftermost Main shroud was served to give protection from the main boom. It has been over five years since I last did this task and it feels more tiresome than I remember, an indication no doubt of increasing decrepitude, and decreasing vision sharpness. 5367A I begin the procedure by attaching lines with a (5) line spacing. This helps keep the shrouds in shape. 5372A My Topman Bob has served on many ships, and is a valued crew member for gauging the rattlin’ 5388A 5389A 5393A 5394A 5398A 5402A One of Chris’s figures is a reasonable fit for a Helmsman. Pinned to the deck, he provides a human scale reference for the model. I have positioned the Binnacle just forward and to Port of the wheel, the suggested kit position makes no sense. 5405A 5408A There is a lot of deck interest provided for this model thanks to the excellent fittings provided in the kit. 5412A The build is nearing completion, only a little tidying up, and tweaking here and there remains to be done. B.E. 18/08/2025

Neat deck planking David👍 You are using slightly thicker planking than I used, have you checked the fit of the spirketting, and carronades? B.E.

Very nicely done Richard, she makes a fine unrigged model with loads of deck interest. ps; I broke three of the four anchors either snapping them above or below the stock; fortunately the repair using ca has held. (so far) B.E.

Hi Clark, I think the anchor cables were usually taken below via the Main Hatchway where either one section of grating was removed or openings cut into the grating to take the cable. Messenger cables were used in conjunction with the Capstan to haul the anchor cable inboard. B.E.

Your hull looks magnificent Ron, top class. Regarding the use of 'black' iron for the Horseshoes and Fish plates, that would be correct for an uncoppered hull. The cuprous alloy versions would be used on a coppered hull. B.E.

Thank you Timmo, Chris's design talent give modellers at all skill levels the best chance of creating highly detailed and beautiful ship models. I just love 'em. B.E.

Ah if only it were that simple Ron, all the best riggers set up with oars don’t you know.😉 ps that’s oars with an ‘o’ not a ‘w’ M.

Beautiful work Chuck, what an attractive model she makes. I love the detailing. B.E.

Post 104 At this point I am attending to small additions and tweaks as the model nears completion. 5238a 5235a The stanchions and guard rails are added to the Mast tops, a perfect fit with nicely shaped rails in Pearwood. 5271b The Iron horse has been added to the transom. I am still pondering whether to add limited rigging to the booms and fit the sheets. 5266a I added Entry steps stanchions, not sure if they were indicated on the plans, but I have a lot of these items in my spares box. 5277a The Rudder chains are added but I have omitted the pendents. The chains of 1mm size were in my chain stock. 5253a 5265a 5261a I had to re-visit the stern davit rigging which had become twisted. Attaching the boat is like working one of those Fairground crane grab machines, multiple goes, but at least success is obtained eventually. 5279a 5280a The one major job remaining is attaching the Ratlines, what deep joy. B.E. 04/08/2025

Very nice job David, well done👍 B.E.

Thank you, Alan, I can’t reconcile the set-up either. Such an arrangement seems more appropriate to smaller vessels where a windlass is used to raise the anchor and also act as the riding bitts. 075 This arrangement on my Pickle build makes more sense, altho’ I did puzzle about the use of Navel pipes in that era, but visually it worked for me. Thanks for chipping in Richard, your Harpy is looking very good.👍 The photo’s indeed clearly show the problem, how is the cable to be handled in that short space. The large cable rising vertically thro’ a very small grating so close to the stove, just doesn’t sit right to my eye. Using the Riding bitts does involve using the bitt post as well as the cross piece. As you gain knowledge of the subject over the years it becomes harder to ignore apparent discrepancies but then find you can’t resolve them because of gaps in historical information.🙄 The Harpy set-up is a mystery to me, but I will dodge the issue by not fitting anchor cables. Were it fully decked I would have run the cables down thro’ the Main Hatch. To keep things in perspective this is a minor fitting on the model that doesn’t detract from the overall appeal of Harpy. I have made many changes to my kit for my own interest that the casual eye wouldn’t even notice. I very much doubt that in many years ahead nautical historians will be poring over my model wondering why did he do that! Regards, B.E.

Post 103 Looking at the Anchors The anchors in Resin are accurately detailed and are close to scale for a 20cwt anchor. The stocks have very nice Pearwood facings detailing the strap positions, bolts and treenails. For a ship the size of Harpy:- Steel indicates three anchors at 20cwt, a stream at 7cwt, and a kedge at 3cwt 2 qtrs. Anchor cables A short length of 2mm ø line is supplied, sufficient for the kit arrangement. The anchor cable circumference may be determined by the formula ½” of circ for every foot of the beam of the vessel. In the case of Harpy with a beam of 28’ 1½” this works out at a 14” circ cable - 1.76mm ø line at scale. The business of anchors and cables are a puzzlement to me where Harpy is concerned. I have doubts about the kit set-up where the large cables are shown feeding thro’ a small grating just above and forward of the Galley stove above the open hearth. I think this is a steam grating for the stove and a fair run of these heavy and often wet cables would appear to be impeded by this arrangement. 5205a The cables with the kit arrangement would exit the lower deck almost vertically to the Riding Bitts in a position that would involve tight bends of the cable if the Riding Bitts are used for their purpose. The run of the cables also risk fouling the rigging connection points around the partners of the Foremast. 5203a My view is that the cables would run to the Main hatch as was the usual practice. 5204a With this arrangement stoppers could be used to take the strain whilst at anchor. I usually like to display anchors with the cables secured to the Riding bitts but there are issues that preclude this with Harpy. On a fully decked model this would not be a problem as the cables would run below decks unseen. With Harpy the lower deck is on view so simply feeding the cables down the main Hatch with a short loose end is not an option. It is difficult to imagine how an anchor cable with a scale length of 120 fathoms would even fit on the Harpy model. We know from the Adm. plan the location of the cable storage compartments running either side of the ship on the Lower deck. These are nicely depicted on the model, but as with the Adm. plans there is no indication how the compartments were accessed to stow the cables. Assembly of the Anchors The anchor stocks are correctly formed in two halves fitted either side of the shank. I found it necessary to broaden and deepen the slots on the stocks and also file down the resin shank so that the stocks fitted together allowing for a narrow gap between them adjacent to the shank. 5207a I assembled the stocks and shanks before adding the facing pieces. A slight taper was formed toward the stock ends. 5216a I used Vallejo Black/grey to paint the anchors followed by use of Dark Brown and Rust weathering powders. 5219a The iron bands are represented by Heat shrink tubing on the model. 5220a The Anchor rings are provided in etched pe. I replaced these using 1mm brass wire with an outer diameter of 8mm. For the Puddening I used 0.30mm line. 5223a Applying the puddening can be a bit of a faff unless the Anchor ring can be held secure during the process. 5231 The anchors are now completed, and I’ll decide on the display later. B.E. 02/08/2025

Hi Ronald, the gap does look a little wide to my eye. I didn't use the kit set-up on my build of Sphinx, I opted for a working version of gudgeons and pintles and tweaked the set up until my eye was satisfied. On Indefatigable I did use the kit simplified version but they look a little closer than on your photo. Could you perhaps countersink the holes on the stern post to allow the gudgeon to sit further in? B.E.