Blue Ensign

Thank you Martin, Steve, and Michael. The dolphin image I found online; reduced it in size, printed it off, coloured it, cut it out with a scalpel, and fixed it with pva. Here you are Martin a holding pic of one of the Dart's iconic residents. Cheers, B.E.

The Decorative Transom As I commented earlier in the log I decided not to use the kit provided metal piece partly because I wanted a Boxwood version and partly because I didn't particularly like the indistinct raised design which appears to be the Royal cipher. Our boat is a small Pinnace not a Royal Barge, so I doubt the Royal Monogram would feature on such a vessel. 0394(2) On my version I have however included a Dolphin design, something a moderately comfortable Captain with a few spare Guineas in his purse may afford. 0402 0407 0417 I also made the decision to paint the oars red overall, but leaving the handles natural. 0426 0436 Getting close to completion now just the Splashboards and Tholes to add, but they will have to wait as I'm off to the South West for a week messing about on the River Dart. B.E.

if you've got some flexibility in the arm Jason, then I think you're good to go . look forward to seeing the final outcome. B.E.

Superb work on the coppering Jason. I had a similar issue with the Quarter figures when I decided to retro modify the stern on my Pegasus, and replace the flat etched figures with angled relief figures. I had to chop quite deeply into the transom for my modification and I spent some time visualising how I would approach the task before I took knife to the stern. I wonder if the raised arm of the figure would present a problem. If the figure is simply placed at an angle the arm would be away from the face of the transom unless the figure is set into the edge and the angle of the arm can be modified somewhat. I think I would make a stern mock up using some stuff of the same thickness and see how it worked out. Cheers, B.E.

You're doing a great job on this technical and testing aspect of ship modelling Michael; sometimes confusing, and sometimes frustrating, you're masting and rigging will compliment your beautiful hull work perfectly. Regards, B.E.

Beautiful work Bob, and I love the configuration of the deck planking with the combination of Box and Holly. I'm not so sure about the grating strips which to my eye look somewhat at odds to the rest of the timber in terms of colour and fineness of finish. B.E.

Thank you Martin, Mike , and Thomas. @ Martin - I don't think I did anything special with the Breast railings, although I did drill sheave holes in the lower parts. The lathe extension really comes into its own for the larger scale models, and it came in very useful for the Pegasus masts and yards.. @ Mike - I love all the Proxxon machines, they're perfect for my level and range of ship modelling. @Thomas - I doubt you need any tips from me having looked at your Syren build. I've also got the Long boat kit, along with 'Cheerful' but I'm very much drawn to Chuck's latest offering the 'Royal Barge' The Rudder Before I attend to the Splashboards and thole pins I think it better to make and attach the Rudder. I used the kit provided piece as a template to make one out of Boxwood. 0377 The tiller is cut from Boxwood sheet and shaped with files. For the ball on the end a Boxwood parrel bead was brought into service. For the Gudgeons, pintles, straps, and iron band around the tiller head I used brass strip chemically blackened. 0371 Speaking of gudgeons and pintles I have deviated from the kit. Lavery (Arming and Fitting) indicates a different approach to hanging the rudder to that suggested by the MS kit. 0379 The rudder was hung on the sternpost by only two gudgeons and pintles. Unlike the rudder on a ship it was likely to be hung and unhung every time the boat was used and it needed to be easily removeable. The lower pintle was fitted to the sternpost rather than the rudder. It was very long and extended almost up to the waterline. The upper one was shorter and fitted to the rudder. This makes quite a lot of sense if you imagine trying to ship a rudder in a pitching boat with the gudgeon below the waterline. Having a long pintle at the lower end would make for easier and quicker location of the rudder. Looking through some of the drawings in the AotS Books – The Frigate Diana, Endeavour, show the ships boats with long pintles on the sternpost . The arrangement is clear to see on Victory's Barge. 0383 0391 From a modelling aspect I find this method of hanging the rudder somewhat easier that the other method of having both pintles fitted in the rudder. B.E.

Thanks Bob. Thinking about oars. As a change from working on the boat I decided to make the oars. Our Pinnace is a four oared single banked boat which means the oarsmen sit on the opposite side of the boat to the oars thole pin an arrangement which was common in Pinnace and barges. There are two main references regarding oar specification; David Steel and W.E May's book The Boats of Men of War, which also makes use of Steel's 1797 work. In our model the oar is scaled to 14' 9" For the handles, looms, and body I have used Boxwood 3.4mm square stock The blades will be cut from some Boxwood sheet stuff. 0201 For this the wood lathe is required, not used since I turned the masts and yards for Pegasus. These oars can be made without using a lathe, but it surely makes life easier. 0218 Forming the handle, the Loom is left in the original square profile, although David Steel in his The Art of making Masts, Yards, Gaffs, Booms, Blocks and Oars (1797)notes that The Looms of boats' oars are often made round. 0211 A combination of files and sand paper is used to shape the various parts. 0221. Getting quite crowded on the work bench at present. 0323 0322 0321 The completed set before final sanding. 0325 0326 328 I am undecided at the moment how to decorate the oars, paint them or leave them with a clear finish. All of the contemporary models appear to show the oars painted red overall some with only the Handle left unpainted. As the boat interior is mainly clear I am leaning towards an overall red paint job, but this is not a pressing decision to make. Making the oars has been a pleasant diversion, and one that proved more straightforward than I had initially imagined. B.E.

A wealth of beautifully executed detail Thomas, a very fine model indeed. B.E.

Cheers Don .... movin' on. Next up I added the Friezes along the sheer below the Cap rail. Mrs W provided the Hairspray to 'fix' the ink on the pre printed friezes. This was then applied with pva. Below the Frieze I added a Boxwood moulding; again a profile was cut into the face to match the Cap rail edge. 0172 I pre-bent the moulding to fit around the bow and fixed it using ca. I varnished the strip before fixing to avoid getting any on the frieze. 0234 0237 0247 0258 With the frieze completed I gave it a coat of matt varnish. B.E.

Nice touch Martin, they look good. B.E.

Thank you Jason, and for the 'likes' A rather satisfying day today making the 'iron' work for the Pinnace. Ringbolts. The kit provides some small brass rings, three eyebolts, and a length of black painted steel wire. I thought the rings too small, the eyebolts too thin, and I didn't like the black steel wire. 0081 I fashioned the ringbolts from brass wire which was then chemically blackened. 0106 Forward rings in place. 0113 Aft lifting ring and Cockpit steps also in place in this shot. Cockpit step Although the profiles are provided in the kit for this little feature I found it took a fair bit of fettlin' to fit. I painted mine red as a contrast to the varnished decking. 0109 Stem Protector ( Iron Strip) There are various options to making this; black card strip, styrene strip, or brass strip. 0073 I opted for Brass strip for which some spare brass fret from etched fittings was used. The shape was formed over the stem and the bolt holes for the strip were marked on the anvil and then drilled thro' using a micro drill in a pin vise. 0096 This was then also chemically blackened. 0133 I started the fitting by using ca to fix the strip to the shaped inner side of the stem. Bolts were represented by blackened Amati fine brass 10mm nails cut down to suit. 0122 With the aft side fixed a smear of ca plus the bolts were used to fix the fore side of the strip. B.E.

Nice of you to say so Martin, but I rather think you're confusing me with Ship Meister Passaro B.E.

Working out a strategy for panelling For this I am using 1.8mm x 0.7mm Boxwood strip given a profile using the blade I used for the decorative profile on the Cap rail edge. My approach is to cut a rectangle of Boxwood strip to the appropriate internal size to use as a template around which to fit the moulding. 9868 The template is secured to a flat surface (in my case the top of my mini anvil) with double sided tape. The moulding strips are then fitted around this and the mitres cut insitu. 0024 The moulding is glued at the corners and when dry carefully prized off. The four mouldings for the cockpit area were of a narrower size to fit. 0028 Although only glued at the mitres the mouldings are surprisingly robust. 0050 The completed mouldings after varnish is applied. I think that fitting them as complete units is easier than fitting them piecemeal on the boat. A slightly different approach to the lower moulding around the bow deck which was fitted in one piece following wet and heat to create the curve. The sides and tops were then separately fitted. 054 056 057 058 060 067 I was anticipating that the decorative panels would present a tricky exercise, but it turned out to be fairly straightforward. B.E.

Nice job on those swivel mounts Doug, she's shaping up very nicely indeed. B.E.

Cheers Mike and Martin. The capping rail is Boxwood Martin, I don't think it would work with Lime, well not at my skill level anyway. I just used a fine needle file to make the cut in the razor. B.E.

Nice work Steve, planking is looking very good. Getting sufficient pressure to hold the planks in place is a problem particularly in the bow area I found, but the strips I glued along the top of the bulkheads did provide an anchor point for the spring clamps. B.E.

Cheers Guys for your input and support, I think I did go down the right route for the treenails @ Steve, I didn't see the treenails on Chuck's build before I magnified the pics on his log, and as he didn't mention them in his blurb I assumed they weren't there. On with the build. The internal planking is completed, I used Boxwood strip. 9811 The Capping rails were cut out of Boxwood Sheet on the Scroll saw. 9817 No real problems here, it's just a question of sand, trial fit, sand, and when the size is close enough glue it on and finish the final sanding. 9822 At this point the paintwork required a further rub down and re-coat, once again the parts to be left natural were taped over. The knee at the bow was also fashioned out of a bit of Boxwood and glued into place. Chuck makes reference to a 'fancy profile moulding along the edge of the cap rail' I thought I would give it a go. 9831 Using a single edged razor blade I filed the profile which is a mere 1.7mm overall, basically two narrow slits close together with a fine point in the middle. The one on the right is the one used. 9852 Not sure how well this would work using the provided Limewood , too soft to get a clean line. 9846 I also made the thwart support stanchions out of some 1.5mm Boxwood square stuff. 9841 9842 Not quite got down to the elegance of Cap rail as demonstrated by Chuck, but move on we must. 9844 A little more fettlin' of the interior flaws that keep catching my eye before I move onto that tricky business of the panelwork. B.E.

Thinking about Treenailing. To do or not to do, I am drawn by the effect achieved by both Mike Y and MikeB4 on their Pinnace builds regardless of the work involved but I note that Chuck did not add this feature on his own Pinnace build, a question of scale perhaps? The smallest drill that would make the job even worth considering would be a 0.5mm ø. but this equates to a tad under ½"dia at full scale or a circumference of just shy of 1½" which seems somewhat over-scale. Below this drill size, the effect would not be apparent, and above perhaps too much, but having said that regardless of scale the two Mikes result is very appealing to my eye. Using a 0.5mm drill I have added the treenail holes but because my Boxwood strip was only 0.7mm thick before sanding, and slightly narrower than the kit stuff, I was concerned that using toothpicks may split the already very fine planks. I have therefore used a fine filler toned mix to represent the treenails which border on subtle approaching invisibility. They are apparent to the naked eye from certain angles and light which is good enough for me. 9814 Difficult to photograph but this close-up shows the effect before cleaning up the hull. I expect the effect to be more pronounced once the hull is varnished. B.E.

Lovin' this build Don, such an interesting subject, and so much well executed detail, a great display model. B.E.

Thanks Michael for looking in The seat back has now been thinned down to 1.5mm overall and has been fixed into place. With that done the Cockpit trunk could be completed and the Bench seats put into place together with the aftermost Thwart. 9803 The seat back top will need a little final shaping once the Cap rail is in place and the Splash guards are added. 9802 I also installed the helmsman seats. At this point I also reduced the strake extensions at the stern to their correct lengths which allows me to get some paint on the transom. 9795 As a short diversion from the main event I turn my attention to the Decorative Transom. I do wish to add this distinctive feature of Pinnaces and Barges of the Mid 18thc but I'm not sure about the provided cast kit piece with its less than clear raised design. I am guessing it is supposed to represent the cipher of George 11 or 111 with a Crown and the letters GR. 9788(2) My thinking is that such a feature may well be appropriate to a Royal Barge, or even that of Flag ranks, but for a Pinnace perhaps a little too much. My plan is to make a replacement out of Boxwood with a simple inset panel. I will groove slots to take the Strake ends and provide a better purchase. A card template is first made to get the positions. 9798 The Thwarts are also now fixed. 9804 Now moving onto internal planking. B.E.

Amen to that😉 B.E.

Cheers maturin, those little etched saws are great for delicate work in tight places. B.E.

The seatback. For the past couple of days I have been fiddling with the seatback. The kit provided piece is effectively a blank that needs to be shaped to fit the internal curves of the hull allowing for the Risers. 9704 This is trial and error using card templates taken from the blank, I made several copies and it took three to get the contours to fit reasonably. I thought I would have a go at creating a panel effect on the seatback. This was done by fitting Boxwood strip around the back and over the top and then thinning down the back thickness to compensate. 9713 9712 9710 9709 I think I like the panel effect, nothing fixed as yet, but the seatback will need to be fixed to progress to the thwarts and side benches. B.E.

Beautiful work Thomas, and stunning photo's, yours surely is a class build. B.E.