Blue Ensign

Thanks Jason, when you start to look the subject of oars you find there is a huge amount of info out there, including many forums on every aspect from making to using, designing and purpose. From what I've read I think you are right that the thicker part of the oar whether it be round or square is primarily to provide balance and improve handling. One reference I looked at said that the square part begins just inside of the pivot point, so perhaps the Pinnace set up is not that far out. B.E.

This has been a fabulous project to follow Nils, many congratulations on completion on yet another wonderful model. Love your growing museum collection B.E.

Thank you Steve, Mark and Martin. @ Mark and Martin - With a single banked arrangement the rower should be close to the opposite side to the tholes, to gain maximum leverage. Here's a modern version of single banked rowing and you can see the rowers are close to the sides. These modern oars don't seem to have the old style looms but rather a slightly thickened and protected area where the oar passes thro' the oarlocks, although in this case not all the oars are set the same. Not sure Martin that the extension outboard of the oar should change with the forward/backward movement of the rower, but I base this purely on my very limited experience of having an occasional scull up the river. Cheers Guys, B.E.

Back from the fair county of Devonshire, William had a fine time on the Dart. 0720 Here performing his lookout duties as we cross from Dittisham to Greenway. Back to the build and in relation to small boats I like to have a scale figure to check the relevant proportions of any model I build, and here is George one of the oarsmen. 0922 Here you can see that with George in position the oar loom doesn't quite reach where the thole pins will fit. Is this correct, should the loom fit between the thole pin centres? the plans would suggest that this width would allow the thicker section of the oar to pass thro'. In this contemporary model the looms appear to just catch the thole pins. I was interested in the oar proportions and the relationship to the tholes. There's a lot more to this oar and thole business than you might first think. The Length of the oars has a direct relationship to the width of the boat, and whether it is single or double banked; the tholes to the distance from the aft edge of the thwart. On our model the centre of the chocks scales to 13" from the relevant thwart edge which puts it about mid centre between thwarts. Looking at boat plans this seems to generally be the case. Our boat is scaled to a width of 5'11" The oars on our boat are 186mm length overall with a Loom length of 37mm. This gives a length of 14.6' and a loom length of 2.9'. 0929 This is the link to the online reference tables by Steel. https://www.thebigrow.com/?p=659 I must admit I couldn't make any sensible correlation between the Steel figures and our model. Looking at his tables relating to Barge,Wherry,or Skiff the oar lengths seemed much longer for an equivalent breadth to our Pinnace. This of course is all academic as the oars as modelled look proportional to my eye, and resting along the thwarts there is no direct reference to the thole positions. Need to fix the Thole pins and chocks now. B.E.

Those look beautiful Martin, I would be reluctant to paint such fine work, whereas my own utilitarian version certainly required blackening. As far as height is concerned, if your Captain is Captain Silver of the Amati Line, then he stands 27mm high including his Bicorn hat, so just about his head would appear over the rail, Having said that he is quite a slight figure at around 5' 6", but then so was Nelson. I used an Artesania figure to Captain my Pegasus, not much taller but a more substantial figure wearing a long frock coat and Tri-corn Hat more uniform appropriate for the period I thought. Cheers, B.E.

Looking good Snow, and you seem to be enjoying your first build, which is the prime objective of getting into this fascinating activity. If your ships boat is 70mm in length it scales to a small boat of around 14 feet, so as finger in the wind job I would say oars of between 7' to 8' in length which scales to 40mm. You could try the formula based on width between the oarlocks/tholes; Firstly measure the width of your boat in mm between the oarlocks and scale up to full size eg: scale width 20mm; multiply by 60 then divide by 25.4 = full size in inches. (47.24") The formula is then: Divide by 2, then add 2 inches. take this number, multiply by 25, divide by 7, and that's your approximate answer in inches. multiply this by 25.4 and divide by 60 to give the scale length in mm. for your model. Hope this helps rather than confuses B.E.

What type of boat, scale, and period is it? B.E.

Very much a working boat Martin, the last remaining coal-fired paddle steamer in operation in the UK today. She was built in 1924 at Dartmouth but her engines date back to 1904. Perhaps of interest to yourself she was loaned to the US Navy during WW11 as a harbour tender. She was restored at Chatham over 15 years and offered River trips on the Medway. In 2013 she returned to the Dart where she continues to provide river trips. Might have a trip on her later this week. B.E.

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.