Blue Ensign

Thanks Martin, Limewood is really only of any use as first planking on a double planked hull, for any sort of finished wood items it is useless. Limewood dowel is also very suspect particularly in longer lengths, warping is a perennial problem. I do wish kit manufacturers would be more selective in the purposes for which it is provided. Bowsprit iron re-fit I realised that I had fitted the bowsprit ring at the stem at the wrong angle, pointing down rather than upwards as indicated on the Medway boat. The original was a bit tight anyway so I took the opportunity to re-make the item with a slightly longer stem. Again I used silver solder to fabricate the ring. 2530 Deadeyes and Chainplates. The supplied Deadeyes are of 3.86mm Ø which equates to a full scale of 7.29"Ø. By comparison the Topmast Deadeyes of a 14 gun sloop such as Pegasus are 7"Ø. According to Steel the deadeyes for larger boats such as carried by ships of 110 - 64 guns were of 5" Ø =2.64mm at scale; and for below that (ie smaller Longboats) thimbles were listed. As the Medway long boat model which is the basis of our model had deadeyes I have decided to go with Chuck's Syren 3mm versions. Chainplates The instruction indicate the use of 28 gauge wire to make these. For those who may not know, the higher the gauge number, the thinner the wire. 28 gauge is the thinnest of the kit supplied wire and equates on the AWG scale to 0.32mm Ø wire. In practice the kit wire is 0.40mm. I formed them as suggested in the instructions but I silver soldered along the join as a more secure method. I also formed the Chainplates for the Shrouds with two eyes so that the deadeyes can be hooked into the plates as with the contemporary 'Medway' Longboat. It took a bit of thinking about how to attach the hooks to the Deadeyes, and the best size of hooks to use to avoid an overscale look. I finally settled on Syren 3mm brass etched hooks. 28 gauge wire was passed thro' the hook eye and secured with a spot of silver solder; the wire was then passed around the deadeye, nipped and secured with a spot of ca. 2513(2) These were fiddly little things to make and the combined chainplate/ deadeye strop is certainly the easier option. Still some fettlin' to do to finish them off. Fairly straightforward to attach the chainplates to the hull, just need to ensure that the pins go into the frames to secure. 2527 2544 2555 2567 Just about ready for rigging now. B.E.

Fitting out With the spars completed the iron work for the Bowsprit is put into place. 4292 A little bit of fiddling to get the position right and give the Bowsprit a slight downward tilt. A shallow notch was cut into the first Thwart to assist a secure fix. 4274 4284 2377 4286 2418 2402 2413 2410 2371 Now back to the exterior to fabricate the deadeye chainplates. B.E.

Thanks Martin, I think the dowel is Limewood, or Basswood as you American cousins call it. Very soft and unless it is sealed doesn't cover evenly, I really should have turned some Boxwood square stuff down or at least ordered some Ramin dowel. B,E,

Many thanks to Al, Nils, Derek, and Mike for your interest and comments. Mast and spars. I have not gone into further research regarding the mast dimensions, I will fine tune it by eye. I divided the length from the thwart to the shoulder into quarters for the purpose of taper. From the plan 4mm at thwart, 3.6mm (1stQ) 3.5mm (2ndQ) 3.1mm (3rd Q) 2.5mm (Shoulder) From the shoulder to mast cap; 2.2mm 2mm at centre, 1.8mm at truck. A card gauge is used to monitor progress at the Quarters. 2236 The tapering was done on the Proxxon wood lathe. Making of the Bowsprit, Gaff and Boom are fairly straightforward. 2237 The Gaff jaws were fashioned from some Boxwood sheet, and it should be noted that the Boom is tapered each end from the centre where it thickens slightly. Boom Iron Always seeking the easy route I initially followed the kit instruction for making this; c.a. the ends and twist the extension to the horizontal before drilling the hole for the Boom Gooseneck. 2238 This didn't work for me the c.a. failed to hold following the twist, so I reverted to silver soldering which achieved the objective. 2241 2246 2250 Trial fitting of the Boom iron. The mast dowel takes some distress during the iron fitting process. Would have been better to use Boxwood for the spars I think. 2254 The completed iron set. Mast colouring. The problem with using the provided dowel is that getting a good finish using just varnish is tricky. Patchiness, uneven coverage, and strange over-scale grain patterns show thro'. I found that sealing the dowel with matt varnish was necessary to seal the surface before applying my tinted varnish mix. Several coats later with light in-between fine paper rub downs and I get the look I'm after. So here's the completed masting set. 4297 The varnished parts were of a satin finish, and to complete they were coated with matt varnish. B.E.

Thank you Michael and Don. @ Don - I just sourced the inkjet film on Amazon and picked a five sheet A4 sized film. I only used it for the rudder decoration but it worked out just fine. B.E.

An inboard fitting and fiddlin' session. To finish off the rudder I added the decorative panels. I had been waiting to get some Clear Self Adhesive Inkjet Sticker Label Film to print these out. 2084 2085 At only 70 microns thick it shows no edge profile and gives a good impression of a painted on design. 0429 The lifting ring bolts are put into place and the mast support 'iron work' fabricated. 0453 I have now made a set of six oars and the Windlass Bars, and this basically completes the boat as fitted for rowing. Regarding the Windlass Bars there doesn't seem to be any reference to the scale length of these items either on the plan or in the instruction book. Had difficulty finding any reference to bar length but I guess around five feet to provide satisfactory leverage. Finally the Thole pins were added; I deviated from the kit arrangement by setting the boat up for double banked rowing which I think was the norm for Long-boats. 0434 0456 0475 02231 02228 0439 This has only been a seven week build to date altho' it feels much longer. I now move onto the masting and rigging of this fine, if not at times troublesome little kit. B.E.

Love this model Don, and your work on it. Those sails look excellent to me. B.E.

Beautiful work on the Headworks Bob, crisp and clean, love it. B.E.

Looking very smart Doug, nice progress. B.E.

Thanks mobbsie, I finally got over my indecision and opted for the red stern sheets, but plain thwarts. The oars will be painted red overall, and I felt it better to have a contrast across the thwarts. I'm warming to this little boat the more I get into the detail, and previous niggles fade into the background. B.E.

Building the Rudder As with the Pinnace model I have deviated from the kit arrangement for hanging the rudder. As can be seen on the NMM model of the Medway Longboat, there are no cut outs in the rudder to take the pintles. Lavery (Arming and Fitting) comments on this different approach to hanging the rudder on ships boats: 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. 1898 A Boxwood replacement was made. The fiddly bit with rudders is adding the straps for the gudgeons and pintles. 1959 I used thin brass strip chemically blackened for the straps indents were drilled into the surface to give a slight impression of nail heads. Tape was used to guide the angles of the straps. The process of attaching the straps inevitably marks the paintwork as can be seen in this photo. 1964 The completed rudder. Work yet to do on the tiller, needs fining down some. 1969 1973 Moving back inboard now. B.E.

Thanks Al and Steve; always a good idea to re-do stuff Al if it bothers you, otherwise it will catch your eye and niggle away forever. The thwarts are now fixed and some of the 'iron work' completed. Decided to take a short break from progressing the boat to consider..... The question of oars Chuck has fitted out the Longboat as single banked, but my preference is towards a double banked arrangement. I mention this because it will have a direct bearing on the length of the oars. The kit provided oars are 125mm in length which scale to an overall length of 19'6" With a double banked arrangement the oars are obviously shorter as they don't have to cross the boat to the Thole on the opposite side. There is a formula for this: Divide the span by 2, and then add 2 to this number. The result is called the “inboard loom length” of the oar. Multiply the loom length by 25, and then divide that number by 7. The result is the proper oar length in inches. Our Longboat model has a breadth of 51mm which scales to a breadth between the tholes (the span) of 96.37"; applying the formula the length of 179.24" is given (14.9') - at 1:48 scale = 94.8mm. Using Steel I calculated the requirements for the sections of the oar. Section L scale equiv Thickness Handle 10" 5.29mm 0.85mm Ø Loom 39" 20.63mm Thick: 1.45mm Depth: 1.72mm Body 84" 44.45mm Blade 48" 25.40mm Breadth. Inner end: 0.73mm Outer end: 2.91mm Thickness Inner end: 1.20mm outer end: 0.26mm . Square section 1.80mm Boxwood strip and 4.50mm x 1.25mm strip for the blades was used. A prototype is made up using these dimensions. 1904 The difference between the 'Single banked' oar length as per the kit, and the 'Double Banked' length as per the dimensions above can be seen. 1905 The oar length positioned on the boat looks good to my eye and I will make a set to those dimensions. I don't think I will make a full set of 16 oars, maybe six for the purposes of display. B.E.

Cheers Guy's, this next post will answer your question re the Windlass holes Jason. Making a Boxwood Windlass The kit instructions don't include any photo's detailing the making of a windlass. This is my approach. 1862 Using 4mm square stock the sections are marked off using my prototype as a guide. 1865 The octagonal center section is formed on a jig last used for mast making on Pegasus. A scalpel is used to carefully shape the section. 1867 Chamfers are formed where the square sections meet the octagonal and end sections. 1871 Beyond the square section the ends are reduced to cylindrical section to form axles which slot into the mounting blocks. This again done using Scalpel and needle files to finish the job. 1870 The end of a square section needle file is used to 'square up' the holes for the windlass bars. A tap with a light hammer forms the square. 1875 Having a vertical slot in the mounting block allows for easy positioning the windlass. A small wooden plug will be added later to secure the windlass. 1876 1880 1883 I can now fix the thwarts and attend to the paintwork and varnishing. B.E.

Always look forward to progress shots Thomas, I so admire your work. B.E.

Windlass. I think this is better made and fitted before the thwarts are permanently fixed, more room to work with. NMM model of Medway Longboat 1742. Rather than just stick a pin in the end of the Windlass and engage it in a hole in the Risings I followed the arrangement of a reinforced slotted block as shown on the NMM versions. (see above) 1807 Windlass blocks being formed on the Mill. 1820 I firstly had to get the overall length of the Windlass as it would fit into the blocks before I went to the trouble of shaping the real thing. This was very much a trial and error exercise. In practice my Windlass worked out at 42mm o/a length as compared to the plan indicated length of 47mm. The difference is accounted for by the thickness of the risings/reinforced mounting blocks and the inward curve of the hull. 1815 Using some 4mm square stock I firstly made a windlass of Beechwood to practice my technique and fix the proper dimensions before I moved onto my precious Boxwood stock. Beech is easy to carve, and is far better than Limewood at holding definition. 1816 So far so good, onto the proper version. B.E.

I agree with the comments above, as an overseas customer I would prefer to have the complete set rather than have to order them separately at a later date. Regards, B.E.

The Maple looks good Steve. B.E.

Thanks mobbsie, had a couple of good days but came back before Storm Brian came in. Didn't fancy 17miles of road works and narrow lanes on the M6 in bad weather. Thwarts n'all I replaced the soft Limewood strip with Boxwood. In considering the thwart dimensions I would suggest that the kit instructions be ignored as their dimensions are incorrect. Go by the plans and have a look at Chuck's log of his build. The plans show thwart widths of 4.5mm and 6.5mm (for the wider mast thwart) I cut this out of some wider stuff and shaped the central mast support section. 1732 Thwarts trial fitted but not finished. As can be seen in the photo the process has resulted in some scuffing of the paint, but this is only a first coat. 1735 1733 1736 Still pondering whether to paint the stern sheets or leave them varnished, but I have decided to leave the thwarts in their natural state. 1822 Before the thwarts are fitted it is a good time to set the heel chock for the mast. I made mine from a bit of Boxwood stuff with a square cut mortise to take the mast heel. Thwarts one - three from the bow can now be glued in position. I will now leave the fitting of the remaining thwarts until I have made and fitted the Windlass. B.E.

Great work Ken what a fine model you have made, love the look of the furled sails, very well done. 😊 B.E.

Very nicely done David, a great result. Re; your earlier question about the 'fan shaped' rigging, these attachments were called Crowsfeet, and reached the height of complication in the 17th century. Getting them to look right without pulling other rigging out of alignment where there is nothing to tension the lines against is one of the more tricky aspects of rigging ships of this period. One approach is to stiffen the 'Crowsfeet' with either diluted pva or wallpaper paste before putting tension on them. Small weights as a counter are attached to the line to which the Crowsfeet are to be attached to which sufficient tension is then applied to keep them straight whilst stiffening. Once they stand erect on their own, they can be carefully rigged. Regards, B.E.

I like your stuff Jim, you certainly have a talent for marine art, one of the more difficult genres I think. Well done, and long may you enjoy your art. B.E.

Hope you enjoy Pickle as much as I did mobbsie, it’s a fine little model. 😊 B.E.

Neat work Steve, nice job on those frames👍 B.E.

Not too significant, fortunately the thwart butts against the next frame along so the spacing won't be affected. There are more than one or two examples on my build where things could have been done better, but they tend to reduce in significance as the build progresses. B.E.

A good fix Alde, apart from planking issues the smooth sheer on this model is what gives it its beauty. Looking at your last photo; has bulkhead No 3 (5th from aft) slipped out of true? B.E.