Jump to content
Supplies of the Ship Modeler's Handbook are running out. Get your copy NOW before they are gone! Click on photo to order. ×

Blue Ensign

NRG Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    4,550

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Blue Ensign

  1. Blue Ensign
    Cheers maturin, dunno about perseverance, feels more like desperation at times B.E.
  2. Blue Ensign
    Nicely done Jason, I agree with Pat, it looks good to my eye, leave well alone now. B.E.
  3. Blue Ensign
    This build has been a delight to follow Nils, and you have produced a model of outstanding interest and beauty. You have my utmost admiration. Regards, B.E.
  4. Blue Ensign
    Gromit was right to question the remaining space to take two strakes. It proved to be too tight to take two reasonably tapered planks; one to be the sixth plank from the top, and one spiled plank running just below the curve of the hull to complete the planking. My approach was to perform an insitu taper to the uppermost lower plank (fourth from keel) to equalise the necessary taper at the bow. 8886 Here the sixth strakes are fitted, leaving just the final spiled strake to be fitted. 8891 8892 This is a very interesting shape but at the bow and stern the widths are not out of kilter with the other planks. Most of the length is otherwise obscured by the curve of the hull. 8897 To get the spiled shape I stick Tamiya tape over the space and cut the shape out with a scalpel. This is then applied to a strip which is then wetted and cut out allowing a margin for fitting. 8900 The rather contorted shape of the final plank. It is all then down to sanding the edge to fit; I start with the widest section, mark the position on both the plank and the planks above and below it, and by degrees fine tune the edges to fit in the gap. 8898 This is not difficult but takes time with constant fit checking. For this last strip both edges are lined to reflect the caulking. So here's the hull complete but without the very necessary fettlin' that will be required. 8904 8908 8913 At this point I also added the stern post, but I replaced the provided kit part with a Boxwood version. 8915 Once again one of the annoying little sheer plank extensions snapped off during handling, I have glued it back on but I think I will add a back-up strip behind it to make it more robust. If that fails, the bally things will be removed permanently. Time now for tidying up, scraping the hull, and 're-caulking' where necessary. Can't say I'm entirely happy with the way things have gone thus far but work will proceed. B.E.
  5. Blue Ensign
    Looking good Doug, colour scheme works very well. These Swans surely do make attractive models. B.E.
  6. Blue Ensign
    Beautiful work Jason, the headworks shots so clearly show the purity of your work. A wonderful build. B.E.
  7. Blue Ensign
    Cheers Guys, Hi Steve, I found the sheer plank the easiest one to fit and I followed the photo's on page 6 of the Instruction manual. A fairly gentle edge curve is required, followed by the bend to take the tension out of the curve into the stem. After that it all got increasingly more testy. B.E.
  8. Blue Ensign
    Cheers Martin, you're my sort of guy. Thank you Alistair, you're welcome to visit any time you're in the UK. Your Fly is too good to languish in 'ordinary' I look forward to a re-start of work. Good to hear from you again, Regards, M.
  9. Blue Ensign
    Oh dear it seems like one step forward and three steps back with this build. Having fitted four strakes each side along the bottom, something didn't look right, there was a creeping mismatch at the fore end between Port and Starboard so the strakes on the starboard side including the garboard plank were taken off and re-done. 8873 Balance restored. Using pva allows this re-work without too much effort and importantly without damaging the frames. A slight wetting and easing with a scalpel blade and off they pop. Certainly would not have been so easy had I used c.a. The first four strakes from the top sheerline are untapered. 8872 ...but the fifth required a degree of taper both forward and aft to allow for the fit of the remaining strakes. There was also edge bending required. 8874 8870 8879 Something amiss Gromit? 8880 What's that you say Gromit, is there enough room for two remaining strakes? We'll see Gromit, we'll see. One thing I wish I had done with this build at the outset was to replace the Lime/Basswood keel and stem with Boxwood. It really is a poor wood for this purpose where clean and sharp edges are desirable. It will take careful sanding to remove the scuffs and marks, followed by application of sanding sealer to preserve the surface. Am I happy with progress thus far, the jury is still out on that one, finding this a very tricky build; I'll see how I feel once the planking and a sanding finish has been applied. B.E.
  10. Blue Ensign
    Nice sharp work on the Gangboards and brackets Martin, not too sure about a support post for the Gangway, - aesthetics over practicality, hmmn, I'll await developments. I believe I got around the problem by having one bracket that supported both the Gangway end and the gangplanks end that finished beneath it. I wouldn't sweat it tho' once everything else is in place, you'll be hard placed to see anything of the fine detail. B.E.
  11. Blue Ensign
    Looking all very shipshape Steve, mine's starting to look a little shop soiled now Do you intend to fit a jig so that you can work on her inverted? B.E.
  12. Blue Ensign
    Cheers Guys, 😊 Hi Christan, unfortunately this is single planking with much fining down of the frames internally once the planking is completed. Not much room to hide things on this build. Surely does concentrate the mind knowing that you don't have a second bite of the cherry with second planking, or a third with coppering. 😬 B.E.
  13. Blue Ensign
    The Garboard planks are now fitted. 8515 8516 For these I used straight strip shaped by reference to how Chuck's build appeared to look in his photo's with the end just extending beyond the scarf joint in the keel. This has to be done in conjunction with the one above it, before it can be glued into place. 8513 Working the strake above the Garboard. A fair bit of fiddling about here. 8518 There is a severe curve at the bow end to go around the Garboard and fit into the rabbet at the stem. This was formed from around the centre of a much longer piece of strip, to get the necessary curve. 8526 Once I was happy the two planks would match, the Garboard was glued into place. 8533 Port side bottom strakes fitted. The second strake is also full size without any tapering. I think I've achieved the objective of keeping the second plank from creeping upwards at the stem. 8534 8529 Only wet and dry heat was used to form the shapes. 8532 The stern section of the strakes also untapered was problem free in fitting. 8537 I now need to work out the required tapers for the intervening planks. I will then work from both top and bottom. B.E.
  14. Blue Ensign
    Great progress Christian, she is looking splendid. 😊 B.E.
  15. Blue Ensign
    Thanks Jason, I'm back from Dorsetshire now and ready to do battle with the Garboard plank and the one above it. Ideally I want to get these two fitted and then work out the plank tapers for the ones in between working both up and down to infill. B.E.
  16. Blue Ensign
    Hi Michael, I'm not referring to Footropes or horses as slung below the yards, but the complicated crowsfeet arrangements fitted to many stays on ships of the 17th century. The crowsfeet that are fitted to the tops of 18th century ships were the last remaining vestige of the use of crowsfeet which died out towards the start of the 19th century. The sort of attachments shown in your last photo above would I believe be classed as crowsfeet, but a prime example of their use in 17c ships would be the Spritsail Topmast backstays, certainly on English and Dutch ships, where very fancy set ups were the order of the day. The Martnets (or Leechlines) were also of a similar form, and may benefit from some stiffening assistance to get them to look right. Cheers, B.E.
  17. Blue Ensign
    The problem with retro fitting the gun barrels, except perhaps for the 'hidden' guns is that how do you then get to fit the trunnion cap squares, tricky little beasts to fit at the best of times, let alone the keys and chains. .... but if perhaps you're not over bothered by such fripperies then the issue doesn't arise 😉 B.E.
  18. Blue Ensign
    Love the latest shots Michael, she really is a beauty. Re tensioning the plethora of Crowsfeet on ships of that era; to get them to look right without pulling other lines out of true you may need to resort to stiffening them insitu using diluted wallpaper paste or similar. It's a method I've used with some success in the past, once attached, the Crowsfeet are put under proper tension using a temporary line and stiffened until they stand on their own. The procedure can be repeated until the desired effect is obtained. B.E.
  19. Blue Ensign
    First rule of shipmodelling never wear sleeves😉 B.E.
  20. Blue Ensign
    Like what you've done with her Mike, I'd be pleased to. Only hope I can get somewhere close with my own effort. B.E.
  21. Blue Ensign
    Your thought processes re the gangplanks mirror mine Martin. I couldn't get over the awkwardness of those Foc'sle ladders, and fitting the gangplanks also provided an opportunity to differentiate the model from the basic kit layout, something I am prone to. Re pinning the guns; even at this fairly short interval my memory starts to dim, but I believe I set the carriages in place on the deck, and micro drilled thro' the carriage bed into the deck. I then c.a.'d the pin into the deck, trimmed so that it would just fit up to the level of the bed. With the gun completed I just coaxed the assembly over the pin, adding a spot of c.a. before I pushed the carriage to the deck. - but epoxy sounds good too. I await with interest your next update. Regards, B.E.
  22. Blue Ensign
    Coming along beautifully Bob, very nice work. B.E.
  23. Blue Ensign
    Look forward to it Steve, 😊 I've had a tentative look at the Garboard strake and the one above it, and the bend does indeed look short and severe. I'm not entirely clear how to determine the exact shape of the garboard plank at the bow end as yet and its relationship to the one above, which by all accounts should not curve upwards at the stem. B.E.
  24. Blue Ensign
    You must be one of them there Cockeney Oklahomans Martin. The first two strakes have been bent but not tapered. From now on there will be tapering involved as well as bending, but at least one strake will need spiling, and maybe others if necessary. Taking a week off now but when I return I'll re-mark the bulkheads and try to fit the garboard plank. Cheers, B.E.
  25. Blue Ensign
    Thanks Chuck, I have taken your advice, and thanks for the very useful 'Barge' pdf. So the top sheer planks are replaced. 7846 Full size strips, dry heat curved after wetting to align with the bulkhead tops. This is quite a gentle curve from around the mid point with a slightly more upward sweep aft from the centre. 7851 This time I have shaped a balsa block to temporarily protect the plank extensions for the decorative transom. That's the easy bit! The second plank below the sheer plank I have also fitted untapered, but have used the water/dry heat method to create the 'S' shape as shown below. 7822 This time I started the curve much further back in a longer length of strip. 7826 The downward curve is quite severe at the bow. 7859 So Grommit what d'ye think of it so far. hmmn not too impressed eh. Time for a break I think and a trip down to Dorsetshire. B.E.

About us

Modelshipworld - Advancing Ship Modeling through Research

SSL Secured

Your security is important for us so this Website is SSL-Secured

NRG Mailing Address

Nautical Research Guild
237 South Lincoln Street
Westmont IL, 60559-1917

Model Ship World ® and the MSW logo are Registered Trademarks, and belong to the Nautical Research Guild (United States Patent and Trademark Office: No. 6,929,264 & No. 6,929,274, registered Dec. 20, 2022)

Helpful Links

About the NRG

If you enjoy building ship models that are historically accurate as well as beautiful, then The Nautical Research Guild (NRG) is just right for you.

The Guild is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to “Advance Ship Modeling Through Research”. We provide support to our members in their efforts to raise the quality of their model ships.

The Nautical Research Guild has published our world-renowned quarterly magazine, The Nautical Research Journal, since 1955. The pages of the Journal are full of articles by accomplished ship modelers who show you how they create those exquisite details on their models, and by maritime historians who show you the correct details to build. The Journal is available in both print and digital editions. Go to the NRG web site (www.thenrg.org) to download a complimentary digital copy of the Journal. The NRG also publishes plan sets, books and compilations of back issues of the Journal and the former Ships in Scale and Model Ship Builder magazines.

Our Emblem ®

Modelshipworld - Advancing Ship Modeling through Research

Nautical Research Guild ® and the NRG logo are Registered Trademarks, and belong to the Nautical Research Guild (United States Patent and Trademark Office: No. 6,999,236 & No. 6,999,237, registered March 14, 2023)

×
×
  • Create New...