Blue Ensign

Neat work on the deck JP love the hooded planks, they add so much interest to the look of a deck. B.E.

A scalpel with a No11 blade is my weapon of choice when it comes to trimming ratline knots in particular. B.E.

Nice work Mike, the current crop of Swan builds make me wish I could take a step or two backwards and re-visit some of the areas on my build. B.E.

Love what I'm seeing Jason, that is a very impressive deck B.E.

Love those deck shots on the previous page Peter Wishing you much enjoyment of your retirement, I've been retired ten years now, and not regretted one singe moment of it. Regards, B.E.

She looks magnificent mobbsie, an excellent result, and I do hope you find somewhere to display and enjoy her. Finding room for these beasts particularly when cased is a perennial problem, my Pegasus build has stalled at present mainly because I can't decide where to put her once I start masting. Best wishes for your new project. B.E.

Love that last shot of her Bob B.E.

Not something I've heard of either, but I am surprised that removals took place at sea except under extreme circumstances. Sailors were /are? a superstitious lot and from the earliest times viewed the figurehead as a symbol of the soul of a ship, a guardian providing comfort and security against the vagaries of the sea. I would imagine that certainly in the 18th century and earlier removal of the figurehead would be considered very bad luck for the ship and viewed with dismay by the crew members. B.E.

Take heart Martin, you're taking the right approach and rough as the first planking may appear to your eye at the moment, it did with mine, a little sanding and maybe a little light filling, will work wonders and the second planking is easier. Of course it's been a fair old time since I did mine, so things have faded somewhat into a rosy glow You're getting a nice even run of planks each side so should end up with a spiler somewhere beneath the lower curve of the hull, which is the best place for it. That tricky business of getting the planks to stick at the bow; the rabbet should help a lot but I recall I used CA for the first couple of bulkheads and into the rabbet assisted by spring clamps and/or bulldog clips pushed on the stem hard against the plank end. You could also try fixing the required curve in them using the damp plank/high heat Hairdryer technique which would reduce the tendency to spring back. It is also a good idea to cut a second rabbet down the stem to take the top planking if only down to the coppering line if indeed you intend to copper her. Wishing Bounce a quick recovery Commiserations from William who has had two ops this year and he 'bounced' back very quickly. Cheers, B.E.

Mike, for the type of soldering most useful on our project I can highly recommend silver soldering. You can see the equipment I use and examples of my initial projects on page 55 of my Pegasus log. As a complete novice to the art I found it fairly easy to achieve reasonable results quite quickly. Cheers, B.E.

Hi Mike, all looking good. I gave some thought about the Jeer bitts but went with the cross piece on the forward side which as you say is a tight fit behind the pump casings. On the rigging plan in Volume 1V of the ffm it is shown on the fore side, even tho' within the body of the book it is indicated on the aft side. From a practical point of view on the Pegasus kit the fore side is better as on the aft side the jeer belay would foul the QD breast beam, and with the kit set up the cross piece would over hang the hatch ledge which is immediately behind it, well on my Pegasus it would. Once all the fittings are in place it is very difficult to see much detail of the cross piece so its location from a visual point of view has little relevance. A potential problem are the Main Jeer tackle falls. They should of course belay at the jeer bitts which support the Quarterdeck and sit right behind the pump cisterns which impede access thro' the bitt sheaves for the jeer falls. (I added sheaves to the bitt uprights) In an attempt to pre-empt future problems I passed two loops of cotton thro’ the jeer bitt sheaves, and I hope to attach the falls to these and pull them thro’ at the appropriate time. even so getting a decent belay will prove difficult, and until the jeers are rigged I don't know for certain whether the falls will have a fair run. The kit plans appear to show the jeers belayed at the Topsail sheet Bitts, a simplification which gets around the tricky problem of jeer belay. Cheers, B.E.

Nice work Ray, well done B.E.

That's a great start on the planking Mike, looking forward to seeing your progress. B.E.

Either way they'll still look marvellous B.E.

Just enjoyed a catch-up on your log Augie, love those deck shots a few pages back. I see you're adding breeching rings to your guns, is there a historical basis for this in relation to Confederacy or is it a case of Captains fancy. I ask because somewhere in the back of my mind I recall that the Breeching ring was a feature of the Blomefield pattern gun introduced around 1790, which I think post-dates Confederacy. Of course our American cousins, or rebels as we might have described them back then, may have already introduced the Breeching ring to their ordnance without telling us B.E.

Nice to catch up with your progress John, just love the effect you've achieved with the look of her, she looks a true working whaler. Well done B.E.

Thanks Mike, there is ledging on the ladder top side but it's quite narrow and the ladder top is notched to fit over it, it doesn't create any problems. I had the same indecision about ladder orientation, but having spent an inordinate amount of fruitless searching thro' my not inconsiderate library of books on the subject, I decided there was no specific Georgian specification and I opted for the ladder top on the Starboard side as with the Quarterdeck Ladderway. On multi-deck ships such as Victory the 'tween deck companionway ladders run both Port and Starboard and indeed fore and aft, so I doubt there is a hard and fast rule. Cheers, B.E.

Hi Mike, I wanted to add a little depth to my hatchways so I added strip below the plywood false deck, (which also strengthened the arrangement) and because my gratings are removable, I added an internal ledging to support the grating. This shot of the Fore hatch shows the arrangement. B.E.

Hello Ian, as the Bounty was on a specific Admiralty mission, she would have worn the Red Ensign at the Gaff Peak, and her Commissioning Pennant at the main Masthead. This was kept flying during the whole course of a ships commission. As Bounty wasn't tied to a squadron, the Pennant was most probably of the common (Tricolour) version, and as it was permanently in place, the halyard may have been secured in the Main top. B.E.

Testing work Mark but it looks good to me. I wish some of my stuff could withstand the macro as well as that above. Regards, B.E.

Fine job on the planking Jason, great work B.E.

Can't believe that it was 19 August since I last looked in on your build Grant, and now I've missed the completion party. Still it's been a joy to catch up and your boats are a wonder, what great job you have done on them. Love the look of your completed Victory, a great conclusion to a long build. So belated congratulations and well done. B.E.

A long overdue return to view your progress Bob, and what progress you have made. The standard of your work is something to aspire to, you are creating a thing of beauty. Regards, B.E.

Beautiful detailed shots Mike, what a fine model she is. B.E.

Re the guns Alistair, I think you came to the right answer for the wrong reasons. Swans were nominally rated for 14 guns but pierced for 16, the foremost port at the bows was a Bridle port. According to Winfield it was from 1779 that 16 guns became the norm. Pegasus pre-dated this so I fitted only 14. Fly which dated from 1780 had the 16 guns, the extra ones in the aftermost port. I have to admit to making things that can't later be seen, as I fitted out the after quarters and beneath the Foc'sle, but I do have the photo's to prove it Cheers, B.E.