Blue Ensign

I can only add my voice to the chorus of amazement, you are an artist of extraordinary talent Doris, and the photos of your work bring such pleasure to the members of MSW. Wishing you health and happiness in 2014. B.E.

Impressive deck shots Jason, I love 'em, and those masts look good to me, I'd be well pleased with them. B.E.

I did some research on the changing face of Victory when I was modelling her a few years back, these are the date changes for her broadside scheme. At Commissioning in 1778 - Her sides were ‘bright’or payed with rosin During the 1782 /83 refit it is likely that her sides were first painted yellow ochre in compliance with an order dated May 1780; that painting should replace the ‘paying’ of sides. 1800-1803 (The Great Repair) Sides painted with black and yellow ochre bands but outer lid colour painted yellow to match the strakes. This was her appearance as she left Chatham 14 May 1803. Nelson took command of Victory in the Med 31 July 1803 and sometime between then and September 1803 Nelson had the outer port lids painted black, and shortly before Trafalgar, the previously painted black mast hoops were painted yellow, this was a general fleet order applicable to all British ships intended to aid identification. B.E.

What a fascinating subject the Morgan makes, enjoying your Log John. B.E.

Making progress Martin, it's a tricky area all that rigging at the sharp end, I often find myself going one step forward two steps back. Re the hearts/deadeye options for the Bobstays, Steel suggests hearts but also gives deadeyes as an option. Lees suggests deadeyes up to around 1840 which seems a little strange as he would have been well aware of the contemporary Steel work, but then I think he based a lot of his work on the contemporary models he had access to in the NMM. which would suggest that they didn't follow in practice what Steel had written in 1798. Did you solve your problem with the deadeyes in the tops pulling up when you attach the topmast shrouds? When I've had this problem in the past I have resorted to a tiny spot of ca in the deadeye slot to hold it down on the top. Cheers, B.E.

That's an impressive view of her Grant, very, very, nice. Best wishes for a successful modelling year in 2014. B.E.

Great detailing John, I can almost smell the rendering down of the blubber from here! One question, do you intend to blacken the anchor chains? B.E.

Just love what you're doing with the cutter Ron. B.E.

Axminster is a UK based company, and we don't suffer quite the extremes of temperatures experienced in the Colonies Even so I doubt I would leave such valuable kit in a shed. B.E.

You could look at the Amati Lady Nelson, the Mamoli Hunter, or the Caldercraft Sherbourne. All of these are attractive cutter models and fall into what you might call beginner kits, but as with any kit they are what you make of them. I don't recall Forrester going into much detail about the Witch of Endor other than she was a 10 gun cutter so you could probably choose any of the available kits and call it what you like. I wouldn't get too hung up about specific gun numbers, there were often more ports than guns onboard these small vessels, and guns were moved about to suit. A search of the above names should bring up the details of the kits. Cheers, B.E.

Love your hearts Martin, - rubbing on lemon oil indeed - think I'm going to have to up my game. Have a good Christmas and New Year. Cheers, B.E.

Great progress and ideas Grant, like the modification to make a shoulder block, something I've been pondering over for a while, I think I will adopt your approach, and thank you for your kind references to my build. Nice additions to your machine collection, I've had my eye on a planer/thicknesser for a while now, been resisting the temptation, but I feel myself weakening. Did happen to show your post concerning the machine to my wife who was passing at the time- just sowing seeds... Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. Regards, B.E.

Just had a catch up Augie, and I like what I see, class work you've done there on the hull planking. Season's greetings to you, look forward to your progress next year. B.E.

Impressive Mark, a good point to finish the year on, look forward to your progress in 2014. Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, we three are also having a quiet Christmas, and I suspect I will be sneaking off to my office at times for a bit more fiddling with Pegasus. B.E.

The thing about the False Rails Peter is that as they just sit on top of the Main rail they can be added later, just need drawing out on a bit of thin stuff and shaping.. The Bumkins are just a length of tapered dowel that I soaked and curved using my fingers. I haven't fixed them yet, will leave that as late as possible. B.E.

False keel looks good Bob, and I'd be very pleased with the coppering. B.E.

Hi Robert, The Training tackle eyebolts were introduced post 1779 and one was placed centrally between each port on the same line as the Port tackle eyebolts. The diameter of the metal used in the ringbolts/eyebolts ranged between ½” (loops on carriages) ⅞" (Ringbolts) and 1" Breeching ringbolts/port tackle eyebolts. 0.2 - 0.4mm at scale. The wire obviously needs to be robust enough not to pull out of shape when tackles are attached, the commercial stuff I used was of the order 0.4/0.5mm in diameter. B.E.

Hi Robert, as per our recent conversation, I see that Mars was equipped with 6 pounder guns, as was Pegasus, so I can provide you with some details for those. Fittings on the ship. Breeching ringbolts in bulwark These are 5”ø overall = to 2mm at scale. I used Amati 2mm brass rings for this purpose clenched in a modified 2mm eyebolt; the eye reduced in size and squeezed around the ring. Port Tackle eyebolts in Bulwark 2¾” ø overall I used Amati fine 2mm copper eyebolts, reduced slightly in the size of the eye, and set above the Breeching ringbolt in the bulwark. Training Tackle eyebolts in Bulwark These were used when traversing the gun left or right Same size as the Port Tackle eyebolts, Relieving Tackle ringbolts – set in the deck opposite (or nearly) each gunport. 3⅞” overall diameter =1.54mm at scale. I used Amati 2mm brass rings for this purpose clenched in a modified 2mm eyebolt; the eye reduced in size and squeezed around the ring. Note: on Pegasus some of the larger stopper bolts do double service also acting as tackle bolts. Fitting on the gun carriages. Breeching ring bolts – 3⅞” overall diameter =1.54mm at scale. I used Amati 2mm brass rings for this purpose clenched in a modified 2mm eyebolt; the eye reduced in size and squeezed around the ring. Gun tackle Loops - 2” overall ø = 0.8mm o/a I used Amati fine 2mm copper eyebolts, reduced slightly in the size of the eye and countersunk a little in the carriage to look like loops rather than eyebolts. Gun breeching rope 4” circumference - scaling to 0.50mm dia line. This looked a little thin to my eye so I used 0.7mm diameter line. Gun side tackles The gun tackles were fitted with 1½” circumference rope which scales to 0.19mm ø line. I’ve used Morope 0.15mm ø line which is pretty close and provides a nice size contrast with the breechings. Side tackle blocks The blocks are around 6” = to 2.38mm. I used 2mm JB Pearwood blocks, but I reckon Chuck’s 3/32nd single blocks would be just about right. I see from your build log that you are using Chuck’s 12 pounder barrels masquerading for the six pounders. Six pounders did come in different lengths and I used RB 32mm guns for Pegasus. I have examples of Chuck’s six pounder barrels and I also thought they looked a little undersized for Pegasus. The Twelve pounder barrels are very similar to RB’s 32mm in diameter, but are longer by 5mm, equating to a 7’ 9” barrel which is still within the six pounder range. Twelve pounder guns incidentally had a breeching rope of 5½” circ. (0.7mm) which is what I actually used on Pegasus. The tackles were of 2½” line (0.3mm at scale) but I only used line half this thickness. I provide the above as a guide, but as with all things items don’t always look right with direct scale reduction so let your eye be the final arbiter. Cheers, B.E.

Hi Peter, On the model the Bumkins are forced into that position by the absence of a 'False' Rail atop the Main Rail. The Bumkins should sit in a cut out on the False Rail, secured by a capsquare. I re-made the bumkins and imparted a slight downward curve in them whIch serves to reduce the sharp downward angle you otherwise get. Glad to see you're back on the build, the rigging is coming along very nicely. B.E.

There is a useful book for those building Warrior - Building a Working Model Warship (HMSWarrior 1860) by William Mowell. Available from the HMS Warrior Trust. http://www.hmswarrior.org/supportus/mailorder B.E.

The stern post face should really be coppered. One solution is to use self adhesive copper tape scored to the plate size and marked with one of those little wheels that simulate nail heads. Being very thin it doesn't show much of an edge, as in practice the copper plates were bent around the stern post and lipped over the plates that run down the stern post not just butted to the adjacent plates. I did this when I coppered my schooner Pickle. Copper tape is also useful to cover the recesses in the rudder where the pintles fit. Cheers, B.E.

Classic elegance Christian, she looks beautiful B.E.

Hi Bob, my false keel was if anything a little undersized. It should be 4" deep - at scale 1.58mm, but I went with around 1mm. which looked ok to my eye. I have had a look at the dimensions given for Bellona (AotS series book) and this is 7" deep - 2.78mm at 1:72 scale. The False keel will need to be chamfered down towards the fore end to meet the gripe of the stempost, that is the curved bit at the bottom that fits against the keel. I think you may need to trial a depth of timber to suit Vanguard, you can always laminate some of the strips you have to build up a depth, and the lengths can always be joined or scarphed if you're up for it. B.E.

Love what you've done with the Try-works John, a great feature. B.E.

Nice job with the decorative strips Michael, I'm pleased you are enjoying the Mill. Thank you for your very generous words about my use of the Mill, but like you I'm very much a beginner. However, I think it is useful to show pics of what we do on the Mill, even at our superficial level it gives a lead to others who may be just starting. Good idea of yours to use the balsa support for the strip whilst milling. Cheers, B.E.