Blue Ensign

Just caught up with your progress Augie, what a great job you are doing with her, and what a fine kit Confederacy is. I love the separate framing of the transom, and gun ports, I am very much drawn to Chuck's kit.

B.E.

Nice work Michael, the Transom framing looks excellent, I like what I see in your build.

B.E.

Fine decoration Matti, I just love those 3/4 stern shots showing the run of wales and the beautiful sheer lines.

B.E.

Nicely done Jason, the squaring off of dowel was one of the things I found my Proxxon Mill  very useful for, but as you clearly demonstrate the job can be done just as well by hand. Well done.

B.E.

This is one of those questions where opinions vary. Belaying pins seem such a simple device that it is hard not to imagine they were in use for virtually the whole period of sail.

However, based on contemporary models of British ships experts such as Lees came to the conclusion that they didn't appear thro' the bitts or on racks  along the bulwarks until the end of the Eighteenth Century, although there are examples of pins on racks attached to the Mizen shrouds in earlier period ships.

As far as the Swan sloops kits Fly and Pegasus are concerned, I personally don't like the arrangement of pins on the rails adjacent to the Mizen mast, not least because I think they look overscale and ugly.

On my Pegasus build I intend to fit only Mizen shroud racks with pins, but the matter is one of personal choice, and there is no doubt that pins do make the issue of line belaying a little easier.

B.E.

I used enamels and artists oils to colour the etch after applying an etch primer.

Humbrol 81 (pale yellow) was used as a base colour, this along with the primer was applied before I removed the decoration from the fret.

Once in place on the model I applied the Artists oils using a fine pointed brush

For the highlights I used soft mixing white with a touch of Yellow ochre, and for the shading Raw Umber mixed with Indian Red and toned down with white.

Both mixes thinned with distilled turpentine to quite a thin consistency.

B.E.

The hull looks very nice Vitus

How you colour the topsides is down to personal choice, but the official colour in the British Navy was Black, although in practice there were variations, predominently shades of blue and red, particularly on contemporary models.

It really comes down to aesthetics and what looks best to your eye; personally I would stay away from white, perhaps a little too stark against the dark wood, and probably the least authentic of colour choices. You also need to consider how the brass etch decoration will look and how you intend to colour that.

Against the hull colour you have I would go for either Dark Blue or Black, but that's just my  thought.

Cheers,

B.E.

Tht's a fine looking Granado Peter

B.E.

Hello IIhan,

I wasn't intending to suggest that there was anything wrong with your rigging arrangement, I'm not very familiar with 15th Century rigging, and it is a  period where perhaps not unnaturally there is less detailed information than for the later periods I'm more familiar with.

However I was moved by curiosity to check in Anderson's The Rigging of Ships in the days of the Spritsail Topmast 1600 - 1720.

What you show on Matthew  are called Martnets and they did run up both sides of the sail, and performed the same function as the more simple form of Leechlines which superceded them around the middle of the Seventeenth Century, although there was the inevitable transition period where the information gets a little hazy.

As far as Buntlines go Anderson does suggest that they were in use certainly around 1600, and it would seem odd to devise such elaborate rigging to haul in the Leech of the sail and not fit ropes to help lift the foot of a sail.

B.E.

Beautiful rigging work IIhan, and finely made sails. Interesting at that period that there are Leech lines on both sides of the Main sail yet no Bunt lines.

B.E.

Love the cleanness of your finishing Jason, in all areas, something for me to aspire to.

B.E.

No mistaking her as a sixth rate of the early eighteenth Century, a very pretty model hamilton, and that photo really does demonstrate the small scale you have been working at.

B.E.

Congratulations on completing the basic hull Ray, you have made a splendid job of her, well done

B.E.

Cheers Thomas

B.E.

Hi Jason,

The Gammoning for Pegasus is 4½" circ which scales to 0.56mm diameter. I used  Morope 0.6mm diameter line which just happened to be spot on for scale.

Whichever you go for remember to allow a fair length to complete the gammoning including the frapping, I allowed 40" just to be sure.

Cheers,

B.E.

Thanks Pete, unfortunately I can't think where I got those saw blades from at the moment - it's been a while.

If it comes to me I'll update the post.

Cheers,

B.E.

Beautiful fine work on those rails Thomas, a pleasure to see.

B.E.

Hi Jason, I installed my Bowsprit at a fairly early stage mainly because I wanted to fit the gammoning before I finished off the headworks otherwise it can prove tricky to work the line.

I don't think there are any other issues in the timing of fitting the bowsprit; knocking it whilst working isn't really an issue, although I leave the Jib attachment until the last possible moment, as this is a high risk fitting.

Cheers,

B.E.

Bob, the salt lemon juice mix is good for copper cleaning but may not remove stubborn traces of c.a. which will show up and marr  the finish.

For this I have found Acetone removes the marks, applied by fine wire wool if necessary, although your plating looks remarkably clean in the photos.

B.E.

Smart as paint she looks Richard, you must have a nice warm glow of satisfaction having completed her.

Well Done

B.E.

Nice work hamilton, great effect.

B.E.

Love those deck shots Jason, ery fine work indeed.

B.E.

Nicely shaped Kevels Michael, they were used for belaying the heavier lines, sheets and tacks .

B.E.

Well done Vitus, she should look very nice atop the gallows on the spare topmasts.

B.E.

You seem to be making excellent progress Bob, and that  pencil caulking looks spot on for scale, glad you're enjoying the build

B.E.