Blue Ensign

Whinging about the Windlass The octagonal barrel of the windlass is provided by a number of octagonal discs which when fed onto a central spindle with provided wooden pawl rings make up the barrel. There are 11 of these segments plus spares. Problem is the ones I got were the very devil to get the octagons to line up cleanly and I wasn’t over impressed with the result, partly due to the differing shades of the walnut segments. Jotika intended for the thing to be painted red ochre. The sectional make up of the Jotika barrel just doesn’t look right to my eye and the single diameter along its length gives the impression of a pencil chopped up and glued together again, rather unrealistic, and coupled with the deficiencies in my skill at assembling the thing, I resolved to do better. I wanted a clean bare wood barrel with distinct clearly defined octagonal sections, and with a degree of tapering from the centre section down to the warping heads at either end. Salvation came in the form of some old stock 5mm boxwood square section that just needed converting into an octagon. My little Rosewood mini plane was just right for the job. For style I took the drawings of the windlass given in the AOTS book Alert. Overall it has a more authentic look and will better match the other deck fittings on Pickle. It took me three attempts to get something I could live with but here at last the assembled but unpolished windlass. I see a bit of roughness on the starboard standard that will need attention, and I think I may add metal bands each side of the iron pawl rings. Fixing bits and pieces Three major deck items, the Fore Bitts, Windlass, and Pawl bitts require fixing to the deck by means of pins inserted in the bottom of the standards, and thro’ a corresponding hole in the deck. Tricky business this to get the corresponding holes in the right place so that the items are fixed in the correct positions and square to the central line of the ship. The bitts in particular require firm fixing against the pull of the rigging to come later, and the pawl bitts against which the bowsprit is secured. two minds about those belay pins, they look a little over-scale to my eye. I modified the coamings around the Galley flue, didn’t like the Jotika 1.5mm walnut strip arrangement. In any build there are several critical points that could affect the end result, with Pickle one of them is drilling the hole thro’ the bulwark to take the bowsprit. A bit scary this cutting thro’ the neat planking one has taken so much trouble over – have I got the position dead right, will it line up with the pawl bitts, must avoid splintering the internal planking when drilling. Who said model making was a relaxing activity. This is not the real bowsprit but close enough for fitting purposes, and things seem to have turned out ok. In the Same vein the hawse holes have to cut thro’ the bulwarks, 2mm according to Jotika to take a 1.3mm diameter cable. I was curious to see how this related to given formulas for calculating the cables and hawse sizes. For cable sizes this is ½” of circumference for each foot of breadth of the ship. Given a width of 20’ 7½” this equates to a 10.3” circumference cable, which at scale works out at 1.3mm diameter. Spot on Jotika. The hawse hole formula is diameter of cable x 9/4 = 2.92mm. Nearly a third larger than that suggested by Jotika. I enlarged the hole size to 2.5mm which looked better in relation to the 1.3mm diameter anchor cable. Two more holes to drill in the deck, Jotika calls them Navel pipes, down which the anchor cables pass to the cable tier. Now I’ve not heard this term before in period ship modelling and it doesn’t seem to be mentioned in any of my reference books save the Oxford dictionary of ships and the sea.There is no reference to Navel Pipes in the Global Schooner by Marquardt or the Cutter Alert by Peter Goodwin, two specific references I am using for this build. Still I have gone with the Navel pipes enlarged to just over 3mm to take short lengths of aluminium tubing, chemically blackened, and inserted flush with the deck. Along with various eye bolts and cleats that now finishes the internal fittings on Pickle. Next up the external fittings and making the rudder. B.E.

You are a fine artist Doris and a true inspiration to all model makers. I am pleased to see your work once again. B.E.

Skylights and companions All the deck fittings etc; provided are in walnut. Jotika intended them to be painted red ochre, or left natural. This presented me with a problem as I wanted the deck fittings to be yellow ochre, represented by boxwood. Some of the fittings have been completely replaced but others such as the carronade beds and bitt standards I did not want to go to the trouble of replicating. I spent some little time concocting a mix of Ronseal light oak varnish with the merest touch of Admiralty yellow ochre water based paint to create a matching boxwood finish. I am quite pleased with the result. The Skylights and Companionway are supposed to be assembled from the ubiquitous walnut sheet and then be painted red ochre, but I replaced mine using boxwood strip to create a boarded effect. The brass etched window frames I left unpainted as I rather liked them, and I expect them to tarnish over time. The iron protective grills were chemically blackened. Rather than use the provided acetate for glazing the windows, I opted for Humbrol clear fix as the panes are very small. The companionway was also boarded, with the interior boarding whitewashed to provide a contrast. The kit over-scale walnut doors were replaced with boxwood versions. The completed items were then varnished with my ochre/varnish mix. Elmtree pumps So often these items provided in kits are somewhat clumsy and overscale but Jotika have provided quite fine pump handles in etched brass to complete the ensemble. The pumps do not stand vertically on the deck but are canted slightly and would in reality converge towards the centre line of the bottom of the ship. To this end I inserted lengths of brass tubing thro’ the deck into which micro brass tubing forming the plungers fit. I fashioned the pump bodies from a bit of round stuff, but tarted them up with iron bands formed from the brass fret surrounding the 0.3mm eyelets, and a bit of brass tubing. The galley chimney. I replaced the suggested 4x4mm walnut strip with a piece of square section brass tubing, chemically blackened. I had toyed with the idea of providing a more fancy flue, but decided on a small vessel such as Pickle, plain and simple would be appropriate. I still have to make coamings to go around the flue but I can’t make my mind up at present as to the section I prefer. Here’s where I am now up to, the hatches/grating, and main deck furniture have been fixed, I will not permanently fix the pumps until later in the build, they are quite delicate and experience tells me they are perfect snag magnets. To be cont'd B.E.

Now the tricky bit – the side tackles I was in two minds about the side tackle rigging, Jotika show them with the loose ends coiled on the deck. This is a traditional way of displaying the falls of the tackles on models, but I somehow doubt that this is how it was done in practice in a working boat situation, particularly a hard worked vessel such as Pickle. The provided blocks look too clumpy for my taste , and I have replaced them with 2mm Pear wood blocks supplied by JB models. The Jotika 0.1mm line for the tackles also looks over scale compared to the breeching rope, but in any case I’m not a fan of Jotika line and it has been replaced. I stropped the blocks with 34 gauge wire, the tails of which formed the fastenings either end. I finally decide to seize up the side tackles, much in the way of this shot of the 68 pounder on Victory. Given the scale I think the tackles look neater, I didn’t want the tackles to dominate the carronade, as they appear to in the Jotika photo. To make the side tackles a little jig was required to hold the blocks the correct distance apart whilst the lanyard is fitted. Using 0.1mm diameter Amati line, the lanyards are working versions. Rigging the tackles I am pleased with the result compared to the Jotika suggested arrangement, and once completed I can get onto attaching the other deck fittings which I have mostly already prepared.

Introducing ‘Dick’ Aka John Richard Lapenotiere, of Pickle fame. I needed a mini Pickle Captain and here he is. Someone to give scale to the model and assist in assessing the scale validity of the fittings. Looks a little older than his thirty five years but then he’s had a hard life, tossing about in smallish boats, constantly wet, ’tween decks height of only 4’ 6” when he’s 5’8” Not much influence, not many mates by all accounts, but now a life chance with the prospect of carrying the news of Trafalgar back to England, the lure of promotion and the £500 quid he will receive if only he can keep ahead of that b*****d Sykes of the Nautilus who is determined to get there first. Hand over those dispatches says Sykes, no way says brave Dick I’m under direct orders of Admiral Collingwood to deliver my dispatches by hand so I respectfully suggest that you do one. Not to be put off the dastardly Sykes races our hero all the way to England but fails by minutes to beat him to the Admiralty. The rest as they say is history, so my mini Dick will stand proudly on the Pickle’s deck casting (no pun intended) a critical eye over progress. He has the look of a rather a severe critic about him to me. Dick is an Amati 25mm cast metal figure, looks a bit scary under the digital eye but is ok at normal viewing perspective. I think they modelled him on Arthur Wellesley ,a rather arrogant look and he does have that fine hooked nose. Dick will continue to make guest appearances in various progress shots to give a human scale to proceedings. Rigging a Carronade – thoughts on the Pickle kit Been in the back of my mind for a while, I wasn’t over impressed by the Jotika arrangement as shown in their build photos. Breeching rope lead ring is I think too far forward, a consequence perhaps of the over scale blocks to the side tackles. The breeching rope has an unnatural lie and seems merely to be pushed under the bulwark ring. To assist in the tackle forming I rigged up a spare carronade in a mock gunport, to see how things fared. With the rigging tackle so small I find it easier to work out a gun rigging strategy with a mock-up rather than go straight in on the model. The breeching ropes of 0.5mm Ø line are simply knotted to the bulwark rings and are sealed with dilute pva before trimming. A small paper clip gives scale to this ‘toy’ carronade. Here a couple of shots of the carronades in-situ and the Breechings fitted. I can now proceed with the somewhat testy rigging of the side tackles. B.E.

Assembling a Carronade. This is one area of the build that seems to present Pickle builders with problems, trying to assemble the trunnions of the Pickle Carronades. The instructions really should carry a mental health warning. These are tiny beasts consisting of two trunnions, a spigot, two bearings, all threaded onto a piece of 0.5mm wire and assembled within a space of 1.5mm between the trunnions. Assembly without devising a mini jig would I think prove very, very, frustrating. A sense of the scale of the things can be gathered from the following photos. The jig to hold the trunnions. The assembled trunnions attached to the slide bed. The assembly completed. I wasn’t too impressed by the use of a length of 0.7mm wire to represent the elevating screw so I added a small refinement in the form of turning bars, and a metal plate to sit the elevating screw on.I also moved the breeching rope lead ring slightly further back than suggested by Jotika, I felt it gave a better lie to the rope. These bijou carronades along with all the other brass etched fittings have been treated with Carr’s Blackening for Brass, having first been dipped in acetone and scrubbed with an old toothbrush, well I think it was an old toothbrush, anways, I know it wasn’t mine. Even so the inevitable handling in assembly results in some loss of black, and paint touch ins are necessary. Assembly of the first carronade took all of this morning including the jig making. Fortunately there are only six carronades supplied with Pickle, although other sources suggest she carried eight. Having assembled one I am sorely tempted to oik four of ‘em overboard as Lapenotiere, did on his voyage. At full scale these twelve pounder carronades are incredibly small when one is used to looking at the sixty eight pounder smashers on Victory. Full size they would be a mere 2’2” compared to over nine feet for a carriage mounted long gun of the same calibre, and only a fraction of the weight. Even so they do look very insignificant on the Pickle. Here’s a shot of ‘Dick’ apparently dwarfing a carronade, but the relative scales are correct. B.E.

Coamings, Carronades, and Companionways.. Now I reach the point where I start to enjoy myself, fiddling with the fittings. First up.... Hatch coamings. One of my pet kit hates. Jotika in common with many other kit manufacturers show these items as boxy surrounds with flat gratings enclosed within. They don’t make reference to the greater depth that should apply to the Head Ledges, or shaping the same to form that gentle arc, with the gratings shaped to follow this line to the coamings. A check of any contemporary ship models of the seventeenth and eighteenth century will show the correct form. On little Pickle however, for the Main Hatch, boards are shown rather than gratings. This is perfectly acceptable and certainly applicable to merchant vessels, but with naval vessels I prefer gratings. Besides it avoids having to make all those irritating little ring bolts for the boards. The Main hatch cover has therefore been modified to reflect my own preferences; the supplied walnut strip suggested for the coamings etc; was discarded in favour of boxwood. (It was in any case of dubious quality) Once assembled and fitted the gratings were gently sanded to conform to the arc of the head ledges. The grating strips provided by Jotika are excellent, accurately cut with no broken teeth, a close fit, and good for scale. Schooners were very wet boats and I fixed my coamings at 4mm height rather than the 3mm suggested; this is equivalent to 10” at full scale. None of the gratings have been fixed in position as yet - this will be done once all the bulwark ring bolts have all been secured. At this point the Carronade pads have been fitted and the deck has been sealed with Caldercraft water based Flat-matt varnish, which does not darken the deck planking; the gratings will be treated the same, but the coamings will be varnished with satin cote varnish.

Looking good Jason, a nice colour contrast with the straps against the copper plates, and a nice tight line between the rudder and sternpost, so easy to get the gap too wide. B.E.

Naming Pickle The kit provides for brass etched lettering to be painted white. I disliked the look of this arrangement, the brass etch letters stand out too much, the font style looks too modern, and I have doubts that the lettering on British naval ships of the period was painted white. I tried different options from vinyl lettering to water slide decals but eventually settled on letraset transfers, Times New Roman, at 5mm in gold. I had initially feared that applying dry rub letters to the stern in situ would present problems of alignment and good adhesion but as it happens they went on a treat and here’s the result. A coat of satin varnish, and the job’s done. The official inspection has reported favourably, so work can now proceed to fitting out the deck. B.E.

Thanks John for dropping by The stern transom I had been viewing this with a little concern as it presents an excellent opportunity to cock things up big time. There are subtle curves to attend to and the trimming back of the bulwarks to meet the stern piece is critical as far as fit is concerned. In the standard Jotika build the stern facia is un-planked on its outer face, simply being painted black.Their idea is that the stern piece should be sanded back to meet the bulwarks, and the paint scheme carried over the stern piece edges. I was a little unsure about this as most of the small vessels of this type I have seen have the stern piece extending outside of the bulwarks by a small amount. I was also not over impressed with the way the bulwark rails met the stern piece with the basic kit arrangement. The sort of arrangement I feel more appropriate is along the lines of the Royal Naval Museum model of Pickle, as above. So a few modifications were in order...... The outer face has been planked with ‘ebony’ 3.4mm strip and a moulding added around the edge to match and reflect the bulwark capping rails. The inside of the stern piece was planked with boxwood to match the bulwarks. I had been pondering, even before I got the kit, about the absence of port lids on the stern ports. Jotika have not included them, but it just doesn’t seem logical to have two large opening in the stern to allow in sea water from a following sea right where the helmsman is standing. The model in the Royal Naval Museum does not have them either, but Geoff Hunt has shown them in his painting of Pickle. I am not sure, but in case I decide later to fit the lids I have made a pair whilst I had the stern counter off the model, to do the fitting. Capping Rails These are pre-shaped in Walnut but even so need some fettlin’ and trimmin’ to get ‘em to sit right. The critical point is faying the rail at the stern to meet the transom. Pinning first to get the fit and then finally gluing with pva and pinning; rapid work is needed to apply the pva adjust the seating of the rail, and apply pressure to secure. A weighty problem this: Once secured the pins can be removed and final tweaking and sanding of the rail can be done. I had considered dyeing the rail, but decided in the end to paint it with Admiralty ‘dull black’ followed by sanding sealer to give the same finish as the hull. To this point the build has taken about three months of fairly regular working. B.E.

Planking the deck The instructions call for the deck to be fully planked before moving to fitting the hatchway coamings and head ledges which then sit on the deck. I was in two minds whether to fit these first and then run the planking up to them but decided in the end to do the planking first. Again I departed from the Jotika scheme, replacing the supplied 4mm x 1mm Tanganyika strip with boxwood 3.4mm x 0.6mm. Apart from any other consideration I thought the slightly narrower planking was more in scale. I Used a three butt shift pattern ie three plank widths between butts on any joist. The planks are the scale equivalent of 29’ x 8.5” PVA was used to fix the planks which were line edged with a Pilot broad chisel marker pen(instant dry and water resistant) to replicate the caulking. There was no evidence of bleed into the wood. The plank ends were joggled into the Margin plank at the bows. Planking in progress, planking usually starts with the planks either side of the centre line and progresses from the stern forward and outwards. Joggling completed. A little time now will be spent scraping the deck (not sanding) to remove any unevenness, and tidying up the mast and rudder head holes. Next stage will be fitting the stern transom, and assembling one of the carronades to check gun port levels. B.E.

Planking the Bulwarks Jotika supplied 1mm thick walnut planking for both inside and outside the hull, plus the 0.8mm gun port pattern. I have used 0.6mm thick boxwood strip, so to add depth to the bulwarks I have double planked the inside of the bulwark with 6mm wide boxwood strip over-planked with 4.2mm strip. Having un-lined gun-ports results in rather untidy looking planks ends from the four layers that make up the bulwark. These required filling to smooth them out. They were then painted Red ochre, one of the few areas where paint will be used. With the internal planking completed Pickle looks far more solid. I can now progress to the deck planking. B.E.

Installing the deck Before this can take place the bulkhead extensions have to be removed from the inside of the bulwarks. This entails cutting thro’ using a fine bladed saw. A miniature flexible saw blade that fits in an x acto type handle, for those awkward little corners. A recently acquired flexible bladed job, known as a Flush cutting saw, great for getting down to a surface. Without these I think I would have struggled to do the job, a fine bladed razor saw would not have got to all the required angles with its rigid back. This is quite a scary part of the job as without the support of the bulkhead extensions it is easy to imagine the gunport pattern breaking off as it is now only in contact with a fairly small area of bulkhead. Fortunately it seems fairly stable. Once achieved it is necessary to blacken the insides of the hull where it may be seen thro’the various hatches and companionways. The first opportunity to dry fit the deck, and a relief to find that it slips in fairly comfortably. The three shift butt planking pattern has been pencilled in as with the bulkhead deck supports. Here I have cut out paper templates for the deck margin strip, something Jotika have not allowed for, or mentioned in their kit details. The base deck goes in. Before I fitted the deck I noticed that the slot for the Foremast was a little loose and may cause problems later in aligning the mast. A suitable bit of brass tubing was inserted in the slot to firm things up a little. I also inserted some boxwood carlings and false beams around the underside of the Main Hatch and companionway to give additional depth to the deck. No real problem in fitting the deck apart from getting the pva down quick enough across all the bulkheads, even so pinning was required to secure the edges where the camber meets the bulwark. When dry the pins were nipped off flush with the deck. The masts were used to ensure the deck was properly located. Margin for Error? Pondering about the margin strip and poking around in the kit box it suddenly struck me that I could perhaps use the remaining birch sheet that had held the deck former. The inside was already shaped to the deck pattern and it was a simple matter to pva the template to it and cut around. I used PVA to fix the margin plank, but with ca along the edge to grip the bulwark. The question of colour difference between the boxwood planking and the Birch margin plank remains, but I have trialled a little thinned down water based brown paint mixed with Ronseal light oak satin varnish, and I think I can achieve a near enough colour match. Before I start the deck planking I think I will plank the inner bulwarks, not in accordance with Jotika's order of play, but logical now that a Margin Plank has been installed. B.E.

Looks like an interesting build you have coming along here, and I like your willingness to back track and address issues, coupled with a little kit 'bashing' something I'm not averse to myself. Do you intend to keep the pre made cast gunport surrounds and lids as shown on the kit blurb? Regards, B.E.

Coppering the hull. I gave some little thought as to how I was going to do this coppering lark, where to start, how authentic to be, the practicalities of how to apply the bally things, without the plates sticking to me rather than the hull, how to avoid the glue getting all over those nice shiny plates, and lastly how to make those nice shiny plates look less shiny. Authenticity - The first thing to go. Strictly speaking on naval ships the copper plates should overlap the plate above it by some 1½”, and overlap the preceding plate by the same. Merchant ships apparently followed the more easily applied method of overlapping the plate below. This is all of no matter because at smallish scale overlapping plates can look untidy, so on Mr Pickle they will simply be butt jointed, working from the stern forward and the keel up. How to apply I will be using thick ca, less run, so hopefully less overspill onto the surface of the plates. My beautiful assistant Debbie will now demonstrate the procedure. The thin dowel stick with a piece of double sided tape applied is used to pick up the plate. The ca is applied with a cocktail stick and the plate directed into position. An old BiC pencil with a rubber in the end provides a burnishing tool to press the plate against the hull to secure. No fingers, no tweezers, no mess on the plates, and no plates on me. (especially when Mrs W is doing it) The job progresses apace, a bit like brick laying without the pointing up, The tricky bit will come later when small irregular pieces are needed and when I reach the waterline. The tricky part was getting a clean line around the waterline. Not too displeased with my first attempt at sheathing, but despite my best efforts some little amount of ca found its way onto the plate surface. Cotton buds dipped in acetone were used to try and get rid of this excess. The Coppering completed Top marks to Jotika who have not stinted on the supply of plates I have about 110 left over, although I still have the rudder to do. I have some reservations about the domed nail heads apparent on the Jotika plates; I’m thinking that they are too pronounced. On most real plating I have seen the nails are hardly visible and are certainly not domed.* * since this build Amati have come out with a far superior plate at 1:64 and I would certainly have gone with those if I were building Pickle now. During trimming I note that strips of these plates would make very fine pintles and gudgeons for smaller scale models, and particularly the rudder apparatus for ships boats. The coppering has been extended up the stem and just onto the False keel, the keel itself is not coppered. A thin batten has been attached along the top strake of the coppering. Another build milestone is reached. B.E.

Before coppering can begin the waterline has to be marked. A base board is needed to sit the thing upright and held steady. I construct a sort of Heath Robinson affair to support the model. A little jig is provided in the kit to elevate the bows to assist the marking of the line which in the case of Pickle does not run parallel to the keel. An inordinate amount of time is spent trying to ensure that Pickle sit perfectly square. Not prepared to stick my hand in my pocket for a vernier height gauge (why are they so expensive) I consult Mr Robinson and come up with a carpenters pencil pva’d to a block of balsa with the chisel point the critical 50mm above board level. Additional bandings are applied to hold the hull down firmly. Around the hull we go and I am pleased to see that the lines meet at the bow; a little more tricky at the stern as the pencil doesn’t seem to want to go under the transom. The pencil line was very faint so I go over it with a silver gellyroll pen to make it stand out against the black hull. Seems I’m just about mm perfect for where the coppering will reach at the bows, and as for the stern I will continue the lines with a suitable curve. Marking the waterline is one of those critical little jobs that can affect the look of the whole model and fine lined vessels such as schooners with drag at the keel present greater difficulties than larger vessels where the waterline runs more or less parallel with the keel. B.E.

Completion of the second planking Planking of the Port side is now completed and ready for final finishing. Here just a small insert, or Spiling plank to go. Now you see it. Now you don’t. To form these Spiling planks I cover the gap with Tamiya tape, cut around it with a scalpel and stick it on the plank as a template for shaping. Any tiny gaps in the ebony planking will be filled with a mixture of the filler and Admiralty hull black water based paint. The Upper hull in the line of the Ochre stripe has been planked in box. The planking has had an initial sand which tends to lighten it, but will I think take on a more ochrery hue when finished and varnished which tends to darken the effect. I intend to use minimal paint in this build. The particular ebony planking arrangement is to ensure that above the waterline only ebony planking can be seen. I have now applied a coat of sanding sealer and the colour contrast is coming out. Ready now for coppering. B.E.

A slight setback Planking has continued, I used 6mm box strip below the waterline to cover the hull more quickly, but five strakes into the planking from the keel I experienced that problem feared by pob builders - a sprung plank. The problem originates with the first layer of planking and is made obvious when the second layer refuses to lie flat against the hull. What to do? First of all I ran some ca down the inside of the hull to strengthen and stabilise the first run of planking; then the second planking strake was cut vertically with a scalpel and opened up to clean out what was beneath. An application of ca and the jobs done. Better not to have it occur in the first place by close attention to the gluing of the first layer, particularly if it is above the waterline but if it does happen all is not lost. The gaps requiring stealers can be seen at the stern on this shot and the stern post is now in place. This is the result of sloppy work, the first planking is secured to the bulkheads and plank edges with PVA, temporarily held in position with pins and clamps. The inside of the hull is then brushed with diluted PVA to assist the bond. You can't easily use nails because of the subsequent sanding of the hull requirement, and the thinness of the planking material. The planks tend to spring between the bulkheads when the edge to edge bond is not good; I was obviously too sparing of the glue where it happened. A case of less haste I think. B.E.

The second planking run First up are the Black strake and Wale. Jotika specify the line of these two planks, and in order to get an accurate line, pieces of styrene strip of the correct width were temporarily attached to the hull below the gunports as a guide. Medium viscosity super glue was used to attach the strakes. Once the first ebony plank is attached, another is glued directly on top of it to form the strake. It is then a simple matter to glue a further plank directly below it, and laminate it up to three thicknesses to form the Wale. Below this, to below the waterline, ebony planks will be used, and above the wale, boxwood to form the ochre stripe. A couple of the ochre (boxwood) planks have been put into place so I can gauge the effect. At this point I am using scale 20’ planks, mainly because it is more economical with the ebony strip and I am in danger of running short. Once below the waterline in the area to be covered by the copper plating I will start using boxwood again in the broadest strips I can get away with, hopefully 6mm. This should also help to reduce the tapering effect at the bows. The planking will now continue to completion. B.E.

Sand and fill... Sand and fill, fill and sand, sand and fill, well that’s the order of the day.. Running my fingers with eyes shut over the sleek lines of Pickle, feeling out any little bumps and depressions, to be marked and attended to, before another round of sand and fill..... Actually very little filler has been used, I got hold of some stuff called Model Lite which sands very easily, dries quickly, allowing several application/sanding sessions within a short time scale. For the second planking I have decided to use Boxwood and ebony strip to represent both the Ochre gun port stripe and the hull planking above the waterline. I didn’t have enough suitable old stock boxwood to plank the model but I managed to obtain a supply of 0.6mm strip in various widths that will do the job. The 1x4mm walnut strip will therefore be set aside. This photo gives an impression of the colour differences between the various wood types. Apart from any other considerations 0.6mm strip will be easier to fit than 1mm. and the quality of the strip is better than the kit provided stuff. At this point I have also fitted the stern counter and re-marked the bearding line for the additional tapering to accommodate the second planking. As I won’t be using the kit provided 1mm stuff the bearding will only eat 0.5mm into the first planking. 0.6 x 4.5mm ebony strip has been used to plank the counter. Deck planking already? The lower (false) deck is required to be partly planked as parts of it will be seen thro’ the various hatches etc; Rather than use the kit provided Tanganyika, I have opted for boxwood. Caulking is represented by running a black permanent marker along one edge of the plank. I drew out a little planking plan to gauge where the butts may meet in a three shift pattern, as the feature may be glimpsed thro’ the hatches of the main deck. I am now ready to start the second run of planking. B.E.

Cheers Evan, I think Pickle should be represented on the forum, and as I have a ready made build log, I am happy to post it here. First Planking First planking gets underway not without a little trepidation, but I comfort myself with the thought that none of it will be seen beneath the second planking and coppering, so I have two more bites at the cherry, or two more chances to foul up whichever way you look at it. In accordance with the Jotika plan I start the planking immediately below the gunport former. I am thankful that I used bow and stern balsa fillers, not just because they provide additional gluing area, but map pins are easily pushed into balsa to hold the lower plank edges down. The birch ply bulkheads on the other hand are hard as a witch’s tit. First three planks go on fine, but even the second and third need a touch of tapering at the sharp end, and I can see already that at the forward bulkheads the planks have a wish to go on clinker fashion and very soon the ends will taper to a point if I carry on in this vein. From the distant past I recall that no plank should be tapered to less than half its width,. Following the Jotika suggestions of letting planks fall where they may and then trimming accordingly seems arrant nonsense to me, on that basis you may as well use layers of gaffer tape for the first planking and have done with it. Come to think of it that ain’t a bad idea. I decided to fit a couple more full tapered planks and then start at the garboard plank and work up the hull to meet it. Planking from both ends seems to be working! The need for stealers becoming apparent With the first planking I have not gone to the trouble of squaring off the narrow end between the upper and lower planks, a needle point will suffice. Nearly there. All done. So the first planking completed, I can understand that anyone tackling one of these POB kits for the first time may despair at the untidy look at this stage, but fear not; a little bit of sanding, a little bit of filling, and she’ll be as right as nine-pence, smooth as the proverbial to take the next layer. B.E.

Yes I recall an article published on MSW1. "OAR-MAKING, FROM STEEL "Below is an account found in The Art Making Masts, Yards, Gaffs, Booms, Blocks and Oars as Practised in the Royal Navy and According to the Most Approved Methods in the Merchant Service, 2nd edition, printed for Steel and Goddard, London, 1816." I don't recall who originally posted it, but I'll send it to you as a pm attachment. B.E.

I think every Fly/Pegasus builder gives a great sigh of relief when that particular job is completed, especially when you lay a level across the top and the little bubble is dead in the centre. B.E.

Hi Jason, It does rather depend the period of the vessel concerned; Lees suggests that crowsfeet were probably introduced in the middle of the 17th century, but ceased to be generally used by the end of the 18th century. Steel writing in 1794 still included them in the rigging list where 1" or 3/4" circ line was used depending on the size of vessel. Snake was in service between 1797 and 1816, with her ship rigged configuration up to 1809, after which she was changed to a brig rig. There is a reasonable presumption that she would not have had crowsfeet in the later stage of her career, but maybe when first rigged. I think you are in the happy position of being able to model her either with or without. My gut feeling is to model her without. B.E.

Made a simple base board for the early stages of the build, to hold the keel steady whilst I eyeball it during the hull fairing stages. The False deck has now been inserted, and the last bulkhead number 9 bevelled for the transom and glued into place. The fit was a little floppy and I inserted some thin stuff to firm it up. The false deck has to be planked, and this will provide an early refresher for me before I have to do the 'show deck' The pattern former for the gun port strips is temporarily in place, this allows for the degree of bevel required on the forward frames to be gauged. The fun can now begin. I decided the building board needed a few more whistles and bells to hold the model steady both the right way up and when inverted. This is achieved by the addition of uprights spaced to fit snugly between the bulkheads fore and aft. Something along these lines is very necessary to hold the model whilst the lie of the planks is checked from every angle for fairing, and when fixing the planks. My building board is the Beech door off an old bread bin (I wonder when she’ll notice ) and measures a mere 14½” x 6½”, but sufficient for Pickle. A few off-cuts of wood and small angle brackets the only additional requirements. Work progresses, the bulkheads are bevelled and balsa bow blocks glued in to provide greater surface area for planking. The bow blocks are completed and the gunport pattern is trial fitted, having been soaked in water for some thirty minutes. The pattern is secured with PVA and subsequently the pins removed. The business of first planking can now begin, but before I do planks will be test fitted to identify any further need for adjustment to the bulkheads. B.E.