Blue Ensign

I would agree with you Allan, the thinness of the davit struck me immediately when I built the launch for my Sphinx build. I doubled up on the kit measurements to allow for the inclusion of the roller, a fairly simple mod if the look offends the eye. PS. Alistair - I went for the Pinnace on the spare topmasts, I think the more elegant lines suit the Swan better. B.E.

A great result Jason, very nicely worked out, you have reproduced that elegant shape perfectly. B.E.

Post Thirty-Nine Completion of the Wales. The Port side planks were fitted without issue; the plank jig allowed for quick reproduction, and using ca, fitting was instant. I dampen the planks before applying the ca - it aids rapid grab. With both sides completed the hull is again inverted for finishing. 1107 The tricky part is the stern counter where the aft end of the wale is shaped for the round of the hull, and to follow the curve of the counter. 1112 It is important that there is a smooth transition between the lower edge of the wale and the plank below the wale that runs into the lower counter. All following planks of the second layer will follow this line. 1124 1125 1122 1121 1115 1120 I think there will be sufficient plank line definition to give a subtle impression of the Top and Butt once the wale is painted. 1118 I have moved quite a way from the oob sequence. For me the result is worth it, and by fitting the wale before the lower second planking I have the opportunity to work a Drop plank below the wale. Onwards.... B.E. 12/06/2023

Cheers Guys, thank you for your comments, and ‘likes’. @ Alistair, - it’s a fine line (no pun intended) between showing the plank lines, and what looks like a poor fit. Worth doing regardless, as I know it’s there, and hopefully there will be sufficient lines showing thro’ to indicate the planks. 022 If I can achieve the result I got on Pegasus I will be satisfied. Looking out this photo I am reminded it has been twelve years since I last did a Top and Butt wale, where have all those years gone! B.E.

Post Thirty-eight Main Wales With a supply of planks cut, application can begin. 1077 I start at the bow with a full-length plank, touch end to the stem. The planks will continue in this sequence to the stern. 1078 Below this a shorter plank starts at the touch and runs to the stem. The total depth of these two planks must be 8mm. 1079 I work both strakes sequentially as I go along, making minor tweaks as necessary. 1082 For the lower set of strakes I begin with the touch end starting midway along the foremost plank above it, to create a shift in the butts. 1085 This second set also starts with the straight edge upwards and continues in the same manner. 1093 The final plank of the lower strake is shaped to follow the curve of the hull and will be finally fettled as the wale is shaped to follow the transom line. 1090 Two days work and the Starboard side wale is completed. A lot less fiddly than Hook and Butt but still gives a more authentic look than straight plank Wales. 1099 The overall depth of the wale is 16mm around 3’ 4”. This is deeper that the kit wale by 1mm but is still slightly less that the depth given by Goodwin for a thirty-eight-gun frigate of 3’ 6.” 1098 1100 The wales will be cleaned up after the Port side have been fitted. B.E. 10/06/2023

Thanks Glenn, the planks are the easy bit, it's the fitting that will confirm or otherwise my decision to go the difficult route.😕 ps; The Hoggs shoes are a bit like me, strong, tanned, and good for rough country,😉 The boxes are even better, perfect for a height extension to support the build board of a pocket Battleship. Cheers, B.E.

Pure eye candy Glenn, thanks for posting those photos of your very fine work. Hard to pick out something for special mention, but but the result you've achieved with those gunport lids is top notch. No leaks through those ports. Regards, B.E.

Post Thirty-seven Onto the Wales - The approach. 1062 A master plank was cut from some 6mm x 3mm Boxwood sheet. This will be used as a template to cut the planks. 1064 The planks are of a scale 120mm in length. The touch 30mm in from the end. (¼ of plank length) The touch depth is 2/3 the depth of the strake (8mm) = 5.33mm. The butts are ½ the depth of the touch =2.66mm. To make the measurements easier I used a touch of 5.5mm and a butt of 2.5mm, easier to see. 1068 A simple jig was made to hold the planks for marking and cutting. 1066 1070 I used 6mm x 1mm strip to form the planks. 1071 The trick is to ensure that all the joints will meet cleanly. 1073 Once the top wale strake is in place things will be easier, but the fit will be tested before gluing into place. I now need to cut around sixty planks – what joy! B.E. 08/06/2023

Thank you, Nils, and Kevin, and for the ‘likes’. Post Thirty- six The Black Strake My plan is to fit the wales, followed by a drop plank, followed by the Garboard plank, followed by lining off and planking the remainder of the hull. If only it was as simple as those few words. The first task is to fit the Black strake which will fix the line of the wales. For this I am using 0.8mm x 4mm Pear. 1061 The kit indicates use of 1mm pear, but I used 0.8mm as I think it better reflects the subtle difference in thickness between the wales and topside planking. 1059 I used Vallejo black to colour the strake before fitting but may tone it down using Black/grey, depending on the overall effect. 1056 Masking tape was used to mark the upper line, and Ca was used to apply the strakes. 1048 Onto the wales and a somewhat trickier operation. B.E. 07/06/2023

Post Thirty-five Port Lining continues. I am using 0.6mm Boxwood (10mm wide) to line the remaining gun-deck ports. If nothing else it will provide a smoother finish than sanding the mdf /lime/pear/ sandwich which make up the bulwark. 1025 The bottom layer goes in quickly using the kit part as a template, and simply requires trimming on the inboard side. 1021 The kit part 549 was used as template for the more complex side pieces. This was simply transferred to the Boxwood strip and cut to suit. 1023 The ports were re-taped for painting. I think I should buy shares in Tamiya tape, I use so much. 1037 1035 1043 1027 1032 The whole process went more quickly than I had initially thought, four days to line the ports and apply a couple of coats of paint. A few ports will require a little more attention, but that is something I will return to, as is attending to the inner bulwarks. Onwards to sorting out the wales. B.E. 06/06/2023

Thank you Nipper and Allan. @ Nipper - Nice of you to say so, but I don't think I deserve mention in the same company as Chuck, I might qualify to sweep up in his workshop, and I'd be happy to do that just to watch him. (Can you tell I'm a fan 😄) @ Allan - I'm using 0.6mm stuff which equates to 1½" about right I think. The side stops are fitted on the bottom stop, which I find easier to do. Cheers, B.E.

Post Thirty-four Topside work continues. Having eventually squared (or rectangled) the gunports, I turn my attention to lining the ports. Notwithstanding that there has been a deal of discussion on the forum as to how these were formed and where deployed, Chris has provided the makings for the linings or stops, pre-shaped for the angles involved. Only the foremost and aftermost three ports are catered for but the pieces do require fettling to fit. Fiddly little beggars to fit but perhaps an easier option than using the outer planking to form the rebate. I did find the depth of the parts was a little narrow to meet the inboard edge of the port, whether this is a design simplification I don’t know, but the usual practice was that the stops abutted the inboard framing and were then boarded over with the quick works and spirketting to the edge of the port. The frets provide useful basic patterns for these parts, to replicate linings, and I will keep the frets as a template for future use. 1001 The thin 0.6mm board required bracing during fitting to prevent curl. 1008 It’s a slow business fitting the linings. 1007 A piece is provided for the top of the port opening, but these were not fitted in practice, and I will leave them off, saving me a little effort. 1009 The ports are masked to apply a first coat of paint. I don’t want any bleed onto the outer woodwork, as this won’t be painted. 1010 1013 The masking seems to work well, keeping the paint line within the rebate. 1016 The macros show minor gaps that require filling, and rough areas that require smoothing before repainting. I have decided to line the remainder of the ports, I think they look better, although it probably adds up to another weeks work. Moving on - if slowly. B.E. 02/06/2023

While the planks were immersed in the hot water I did a trial fit of the Spirketting. In the photo below the left-side front pattern has been test fitted. I used some brass pins to help with the alignment with the eyebolt holes. I think you mean the upper ledges, Glenn, the spirketting fits below the gunports. Ease back on the medication.😉 B.E.

I can sympathise Glenn, I knackered a disc back in the 1980’s playing sport, catches me out occasionally, usually making a silly little movement. I find rest, a tens machine, ibuprofen, and a liberal supply of Merlot, gets me through it🤞. Hope you’re back firing on all four soon. B.E.

Post Thirty-three Gundeck ports. It has never been one of my favourite jobs - finishing off gunports, it’s so easy to get them out of shape, but I didn’t think the set-up on Indy would give me any trouble. Chris has designed the hull with the ports framed, and the finished port openings and frame dimensions on the plans match. The ports are rectangular on the gun deck and the kit plans match the Adm. plans for scale. I wasn’t expecting to do more than square the outer planking to the port framing, a little light sanding, and job done. There is a little more involved than that. 0992 I initially made a pattern jig to regularise the height of the ports followed by a further template port, cut from the plans full size. 0997 The port width exceeds the frame space, by around 1mm so careful sanding is required to obtain the width without losing the shape. 0999 For this I used a square stock sanding stick with paper on two sides only. I am using 320 aluminium oxide for the purpose. It is then a case of sand and check, sand and check, a good few hours’ work sees one side of ports completed, but not the inboard side. 0996 0995 A state of inertia can be induced by staring at the ports trying to spot variations along the hull, but I am fairly satisfied with the progress. The kit includes port stops (linings) for those ports with lids, but I am pondering whether to add them to the remainder. I do think ports look more stylish with stops, and there are contemporary models without lids that have stops in place. Indy would no doubt have had stops originally as her gun deck was originally the lower gundeck of a Sixty-four. 1000 Onto the Starboard side. B.E. 29/05/2023

Always a pleasure to follow your projects Nils, you select such interesting subjects. Regards, B.E.

Looking very smart Kevin,👍 B.E.

I don’t really know Jason, I’ve been having trouble working out the Main wale details relative to the kit plan, Adm plan, and given dimensions. On a two decker the Upper wale was used to secure the chain plates for the Fore and Main shrouds, on Indy these are now attached to the Main Wale, as is the norm for single deckers. On the Indy kit plan there is a 1x4mm strip that looks like a channel wale to secure the Mizen chains, but I’ve not studied the kit that far ahead. Cheers, B.E.

Post Thirty two. The thing about wales. 0978 The lower strake (in Pear) of three, over which the kit Wales would be fitted has now been glued into place. It was possible to clamp this strake, so pva was mostly used. 0984 This too has been tapered by 1mm at the bow and left full size at the stern. 0991 The stern piece requires a sharp short bend with twist to conform to the transom. Wales have been on my mind for a while now, and a decision has to be made. On the kit the black strake is represented by a 4x1mm strip which is used to form the line of the wale. This fits directly over the previously fitted ‘marker’ strake. Below this (3) strakes of 5x1 strip make up the wale. This equates to a wale depth of 3’ 1¾” 0977 The Adm. plan of Indy shows a wale depth of 27mm at midships. If this is at 1:48 scale, the equivalent @ 1:64 scale gives a 4’ 3” depth of wale. 0975 It could possibly be that the Adm. plan upper wale line includes the Black strake, the relationship between the line on the plan with the aftermost three ports compares well with the kit plan drawing. The rub is that as far as I know the Black strake was not part of the actual wale but was a slightly thicker first plank fitted above the wale. The use of straight strips in the kit is a simplification; the wales on this size of ship would have been made up using hook and butt, or at least top and butt, or anchor stock planking. Chris has his practical reasons for simplifying the arrangement for kit purposes, but even so it would have been nice if only on the plan, the proper arrangement had been shown. I have no direct reference to the wales on Ardent class ships but Goodwin’s The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War 1650 – 1850 gives the proportions of the planking strakes, for the different patterns used. The wale would consist of two strakes of two Top/hook and butt planks, locked together. On a hull as large as Indy I think it deserves a more authentic looking wale but I acknowledge that in practice once the wale is blackened the effect is less evident to the casual eye. Nevertheless, I still fancy having a go. The Plan I have decided to use Top and butt only, hook and butt is an added complication, and my aim is to give a visual representation of the different pattern of the wales on these ships. The overall length of the wale is 826mm, which will require around 28 top and butts planks each side. I shall be using 8mm as the depth of two planks matched together, which gives an overall depth of the wale of 16mm around 3’ 4”. This is deeper that the kit wale by 1mm, but is still slightly less that the depth given by Goodwin for a thirty-eight gun frigate of 3’ 6” The planks will be of 120mm in length. The touch 30mm in from the end. (¼ of plank length) The touch depth is 2/3 the depth of the strake (8mm) = 5.33mm. The butts are ½ the depth of the touch =2.66mm. I will be using 6mm strip to form the planks. 0980 I made a rough scheme drawing to give me an impression of the look and proportions of the wale. 0981 I now need to see how I can produce a test plank that can be replicated in a jig of sorts. To make the measurements easier I will try a touch of 5.5mm and a butt of 2.5mm, easier to see. B.E. 26/05/2023

The wales look good anyway Glenn. 👍 B.E.

Post Thirty-one Prepping the hull. Not a lot of progress made since my last update, but working in the garden, and a week in the Wye Valley have intervened. The good news is that my hull planking timber has arrived, quicker than I thought. Ordered on 12th May, dispatched on 22 May, received on 25th May. Excellent service, thank you Vahur. 0968 The colour is consistent throughout the different sizes, and random checks on the timber strips indicate consistent width and thickness. 0971 Pending delivery, the bulkhead lines have been re-drawn which will be used to work out the strake runs. 0972 I have been doing preliminary work on lining off into three sections, but for now I have added two of the three planks below the Black strake, over which the wale timbers will be fixed. These I have tapered by 1mm at the bow. These top two strakes are of Box but the lower one will be Pear to avoid any awkward mismatched timbers showing above or below the wale. 0970 I have also been working on clearing the gunports, and to this end bespoke sanding sticks, scalpel, and template jig are used. This is slow work and not a job I enjoy. 0966 Don’t get much change out £50 when consumables are replenished, I avoid thinking about how much I have spent on this project overall to date. 🙄 B.E. 25/05/2023

Yes, that's the one Glenn, but with Indy it would require two rows of interlocking planks, four strakes deep in total.. B.E.

The hull looks good Glenn, well done 👍 Are you not tempted to add top and butt planking below the Black strake for the wales. B.E.

Very nicely done James, some great deck detailing on that kit. B.E.

Thanks for the tip Rusty, I’ll give it a go.👍 B.E.