Blue Ensign

With the keel proper added the assembly can be secured in the simple building board, and the process of adding the bulkheads can begin.

1092
I always start by fixing the centre bulkhead and then work fore and aft to ensure they are all lined up and set square to the keel.

1094
I use two Engineers Squares to check each Bulkhead is vertical and square to the keel, and mini levels for the horizontal line across the top.

1119
With the bulkheads in place I stick two bracing strips across the tops to help brace the bulkheads against the fairing process.
The block on the top is to secure the boat inverted in a vice.

1114
Nothing fancy about the building board, just sufficient to hold the keel and stem in place.

1114
Fairing has just started in this shot, I don't bother to remove the char at this stage, it will clear soon enough and helps to show the fairing line.
 
B.E.

Thank you Bob, Grant, Michael, Martin, Steve, and Christian.
 
So this build is completed after a leisurely five month exercise.
The final item to make the base board and hull supports.

1034
For the base I have used a plain piece of Boxwood sheet of 3mm thickness with slightly chamfered edges.

1036
 You may recognise what I enlisted into service for the supports.
 

1037
For a change I made a greater effort for the final photo shoot.
 
and here are the results.

0444

0448

0465

0475

0496

0497

1029

1038

1040

1044

1045

1046

1048

1049

1050

1053

1054

1056.
Thoughts on the Pinnace kit.
My thanks go to Chuck for designing this fine kit and giving us modellers the opportunity to build a nicely scaled model of an iconic 18th c boat.
This is a fine little model but a sod to plank, although I did use rather thin Boxwood strip which allowed a very small margin for sanding corrections .
The supplied basswood is not really suitable for a model of this single planked type being too soft and feathery to get clean edges. I did replace much of the wood with my stock Boxwood and were I to do it again I would use Boxwood overall albeit of a somewhat thicker strip for the exterior planking, allowing me a little more leeway for my planking deficiencies.
I wasn't too happy with my work at the outset but as the build progressed and I got into the detail I eased up on myself somewhat, a model is more than the sum of its parts, and although I don't rate it as one of my best efforts, I do rather like the look of it outside of the prying eye of the macro lens.
This has been a nice little five month summer project, not entirely relaxing, but with a satisfying result, and it has wetted my appetite for Chuck's forthcoming Barge kit.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.

Cheers Guys, 
Work begins cutting out the replacement stem and keel in Boxwood. The kit parts provide the templates.

1076
The false keel is prepped  with the bearding  lines cut in and the 'false' rabbet carried up to the stem.
One of the problems I found with the Pinnace kit was the softness of the Basswood stem, making it susceptible to dinks and scarring.

1077
The false keel is fairly fragile and I managed to break off the top part whilst trial fitting the stem. At least the Boxwood stem will be more robust than the Basswood version.
This is the time to also renew my sanding sticks and prepare a simple building board to secure the keel.
 
B.E.
 

18th Century English Longboat by Blue Ensign - MS 1:48 Scale.
The second of the Model shipways kits which I am moving straight onto whilst I'm in the mood, and hoping to improve on my Pinnace build.
As with the Pinnace I have 'previous' with this kit having already scratched a 1:64 scale version for my Pegasus build, from Chuck's plans.

1083

057
It was quite small with an hull length just shy of 4" so one might think a larger kit should prove easier. Not necessarily, I found I had more trouble with the 1:24 scale kit Pinnace than the scratched 1:64 version.
I will use the kit provided false keel and bulkheads, but this time around I will replace the stem and keel with Boxwood. My aim is to otherwise not use any of the provided kit wood.
The hull will be planked with Boxwood strip, slightly thinner than the provided Basswood, but this should be less problematic on the smaller Longboat than it proved to be on the much larger Pinnace.
I now need to get the preparatory work done before I start assembly.
 
B.E.

Cheers Guys, 
Work begins cutting out the replacement stem and keel in Boxwood. The kit parts provide the templates.

1076
The false keel is prepped  with the bearding  lines cut in and the 'false' rabbet carried up to the stem.
One of the problems I found with the Pinnace kit was the softness of the Basswood stem, making it susceptible to dinks and scarring.

1077
The false keel is fairly fragile and I managed to break off the top part whilst trial fitting the stem. At least the Boxwood stem will be more robust than the Basswood version.
This is the time to also renew my sanding sticks and prepare a simple building board to secure the keel.
 
B.E.
 

Thank you Bob, Grant, Michael, Martin, Steve, and Christian.
 
So this build is completed after a leisurely five month exercise.
The final item to make the base board and hull supports.

1034
For the base I have used a plain piece of Boxwood sheet of 3mm thickness with slightly chamfered edges.

1036
 You may recognise what I enlisted into service for the supports.
 

1037
For a change I made a greater effort for the final photo shoot.
 
and here are the results.

0444

0448

0465

0475

0496

0497

1029

1038

1040

1044

1045

1046

1048

1049

1050

1053

1054

1056.
Thoughts on the Pinnace kit.
My thanks go to Chuck for designing this fine kit and giving us modellers the opportunity to build a nicely scaled model of an iconic 18th c boat.
This is a fine little model but a sod to plank, although I did use rather thin Boxwood strip which allowed a very small margin for sanding corrections .
The supplied basswood is not really suitable for a model of this single planked type being too soft and feathery to get clean edges. I did replace much of the wood with my stock Boxwood and were I to do it again I would use Boxwood overall albeit of a somewhat thicker strip for the exterior planking, allowing me a little more leeway for my planking deficiencies.
I wasn't too happy with my work at the outset but as the build progressed and I got into the detail I eased up on myself somewhat, a model is more than the sum of its parts, and although I don't rate it as one of my best efforts, I do rather like the look of it outside of the prying eye of the macro lens.
This has been a nice little five month summer project, not entirely relaxing, but with a satisfying result, and it has wetted my appetite for Chuck's forthcoming Barge kit.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.

Splashguards
I toyed with the idea of making replacements out of Boxwood, but on reflection  I think the kit provided items are just fine, particularly as they are painted.
I did some preparatory painting before gluing the two elements together, the panel faces, and inner moulding edges. The guards were then sanded down to around 0.9mm in thickness.
Before fitting, the seat back needed some very careful paring back using a scalpel and light sanding. I also needed to shape down the backrest top to fall just below the splashguard top edges.
This all needs to be done with soft hands and by fine degrees, any slips at this point could prove problematic in restoration.
The guards require the water /heat treatment to impart some curve to follow the line of the rail. This is another exercise that requires some care.
It was good to have a spare unit in the kit as I did break one.
I was a little concerned that the water would weaken the pva, but immersion was only for a few seconds before  pegging around a jar top to apply the heat.
On my Pinnace at least, two curves were required, a short one where the guard passed around the seat back, and a more gentle curve forward.

0968
Forming the aft curve.

0970
and the forward curve.
Getting the curve right is necessary for the guard to sit on the rail without tension, otherwise gluing it will be a difficult task.
 

0974
Once I was happy with the fit I painted the exterior face of the guard.

0975
To get a good grip it was necessary to scrape a paint free line along the top of the rail. This was carefully done with a scalpel point.

0981
The actual fitting of the guards was problem free with quick grab using full strength pva. The inside faces of the guards were painted once in place.

0982

0983

0984
So the Pinnace is effectively finished, some fettlin' to do, and a base to make which I don't think will take too long.
 
B.E.
 
 
 
 

A small diversion to play with the boat equipment.
The Grapnel
The grapnel as provided by the kit seems to have been rigged without the benefit of a ring, the line secured directly thro' the eye in the shank where the ring should be.

A grapnel as illustrated by Steel shows a ring fitted thro' the eye.
Steel gives a grapnel rope circ for ships boats as 3" - 3½" which equates to around 1mm diameter line at scale.

0946
This alone would not be possible without a ring, particularly as the classic hitch for small anchors is a Fisherman's Bend where the line passes twice thro' the ring.
 He also gives 35 fathoms as the length of the grapnel rope. which scales to 2667mm. This is 8.75ft at scale, where would all that fit in the boat!

0967(2)
I satisfied myself with a rope length of around 30' - 300mm which I figured would be long enough for what is essentially a harbour boat.
Boat Hook
This is shown on the plan but the makings are not included with the kit.
 

0950
Not too difficult an item to reproduce, I use a soft white metal strip (the arm from one of Mrs W's hair clips, cut and shaped with files, and inserted into a length of thin Walnut dowel.

0948

0964

0956
The Thole pins and chocks are also shown on these shots. Nothing much to say about the tholes except they are fiddly little things to make, parts very small, fingers too big.
I changed the style slightly from the plans, and left them unpainted as a contrast to the predominantly red  scheme.

0961
Just the Splashguards left to do now.
 
B.E.

Love that Binnacle cabinet Bob, a fine piece of joinery. 
 
B.E.

Love the photo's of your build Michael, although not intended, that last photo could so easily be a depiction of 'battle' damage, dislodged woodwork, and a jumble of rigging, looks very realistic.
 
B.E.

Love the photo's of your build Michael, although not intended, that last photo could so easily be a depiction of 'battle' damage, dislodged woodwork, and a jumble of rigging, looks very realistic.
 
B.E.

Cheers Guys, 
Work begins cutting out the replacement stem and keel in Boxwood. The kit parts provide the templates.

1076
The false keel is prepped  with the bearding  lines cut in and the 'false' rabbet carried up to the stem.
One of the problems I found with the Pinnace kit was the softness of the Basswood stem, making it susceptible to dinks and scarring.

1077
The false keel is fairly fragile and I managed to break off the top part whilst trial fitting the stem. At least the Boxwood stem will be more robust than the Basswood version.
This is the time to also renew my sanding sticks and prepare a simple building board to secure the keel.
 
B.E.
 

Thank you Bob, Grant, Michael, Martin, Steve, and Christian.
 
So this build is completed after a leisurely five month exercise.
The final item to make the base board and hull supports.

1034
For the base I have used a plain piece of Boxwood sheet of 3mm thickness with slightly chamfered edges.

1036
 You may recognise what I enlisted into service for the supports.
 

1037
For a change I made a greater effort for the final photo shoot.
 
and here are the results.

0444

0448

0465

0475

0496

0497

1029

1038

1040

1044

1045

1046

1048

1049

1050

1053

1054

1056.
Thoughts on the Pinnace kit.
My thanks go to Chuck for designing this fine kit and giving us modellers the opportunity to build a nicely scaled model of an iconic 18th c boat.
This is a fine little model but a sod to plank, although I did use rather thin Boxwood strip which allowed a very small margin for sanding corrections .
The supplied basswood is not really suitable for a model of this single planked type being too soft and feathery to get clean edges. I did replace much of the wood with my stock Boxwood and were I to do it again I would use Boxwood overall albeit of a somewhat thicker strip for the exterior planking, allowing me a little more leeway for my planking deficiencies.
I wasn't too happy with my work at the outset but as the build progressed and I got into the detail I eased up on myself somewhat, a model is more than the sum of its parts, and although I don't rate it as one of my best efforts, I do rather like the look of it outside of the prying eye of the macro lens.
This has been a nice little five month summer project, not entirely relaxing, but with a satisfying result, and it has wetted my appetite for Chuck's forthcoming Barge kit.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.

Splashguards
I toyed with the idea of making replacements out of Boxwood, but on reflection  I think the kit provided items are just fine, particularly as they are painted.
I did some preparatory painting before gluing the two elements together, the panel faces, and inner moulding edges. The guards were then sanded down to around 0.9mm in thickness.
Before fitting, the seat back needed some very careful paring back using a scalpel and light sanding. I also needed to shape down the backrest top to fall just below the splashguard top edges.
This all needs to be done with soft hands and by fine degrees, any slips at this point could prove problematic in restoration.
The guards require the water /heat treatment to impart some curve to follow the line of the rail. This is another exercise that requires some care.
It was good to have a spare unit in the kit as I did break one.
I was a little concerned that the water would weaken the pva, but immersion was only for a few seconds before  pegging around a jar top to apply the heat.
On my Pinnace at least, two curves were required, a short one where the guard passed around the seat back, and a more gentle curve forward.

0968
Forming the aft curve.

0970
and the forward curve.
Getting the curve right is necessary for the guard to sit on the rail without tension, otherwise gluing it will be a difficult task.
 

0974
Once I was happy with the fit I painted the exterior face of the guard.

0975
To get a good grip it was necessary to scrape a paint free line along the top of the rail. This was carefully done with a scalpel point.

0981
The actual fitting of the guards was problem free with quick grab using full strength pva. The inside faces of the guards were painted once in place.

0982

0983

0984
So the Pinnace is effectively finished, some fettlin' to do, and a base to make which I don't think will take too long.
 
B.E.
 
 
 
 

A small diversion to play with the boat equipment.
The Grapnel
The grapnel as provided by the kit seems to have been rigged without the benefit of a ring, the line secured directly thro' the eye in the shank where the ring should be.

A grapnel as illustrated by Steel shows a ring fitted thro' the eye.
Steel gives a grapnel rope circ for ships boats as 3" - 3½" which equates to around 1mm diameter line at scale.

0946
This alone would not be possible without a ring, particularly as the classic hitch for small anchors is a Fisherman's Bend where the line passes twice thro' the ring.
 He also gives 35 fathoms as the length of the grapnel rope. which scales to 2667mm. This is 8.75ft at scale, where would all that fit in the boat!

0967(2)
I satisfied myself with a rope length of around 30' - 300mm which I figured would be long enough for what is essentially a harbour boat.
Boat Hook
This is shown on the plan but the makings are not included with the kit.
 

0950
Not too difficult an item to reproduce, I use a soft white metal strip (the arm from one of Mrs W's hair clips, cut and shaped with files, and inserted into a length of thin Walnut dowel.

0948

0964

0956
The Thole pins and chocks are also shown on these shots. Nothing much to say about the tholes except they are fiddly little things to make, parts very small, fingers too big.
I changed the style slightly from the plans, and left them unpainted as a contrast to the predominantly red  scheme.

0961
Just the Splashguards left to do now.
 
B.E.

Thank you Steve, Mark and Martin.
@ Mark and Martin - With a single banked arrangement the rower should be close to the opposite side  to the tholes, to gain maximum leverage.

Here's a modern version of single banked rowing and you can see the rowers are close to the sides. These modern oars don't seem to have the old style looms but rather a slightly thickened and protected area where the oar passes thro' the oarlocks, although in this case not all the oars are set the same.  Not sure Martin that the extension outboard of the oar should change with the forward/backward movement of the rower, but I base this purely on my very limited experience of having an occasional scull up the river. 
 
Cheers Guys,
 
B.E.

Back from the fair county of Devonshire, William had a fine time on the Dart.

0720
Here performing his lookout duties as we cross from Dittisham to Greenway.
Back to the build and in relation to small boats I like to have a scale figure to check the  relevant proportions of any model I build, and here is George one of the oarsmen.

0922
Here you can see that with George in position the oar loom doesn't quite reach where the thole pins will fit.
Is this correct, should the loom fit between the thole pin centres? the plans would suggest that this width would allow the thicker section of the oar to pass thro'.

In this contemporary model the looms  appear to just catch the thole pins.
I was interested in the oar proportions and the relationship to the tholes.
There's a lot more to this oar and thole business than you might first think.
The Length of the oars has a direct relationship to the width of the boat, and whether it is single or double banked; the tholes to the distance from the aft edge of the thwart.
On our model the centre of the chocks scales to 13" from the relevant thwart edge which puts it about mid centre between thwarts.
Looking at boat plans this seems to generally be the case.
Our boat is scaled to a width of 5'11" The oars on our boat are 186mm length overall with a Loom length of 37mm. This gives a length of 14.6' and  a loom length of 2.9'.





0929
This is the link to the online reference tables by Steel.
https://www.thebigrow.com/?p=659
I must admit I couldn't make any sensible correlation  between the Steel figures and our model. Looking at his tables relating to Barge,Wherry,or Skiff  the oar lengths seemed much longer for an equivalent breadth to our Pinnace.
This of course is all academic as the oars as modelled look proportional to my eye, and resting along the thwarts there is no direct reference to the thole positions.
 
Need to fix the Thole pins and chocks now.
 
B.E.

Thank you Martin, Mike , and Thomas.
@ Martin - I don't think I did anything special with the Breast railings, although I did drill sheave holes in the lower parts. The lathe extension really comes into its own for the  larger scale models, and it came in very useful for the Pegasus masts and yards..
@ Mike - I love all the Proxxon machines, they're perfect for my level and range of ship modelling.
@Thomas - I doubt you need any tips from me having looked at your Syren build.  I've also got the Long boat kit, along with 'Cheerful' but I'm very much drawn to Chuck's latest offering the 'Royal Barge'
 
The Rudder
Before I attend to the Splashboards and thole pins I think it better to make and attach the Rudder.
I used the kit provided piece as a template to make one out of Boxwood.

0377
The tiller is cut from Boxwood sheet and shaped with files. For the ball on the end a Boxwood parrel bead was brought into service.

For the Gudgeons, pintles, straps, and iron band around the tiller head I used brass strip chemically blackened.

0371
Speaking of gudgeons and pintles I have deviated from the kit.
Lavery (Arming and Fitting) indicates a different approach to hanging the rudder to that suggested by the MS kit.

0379
The rudder was hung on the sternpost by only two gudgeons and pintles. Unlike the rudder on a ship it was likely to be hung and unhung every time the boat was used and it needed to be easily removeable. The lower pintle was fitted to the sternpost rather than the rudder. It was very long and extended almost up to the waterline. The upper one was shorter and fitted to the rudder.
This makes quite a lot of sense if you imagine trying to ship a rudder in a pitching boat with the gudgeon below the waterline. Having a long pintle at the lower end would make for easier and quicker location of the rudder.
Looking through some of the drawings in the AotS Books – The Frigate Diana, Endeavour, show the ships boats with long pintles on the sternpost .

The arrangement is clear to see on Victory's Barge.

0383

0391
From a modelling aspect I find this method of hanging the rudder somewhat easier that the other method of having both pintles fitted in the rudder.
 
B.E.
 
 

Thanks Bob.
Thinking about oars.
As a change from working on the boat I decided to make the oars.
Our Pinnace is a four oared single banked boat which means the oarsmen sit on the opposite side of the boat to the oars thole pin an arrangement which was common in Pinnace and barges.
There are two main references regarding oar specification; David Steel and W.E May's book The Boats of Men of War, which also makes use of Steel's 1797 work.
In our model the oar is  scaled to 14' 9"
For the handles, looms, and body I have used Boxwood 3.4mm square stock The blades will be cut from some Boxwood sheet stuff.

0201
For this the wood lathe is required, not used since I turned the masts and yards for Pegasus. These oars can be made without using a lathe, but it surely makes life easier.

0218
Forming the handle, the Loom is left in the original square profile, although David Steel in his The Art of making Masts, Yards, Gaffs, Booms, Blocks and Oars (1797)notes that The Looms of boats' oars are often made round.

0211
 A combination of files and sand paper is used  to shape the various parts.

0221.
Getting quite crowded on the work bench at present.

0323

0322

0321
The completed set before final sanding.
 

0325

0326

328
I am undecided at the moment how to decorate the oars, paint them or leave them with a clear finish.
All of the contemporary models appear to show the oars painted red overall some with only the Handle left unpainted.
As the boat interior is mainly clear I am leaning towards an overall red paint job, but this is not a pressing decision to make.
 
Making the oars has been a pleasant diversion, and one that proved more straightforward than I had initially imagined.
 
B.E.
 

Cheers Don .... movin' on.
Next up I added the Friezes along the sheer below the Cap rail.
Mrs W provided the Hairspray to 'fix' the ink on the pre printed friezes. This was then applied with pva.
Below the Frieze I added a Boxwood moulding; again a profile was cut into the face to match the Cap rail edge.

0172
I pre-bent the moulding to fit around the bow and fixed it using ca. I varnished the strip before fixing to avoid getting any on the frieze.

0234

0237
 
0247

0258
With the frieze completed I gave it a coat of matt varnish.
B.E.
 

Working out a strategy for panelling
For this I am using 1.8mm x 0.7mm Boxwood strip given a profile using the blade I used for the decorative profile on the Cap rail edge.
My approach is to cut a rectangle of Boxwood strip to the appropriate internal size to use as a template around which to fit the moulding.

9868
The template is secured to a flat surface (in my case the top of my mini anvil) with double sided tape.
The moulding strips are then fitted around this and the mitres cut insitu.

0024
The moulding is glued at the corners and when dry carefully prized off.
The  four mouldings for the cockpit area were of a narrower  size to fit.

0028
Although only glued at the mitres the mouldings are surprisingly robust.

0050
The completed mouldings after varnish is applied.
I think that fitting them as complete units is easier than fitting them piecemeal on the boat.  A slightly different approach to the lower moulding around the bow deck which was fitted in one piece following wet and heat to create the curve. The sides and tops were then separately fitted.

054

056

057

058

060

067
I was anticipating that the decorative panels would present a tricky exercise, but it turned out to be fairly straightforward.
B.E.
 

Cheers Guys for your input and support, I think I did go down the right route for the treenails 
@ Steve, I didn't see the treenails on Chuck's build before I magnified the pics on his log, and as he didn't mention them in his blurb I assumed they weren't there.
On with the build.
The internal planking is completed, I used Boxwood strip.

9811
The Capping rails were cut out of Boxwood Sheet on the Scroll saw.

9817
No real problems here, it's just a question of sand, trial fit, sand, and when the size is close enough glue it on and finish the final sanding.

9822
At this point the paintwork required a further rub down and re-coat, once again the parts to be left natural were taped over.
The knee at the bow was also fashioned out of a bit of Boxwood and glued into place.
 Chuck makes reference to a 'fancy profile moulding along the edge of the cap rail'  I thought I would give it a go.

9831
Using a single edged razor blade I filed the profile which is a mere 1.7mm overall, basically two narrow slits close together with a fine point in the middle. The one on the right is the one used.

9852
Not sure how well this would work using the provided Limewood , too soft to get a clean line.

9846
I also made the thwart support stanchions out of some 1.5mm Boxwood square stuff.

9841

9842
Not quite got down to the elegance of Cap rail as demonstrated by Chuck, but move on we must.

9844
A little more fettlin' of the interior flaws that keep catching my eye before I move onto that tricky business of the panelwork.
B.E.
 
 

Cheers Guys, 
Work begins cutting out the replacement stem and keel in Boxwood. The kit parts provide the templates.

1076
The false keel is prepped  with the bearding  lines cut in and the 'false' rabbet carried up to the stem.
One of the problems I found with the Pinnace kit was the softness of the Basswood stem, making it susceptible to dinks and scarring.

1077
The false keel is fairly fragile and I managed to break off the top part whilst trial fitting the stem. At least the Boxwood stem will be more robust than the Basswood version.
This is the time to also renew my sanding sticks and prepare a simple building board to secure the keel.
 
B.E.
 

Cheers Guys, 
Work begins cutting out the replacement stem and keel in Boxwood. The kit parts provide the templates.

1076
The false keel is prepped  with the bearding  lines cut in and the 'false' rabbet carried up to the stem.
One of the problems I found with the Pinnace kit was the softness of the Basswood stem, making it susceptible to dinks and scarring.

1077
The false keel is fairly fragile and I managed to break off the top part whilst trial fitting the stem. At least the Boxwood stem will be more robust than the Basswood version.
This is the time to also renew my sanding sticks and prepare a simple building board to secure the keel.
 
B.E.
 

Cheers Guys, 
Work begins cutting out the replacement stem and keel in Boxwood. The kit parts provide the templates.

1076
The false keel is prepped  with the bearding  lines cut in and the 'false' rabbet carried up to the stem.
One of the problems I found with the Pinnace kit was the softness of the Basswood stem, making it susceptible to dinks and scarring.

1077
The false keel is fairly fragile and I managed to break off the top part whilst trial fitting the stem. At least the Boxwood stem will be more robust than the Basswood version.
This is the time to also renew my sanding sticks and prepare a simple building board to secure the keel.
 
B.E.