Blue Ensign

Gorgeous is the word Mike, I really must get around to having my copy framed.
 
Although what appears on plans as decoration is not necessarily translated into actual work on the ship, the Navy Board were notoriously stingy when it came to paying for such items, at least it makes sense in relation to the named ship.
 
Representations of Medusa, Perseus, and the watery kingdom of Poseidon are what you would expect to find. Those 'norman' knights on the kit stern still irk me and if I can work up the courage I may yet cut them out and replace them with something more appropriate.
 
B.E.

Hi Nigel, here's a few pics of my old Norske Love, she's been uncased for many years, and has to have a periodic dusting, but I'm still very fond of the old girl as she marks my first foray into wooden kit building
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Hope you find them of use
 
 
B.E.

Impressive stuff Peter, those last two shots of the fore course are brilliant
 
B.E.

not quite as much work done today, lost another of our wabbits so feel quite miserable but did make a start on the stbd side 

Hi everyone,
 
I just completed fitting the upper deck clamps, from stem to stern. I was reminded of Remco's quote about treating every piece as if it is a model by itself. The last piece had to hook over the helm port transom, and fair into the forward face of the lower counter planking, while twisting from an acute angle forward, to almost vertical at the counter. Many pleasant hours were spent shaping and fitting these... I can also see that the spirketting right under the wing transom is going to be equally fun, as it curves along that knee while sloping back further up.
 
I had an ah hah moment, which notching the clamp over the helm port transom. To stop the saw cuts at exactly the right depth, I stuck two pieces of wood to either side of the blank with double sided carpet tape. I then clamped this in my vise, and used the wood stops to indicate when to end sawing with the razor saw. I don't know why I did not think of this earlier. It is now in my tool box of techniques.
 
Best wishes,
 
Mark
 
 

Impressive stuff Peter, those last two shots of the fore course are brilliant
 
B.E.

Love the activity of those deck shots Nils, they give a real impression of how crowded life must have been on one of those incredibly small vessels.
 
Don't think there is anything inconsistent about the Upper capstan and the ladderway. When used they would simply have covered the ladderway with a grating and the crew would have simply stepped over those impediments when working the capstan. The iron stanchions around the hatch were removeable for this purpose.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.

Moving along. The cap rails on the quarterdeck bulwarks and transom have been made from boxwood and installed. They are painted black. After doing the cap rails, I also made and installed the small pieces of rail that go above the hances. Since these pieces are in a precarious spot during further work, I put a pin through the rail and stanchion and into the rail below. The last item I did was to make and install the stern davits. These are boxwood and have the same simulated sheaves that I have used previously on this build.
 
The next work will be the guns and other deck fittings and furniture on the quarterdeck.
 
Bob 

After a longer brake for some gardening, hiking, holydays on Mallorca   and even some genuine work (flying) I found finally some time to spend with the little helpers in my wharf.
 
The sail was bound to the yard. I tried to do it as close as possible to the description in Lees’ book. It is repetitive work again but much, much faster done than ratlines.
 

Sail at the yard
 
 
Now all the lines had to be attached to sail and yard. Again only one end per side of the double buntline could be fixed as it leads trough several blocks before returning to the foot of the sail. It can only be finished after fixing the yard to the mast. This time I even thought of attaching the parrel ropes before furling the sail – much easier that way.
 

All the lines, including parrel ropes attached
 
 
The sling was also prepared and its parts fixed to the yard respective masthead.
 

Parrel ropes and sling on the yard
 

Sling lying on the sail
 

Ready to furl

Now I furled the sail by first pulling it up with the buntlines over the front while leaving the two edges protruding. Then it was rolled up – again over the front of the sail – with the help of clumsy fingers, pincers and censured language and provisionally held with a few strings.
 

Provisionally furled and bound with a few strings
 
 
At length the sail could definitely be bound. Working again from the ends to the middle I tried to tighten the sail even more to create a roll as small as possible. By working towards the middle I tried to get a visible bulk there. Dampening the sail carefully where the gaskets became to hold it helps. While furling you have to check constantly the correct run of the attached lines. A few gaskets will nevertheless have to be tied twice because something is always overlooked.
 
 


Sail furled
 
 
Now the yard was brought to the mast and fixed there first with the parrel ropes. Blocks were spliced into the ends of those and a simple tackle set up with a block on a ringbolt beside the mast.
 
 


Parrel ropes and their tackles on both sides of the mast

Love the activity of those deck shots Nils, they give a real impression of how crowded life must have been on one of those incredibly small vessels.
 
Don't think there is anything inconsistent about the Upper capstan and the ladderway. When used they would simply have covered the ladderway with a grating and the crew would have simply stepped over those impediments when working the capstan. The iron stanchions around the hatch were removeable for this purpose.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.

The side gallery decorations are now complete. I thought completing the right side decorations would, having done the left, be easier. naturally my expectations were disappointed.   The large oddly shaped decoration refused to be glued. It took four attempts before the wretched thing went where it should.
 
For those who try this in the future I have a fewsuggestions that may help.  Start with a very complete vocabulary because it's likely you will use it.
 
Bend the piece the conform with the curves of the structure of the gallery as best you can.  The top and the bottom curves differ and essentially the whole piece is twisted. Glue the lower curve to the structure (I use dots of gel CA about the size of a pin head all  over the back of the piece).  Make sure it is firmly fixed at the bottom as it will be under stress.  Initially, the top curve is almost certain not to fit - there will be a gap between it and the surface of the gallery. Now that the lower curve is firmly fixed, press the top curve to conform with the curvature of the gallery.  It will bend to the right shape fairly easily, but keep applying pressure until you are sure it is firmly glued.
 
Finally here it is.

 
I have now more or less completed the bow decoration.  The joining of the two bits of the middle rail - the one that meets the bottom of  the cathead - went fairly well on the left side, not so well on the right. I had it lined up perfectly and applied pressure to complete the gluing - and the model then moved.  The decorative bit moved down about half a mill and the 'moveable' gel CA then decided not to. To redo it risked significant damage, so there you are.
 
The catheads and the bow timber heads are dry fitted in the photos.  Putting them on at this stage, sticking out as they do,  is inviting trouble.
 




 

stbd side gunports
 
All lids removed apart from two - they dont want to play my game, some de bonder needed, or bigger gun-port removal tool
old lanyard pins removed, by drilling out
About 1/3 of new lanyards made, 
1.5mm holes drilled into hull to take the uplift tubes
will touch up paintwork before i start to put it all back
 
good to be back
 

well the Victory is back on the work bench, the available work space is going to be adequate for hull work - not so sure about height wise- i will worry about that another day
 
i am starting to catch up on some of the logs i used to follow, but have a nice long weekend ahead, Thursday night to tuesday

Minor milepost... all the full frames have been cut, installed and spacers added.  The five broken ones have been replaced along with slapping myself upside the head when I realized two of them could have been repaired.   
 
I've started "pre-fairing" in that I'll sand it pretty close to fair except for the frames at the end, get the keel and keelson notches flat and fair, and then tweek the keel's rabbet to account for the changes the garboard strake will have to follow.  I'm also sorting out the inboard side as far as fairing.  The end frames will be faired in once the keel and keelson are installed and the cant frames are done. 
 
And yes, it continues to be a fun ride.
 

Sorry to say that summer activities have taken a toll on shop time.  I did manage to complete one small piece of deck furniture -- the rudder trunk in the Great Cabin.
 
The kit supplies laser cut parts, some in duplicate:
 

 
Assembly of the basswood parts is fairly straightforward and the usual pre-stain, diluted Golden Oak stain, WOP and dullcoat was used .  The brass hinges were blackened with Blacken-it.
 

 
The trunk sits in the rear of the cabin tight against the stern lights:
 

 
Will be carrying out some deck finishing tests prior to laying the deck itself. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Further fitting out by the shipyard....
I think I should wait with mounting part permanently around the closer mast areas until the rigging beging done, asume I shall need operating space to mount the blocks an pulleys of the running rigging.
I know and remember that well from the tallship builds
 
 
 
 

stairs (ladders), entering platforms, and chain pumps
 

chain pump discharge boxes with drainplugs, chain secured. The box discharge openings are closed with vertical slide panels
 
 

gallows before the main mast
 

chain pump crank Levers and bearing supports (all in dry fit)
 

the hulls upper siderails in this area still Need finetuning. The step from QD to platform is about one footlength high
 

I did`nt make up my mind yet if there will be a rudder-deckhousing fitted or not. At least the ruddershaft shall be shortend a bit. The tiller will be rigged as the Amati plan shows...
 
 
 
 
 
 
Build log part 47 to follow...
 
 
Nils

Hi Nigel, here's a few pics of my old Norske Love, she's been uncased for many years, and has to have a periodic dusting, but I'm still very fond of the old girl as she marks my first foray into wooden kit building
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Hope you find them of use
 
 
B.E.

Thanks Nigel, Popeye, and Brian, the kit produces a nice looking model, but being only single planked there is only one chance to get it right(ish), not for the faint hearted.
 
This is the original catalogue I had.
 

 
I remember thinking what a superb model and I wanted to be that guy, This was the hook that got me into wooden ship modelling.
 

 
 A lot of the fittings were plastic and some of the brass ones looked slightly out of period to my eye even back then. One thing I do like is the stern and Quarter galleries, which despite having plastic decorations etc;  does have an authentic and nice period look.
 
Don't know about the bow Nigel, it never struck me as being insufficiently bluff, but back in the day  such considerations were way beyond my awareness level.
 
My main, and virtually only reference work was Lees Masting and rigging and I sort of followed the style of the 60 gun contemporary model (photo63) shown in the Representative Models Section. That didn't seem to have a particularly bluff bow.
 
 I look forward to seeing you work your magic.
 
 
Regards,
 
 
B.E.
 
 
 

Hi Nigel, here's a few pics of my old Norske Love, she's been uncased for many years, and has to have a periodic dusting, but I'm still very fond of the old girl as she marks my first foray into wooden kit building
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Hope you find them of use
 
 
B.E.

Thanks Nigel, Popeye, and Brian, the kit produces a nice looking model, but being only single planked there is only one chance to get it right(ish), not for the faint hearted.
 
This is the original catalogue I had.
 

 
I remember thinking what a superb model and I wanted to be that guy, This was the hook that got me into wooden ship modelling.
 

 
 A lot of the fittings were plastic and some of the brass ones looked slightly out of period to my eye even back then. One thing I do like is the stern and Quarter galleries, which despite having plastic decorations etc;  does have an authentic and nice period look.
 
Don't know about the bow Nigel, it never struck me as being insufficiently bluff, but back in the day  such considerations were way beyond my awareness level.
 
My main, and virtually only reference work was Lees Masting and rigging and I sort of followed the style of the 60 gun contemporary model (photo63) shown in the Representative Models Section. That didn't seem to have a particularly bluff bow.
 
 I look forward to seeing you work your magic.
 
 
Regards,
 
 
B.E.
 
 
 

Back again after Christmas and other interventions ! Time to progress this build a little.
 
I left off before the holiday when starting to fit the thwarts so finishing that job comes first.
 

 
I then got sidetracked by the arrival of a Carrs kit so needed to try that out.
 

 

 

 

 
Back to the thwarts and fitting all into hull...
 

 
....including the mast support structures.
 
]
 
All done.
 
 
Having recently acquired a micro shaper the next task was to use it to produce knees, thole pin blocks and the two bow fairleads.
 
First the knees.
 
The shaped timber has been sliced into twenty four pieces and....
 

 
...they are glued together in pairs to a piece of dowel....
 

 
..and then glued to the thwarts as seen here.
 

 
This image also shows my ongoing attempt to "age" this build a little as I want it to represent a working boat rather than a pristine model. I am using water colour crayons and spit at present but fully expect to add other techniques as time goes on. In passing, if any reader has experience of "ageing" a model I would love to have your comments.
 
Next the thole pin blocks. The piece of timber on the right was machined to profile then sliced into twelve pieces and finally drilled for the pins.
 

 

 

 
And finally the two fairleads. The piece of machined timber on the left in the image above was sliced into two pieces, drilled, slotted and cut to shape.
 

 

 

 
Various other small parts have been made and fitted…….
 

 

 
....and the large gun and it's carriage is almost complete. 
 

 

 

 
The big gun will not be finally fitted until later in the build. The next task is to complete the outer hull fittings and then start on the paint job. Once that is complete then the fun of rigging and fitting out can begin.
 
More anon.
 
Mike.
 

Back again. After a longish break some further progress has been made. But first the colour scheme and roughing it up a bit!
 
It is my belief that these hard working boats would have been maintained in top working order but not as "tiddly" ( R.N term but probably universally understood. ) as the ships boats that ferried captains, admirals and other upper echelon types to and fro. To this end I have "dirtied" the interior of the model somewhat, excluded glossy finishes and adopted the muted ochres and black paints of the period. I do not intend to apply bright coloured hull highlights or stern embellishments. 
 
This image shows the boat interior after fitting all the ribs and stringers and the stern benches,
 

 
The mounts for the small cannon and other small additions.....
 

 
Next job was the gunnel capping. The instructions in the kit call for this to be applied in sections but I decided to trace of the actual shape from the model onto sheet timber. The outer curve was then cut on the band saw and the inner curve scribed from it before cutting and final sanding to shape on a belt sander. The two curved section, two quadrant sections and two straight sections were then glued to the hull.
 

 

 

 

 
The final piece of gunnel capping required a curve over a short length in 3.5mm timber. I snapped my first attempt so laminated three sections of 10mm x 1mm which worked well and when sanded and sealed will not be detectable under a coat or two of paint.
 

 
The next task was to build the framework that supports the main cannon and to fit this in place. Care must be taken here as this framework, thwart No.3 from the bows,and the mast step are all closely interdependent for position. The frame and the cannon itself are fun to put together.
 

 

 

 

 
Number three thwart and a section of mast are placed but not fixed.
 

 
Then the cannon framework is offered up, shaped where it meets the forward gunnel capping and then the No. three thwart can be adjusted in position.
 

 
Now the other thwarts can be cut and shaped and their positions established.
 

 
Central supports for the thwarts must be fitted before they can be secured and the mast step needs to be completed.
 
Thats it for now. More soon......I hope!
 
Mike.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Progress report.
 

 
First planking completed - pretty rough but I have two more layers to go to improve my technique.
 

 
Second planking complete. A little better but still full of errors some of which have been sanded out. Thank goodness for sanding products!
 

 
The hull structure is now strong enough to let me remove the 2/3 of some of the bulkheads which are no longer needed. I am pleased to get shot of them as this allows me to do some remedial work on the visible interior planking.
 

 

 

 

 
Third and final planking. Fitting a drop plank to put right one of my technical errors.
 

 
Third planking complete and in the sanding phase.Overall I am reasonably happy with this my second attempt to plank a model
ship but, one of these days, I must learn to do it properly. I would love to watch a "master" at work.....are there any videos ?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Revier, thank you.
 
The model has a plastic cover over it that fits inside the rim of the base.
 

 
At 1:150 scale that is the only way to keep it clean. The good news is that with the small scale the overall case size is not too obtrusive.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.