Blue Ensign

Here is a PDF of the friezes.  I reduced some of the transom images further and it should be good to go.  Remember...if anyone needs a further resizing let me via PM.  All of the six transoms are different sizes so hopefully out of those posted you will find one you like.  Download it below.
 
longboatfreizes.pdf
 
Chuck

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.
 
 

Oh these days I used the whole 2,5 meters of my Reeperbahn :-)
 

 
The anchor cables and messengers were due
 
As the small motors were to small dimensioned, I had to use the electric drill. And for long ropes or ropes with many single threads ...
 

 
... one has to knot each of the three strands on the predrilling side together for not getting small lumps. Three of the resulting cables were laid further to create the bigger ones ...
 

 
... and for an enjoyable result :-)
 
The anchor cable has a diameter of 2 mm which equals about 24" circumference on the original, the messenger should have about the half, this one being still too thick with 1,5 mm. This means, half of the yarn is not resulting into half the diameter.
 
Interesting is, that even though I used the same proportions of the colors Tan and Rusty Dun, the resulting cable have different colors. Possibly because the messenger is tighter laid, there is not as much light from the surface penetrating the outer yarn and being reflected inside.
 
To compensate I added one part of white to the existing two colors ...
 

 
... and the result can be seen compared to the middle messenger. On the bottom the thinner messenger of 1 mm is shown, which - using the same colors as the first one - appears lighter due to be laid less tight.
 

 
That the first messenger was laid too tight I realised, as some of the outer fibres were broken ...
 

 
... so less tension was used for the following cables. The problems on the broken one I was able to fix by cutting off the bitts and smoothening it with Uhu-Plast.
 
Next came parcelling and servig
 
That one is for you Evan ;-)
I realised, that on a lot of great models, the parcelling and serving made the cable too thick, due to the too thick diameter of the material used. But as the fishing line is like dental floss, it flattens up while beeing wrapped around ... 
 

 
... and even shows the structure underneath, something I saw on the originals :-)
Still a little ink or chalk to get the plastic gloss off, and it will be ok.
 
And of course I could not resist, to try out a spliced eye on the messenger :-)

Come on baby...don't fear the Reeper
Baby feel the thread...don't fear the Reeper
 
If one is stuck one should do what should have been done in the start - Listen to your inner voice and listen to the others :-)
 
Not: "I-wanna-have-a-ropewalk-and-do-same-nice-ropes-as-seen-on-the-modelling-exhibition" but "I-need-great-ropes-for-my-Vic" :-)
 
That changes a lot as I am building a completely different scale. Changes a lot towards the materials and the usage of the walk. So freshly focussed back to work:
 
First listen to the others:  Oli/Modellbaumechaniker and Holger/Pollux from my german forums gave me the right hints for the right materials. Fil au chinois and flyfishing lines were the right hints!
http://www.neheleniapatterns.com/html/filagant.html
http://www.baker-flyfishing.com/shop/bindematerialien_faeden.php?v=n183
 
And this is what came:
The bigger bobbins are the fil au chinois, numbers for the colors see the picture
The smaller bobbin sare from the flyfishing, Uni-Thread green 8/0 the thin one, orange 6/0 the middle one, the thick 3/0 and the superthin 17/0
 


 
The fil au chinois is cotton with very little fussy bits, the Uni is free of fuzz :-)
The Uni has a large range of colors avaliable, unfortunately not all colors in all sizes. The 8/0 and 6/0 are great for my purpose, the 3/0 has the great appearence of colored dental floss and the 17/0 is also quite uneven and transparent.
 
First tests proved to be the right direction sizewise :-)
 
Left the fuzzy thread from the supermarket, my thinnest possibility before this date. Then comes the fil au chinois, the Uni 8/0 and the Uni17/0, always the original strand, then two, 3 and 6 stranded with blocks of 3 mm, 2 mm and 1,5 mm for comparison.
 

 
And the first test also showed that turning the axis by hand is a tad tiring and the cordless screwdriver is a little bit unhandy and also too insensitive ...
 
...
 
So ...
 
... reopening the Fischertechnik box from my youth, getting the motors out, glueing them with double sided tape onto the machinery, here the pretwisting side to be seen ... 
 

 
... and the laying side ...
 

 
... the motor can be turned sideways to reposition the hooks ...
 

 
... and felt was put untderneath for easy gliding, and a steel ruler in the middle to control the movements of the sliding parts :-)
 
Both sides were clampedto the rail to be able to put the yarn properly. After chasing behind the bobbin for several times, a holder like the sewing machines ones was introduced, and from there the the yarn was brought to the hooks of the pretwisting side - I am showing a 6-stranded rope - ...
 

 
... and after 3 times twice forth and back ... 
 

 
... the yarn was fixed on the laying side.
 

 
The steel ruler shows the movement of the slide - I use 10% on this rope - loosen the clamp on the laying side, the pretwisting hooks start turning and the opposite slide starts moving miraculously towards the predrilling slide :-)
 

 
If the required distance is achieved, I clamp both sides onto the rail, and the three strands are laid until the required tension is achieved ...
 

 
... some CA for fixing ...
 

 
...going with the fingernails over to release unwanted tension ...
 

 
... and you can make a clean cut :-)
 
 
Lessons learned
 
You can see two things:
 
First: I am not using any more the little guide block :-)
No difference to be seen apart from that it is much more even ;-)
 
Secondly: I am fixing both sides while laying the rope! In the first trials I had the trouble, that the start of the rope was coming out nicely tight and the second half was much more loose ...
I realised that at the start of laying the pretwisting slide does not move, and the shortening of the rope is only compensated by the lateral spreading of the yarn. Just later on the slide starts moving. But it was not just after I forgot once to remove the clamp of this slide and got out a great and even clean cable that I realised, that the loosness of the rope came from the missing tension on the other side.
 
The next tests without the guide and fixed slides prooved to be successful :-) Just if the motor is having to work too hard, I stop it and I loosen the tension a tad by carefully moving the slide and then contimue.
 
 
Come on baby...don't fear the Reeper
Baby feel the thread...don't fear the Reeper
 
... and the part that should be pronounced is: feel the thread :-)
 
XXXDAn

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.

On the old site there were a few build logs of Pickle which gave insight  into this beginner level kit, but all that has been lost.
 
I have a build log already done for this fine little model and I will re-post it here for the benefit of those, particularly beginners, who may be interested, and as a contribution to replacing our lost content.
 
A little background to Pickle
 
She is best known for carrying to England the bitter sweet news of the crushing defeat of the French / Spanish fleet at Trafalgar coupled with the news that Nelson had died.
 
The Pickle was a purchased schooner originally named Sting but was renamed in 1802.

Her origin is a little obscure with opinions differing. She is often referred to as a six gun Bermudian schooner, but there are grounds for thinking that she carried eight or even ten carronades given her size, and the corresponding armament of similar sized schooners and cutters etc.
 
A model in the RNM shows her with 10 carronades, but details in works by Peter Goodwin and Rif Winfield list her with eight carronades.
 
She is pierced for 14 guns excluding the stern ports, but the forward most two are adjacent to the windlass etc which would make operating carronades more difficult.
 
She did have a career after Trafalgar and on 3rd January 1807, she captured a French privateer La Favourite of 14 guns off the Lizard.
 
Eighteen months later, on 28th July 1808, the Pickle was grounded on a shoal as she entered Cadiz harbour, and was wrecked.
 
The kit
 
Pickle represented my return to POB kits after an absence of many years, and one I can recommend particularly for those who want to put a toe into this genre of model ship building.
 
The kit is reasonably priced, the brass etched fittings are of good quality, and there is a good backup from Jotika. The instructions are clear and the kit builds up into an attractive model of a vessel with an interesting link to Nelson and Trafalgar.
 
Although I didn’t use much of the supplied timber in my particular build, there is nothing wrong with it, and an out of box build will produce a very nice model, of convenient proportions.(it can easily be accommodated in a domestic setting)
 
One advantage for newcomers to this type of kit is that it is not too bluff in the bows, which makes for easier planking, the rigging is much less complicated than say a ship rigged vessel, yet it provides an introduction to all aspects encountered in larger vessels including the coppering of the lower hull.
 
The copper adds an attractive dimension to the build, but  the supplied plates are a little over-scale in terms of the number and prominence of the nail heads. Amati in their Victory models range now provide a much better  style of copper plate.
 
In my build log I have sought to show in some detail the process of putting together this kit, my methods are my way and I don’t put them forward as the definitive approach to pob kit building, but I hope I will at least demonstrate what is involved with Pickle.
 
First peek at the Box

All the stuff was there, nothing outstanding about the timber, average quality I would say.
 
The etched stuff

These appear to be of excellent quality.

The provided boats are resin hulls with added wooden and etched fittings.
 
The brass turned carronades are very nicely turned out but measure only 13.36mm overall length.
Assembly of these will provide a stern test of patience.
 
I will cover all the aspects of assembly of this kit but in a rather more concise way than my original  log.
I started the kit in February 2010 and it was completed in November of that year, so not a project that will tie anyone up for too long.
 
B.E.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Brian,
 
As a rule of thumb, the breeching would be around three times the length of the gun barrel.
 
Recoil distance was limited by the center line obstructions on the deck, so there was not a lot of space bewteen the muzzle and the port with the gun run in.
 
In more restricted places such as cabins a shorter barrel length gun was sometimes used, but partition panelling was usually struck down when working the guns.
 
With breechings on a model there should be obvious slack if the gun is run out, but the exact amount is probably best left to your eye given the particular set up on your model.
 
B.E.

Here is my effort to replace the pitiful kit provided brake pumps:
 


 
I bulked them up a bit using a bit of octagonal styrene, some brass eyelets, and a small length of brass rod. The stems protruding from the bottoms will aid in positioning them on the deck thru holes drilled in the appropriate spots and hopefully keep them more secure.
 
I should pause to say that the OOB pumps should NOT be placed in the bow as the Revell instructions instruct:

 
This positioning is almost too bizarre to merit discussion... Suffice to say that the pumps are better positioned on the gun deck.  The guidance I've used is from Chappelle's layout of the President taken from the drafts made of the captured ship by the British.  It shows four brake pumps - two near the aft part of the main hatch and two a bit farther forward near amidships.  The layout of the Revell deck does not lend itself to positioning two pumps near the main hatch.  Instead, I've elected to place them in the more traditional location near the main mast in between the chain pumps.  The other two were placed in the pre-existing holes on the deck that would normally have eyelets inserted.
 

 
I think these are also referred to as "Elm Tree" pumps - something to do with that being the preferred wood for the rot-resistance qualities when exposed so long to moisture.
 
I think these will do well enough as is and I'm on to the camboose...

I was going to wait until I had the brake pumps completed, but here are some quick snaps of the current state of things:
 
I've got the bitts completed (except for some rings for the stoppers that'll wait until after the initial painting):


 
Also have completed the cisterns and covers for the chain pumps - still need to fashion some handles:

 
Just for a bit of extra fun... I've left off the cover on one of the cisterns to "expose" the underlying chain wheel:


 

 
It started with me strolling through the model train store for something to use for my capstan drumheads.  I didn't find anything suitable, but this little packet did catch my eye:
 

 
And I thought, hmmmm...
 
So after forking over too much hard earned cash (I think each wheel ended up being over a buck!) I trimmed them up slightly and glued on some small lengths of styrene rod then snipped off the ends.  I suppose some spare PE railings or scale ladder bent around the circumference would've worked as well:
 

 

 
They are really cable sheaves and aren't quite perfect for the job, but at this scale, and barely visible thru the openings, it should suffice well enough.  I'm just gonna paint it black then leave well enough alone - I don't fancy trying to replicate the chain.  That'd be too fiddly and would likely diminish the effect.
 
And just to make sure people know these things don't all work out on the first try... Here is my debris field:

 
Thanks for following along

Planked the inside of the bulwarks. I used here white glue and clamped the thin planking all the way in order to prevent  warpage.
Next I fitted the wales at the deck level and above it.
 

tätä - tätä - tätä

 
... as does german carnival ...
 
And here comes some petitesse: the kedge on the mizzen channels ...
 

 
... with the foldable iron stock and locks ...
 

 
... and having a test placement - and shooed it to the back end for that the palms keep clear davids and boats.
 
Also found finally the guts to drill the holes for the dales of the chain pumps ...
 

 
... with their strange places on top of the gunport and in the middle of the stairs.
 
tätä - tätä - tätä

 
 
And some more unsignificant things on a ship of this kind: first ten guns are permanetly fixed - I can hear Rob yelling of joy as he even gave up asking for it ;-)
 
First breechroped them, decided to opt for the controversial Goodwin setting, with S-laid rope and preventer brreching rope - just to keep the discussion going :-)
 

 
Prepared outboard on the already shown template ...
 

 
... and with a small cheat on the eye splice of the preventer breeching line ;-)
 

 
Mise en place ...
 

 
... and ...
 

 
... enjoy!
 

 
 
Happy carnival greetings ... 
 
tätä - tätä - tätä

 
 Daniel

Of course, it had to come ...
 
... of course, I admit, I made it easier by using just one single strand to serve the anchor´s ring and not the multitude as in the original ...
 
... of course, this was already tricky enough to me ...
 
... of course, I had no idea how to do other wise ...
 
... and of course someone was moaning ...
 
... and of course, the challenge was accepted!
 
 
Once I used my thinking equipment ...
 
... and of course I used first 4 strands to serve ...
 

 
... but the difference was not to visible, so I tried 8 of them ...
 

 
... and of course looks much more authentic :-)
 

 
Then bent the served wire around a core ...
 

 
... and here we are, on the left side the new one :-)
 

 
...hihihihihihi...
 
Challenge won!!!
 
Of course the seizings are badly done as I did take the wrong rope and it was already late, but the next ones, just wait!!!
 
Mission accomplished :-)
 
And now to the other rings ...
 
... underneath the eyes as these things cost sleep ...
 
... of course ...
 
XXXDAn

Bollard and hawse timbers continued...

Part four shows my work in modifying the quarter badges to make them stand out a bit more, as well as work on the stern transome decoration
 
Andy

These thimbles were a side product of having to paint the white sheaves of my micro blocks. Thinking how to do them out of black material. Remembered a trick from the WW1 plane builders, that do the locks of the bracing wires by heating up a Q-Tit and pulling it to the needed diameter. The same system as we use to du with sprue it keeps the hole inside in the right proportion to the diameter.
 
This in mind I thought this could also work in a bigger diameter, slipped some 8 mm sprue into the machine ...
 

 
... drilled slowly with 4 mm turning the chuck by hand ...
 

 
...heated up and pulled (ok could be done more evenly) ...
 

 
... and cut onto the right lengths and got a nice variety of discs, sheaves and raw material for thimbles :-)
 
Tried to enlarge the ring by using the cone of the drill did not really work. 
 

 
Used two needles as marlinspikes to do a splice ...
 

 
... put the required disc in, tacked it with a drop of CA, adjusted and finally glued it properly in position and opened the hole carefully a little bit more with a drill ...
 

 
... and worked on the edges with the 1 mm cherry miller.
 

 
The proportions still could be improved, but I found a nice solution for myself for the thimbles :-)
 
In the size I am building it is a little bit difficult to do them out of metal tube or injection needles.
 
All the best, Daniel
 
 
I hope to not bother you too much - in last case we have to found a self-help group, something like "dafinists anonymus" or so ...
 
:-) :-) :-)
 
XXXDAn

These are the words, that Maurice used when he got his little serving machine.
 
So here comes my interpretation of it.
 

 
Famous for my lifetime-supply of old Fischer-Technics (luckily my son never was interested in), it can be either turned by hand ...
 

 
... or the motor can be switched down. As it is works by friction and not by the gearwheel, the drive can be stopped easily while working just by holding the axis if any correction is needed
 

 
I did not use hooks but tubes, a wire is used to get the lines through ...
 

 
... and the other side is hold by a toothpic squeezed into the tube. Like this I can shift the serving area to the left or right if longer distances are needed.
 

 
First tests on the trials of the mainstay show a nice result, still showing the structure underneath.
 

 
But it not just works for the big ones, here are the tests for the thinner ropes, this one 0,5 mm thick.
 

 
Here some serving tests. Right the 3/0 fly fishing yarn with the charm of dental floss - very uncool. On the left my usual 8/0 yarn, much better :-) After serving a touch of CA on the ends, still some diluted white glue along the sausage. And juch-huui!
 
Still tried the 6/0 one, the black one on the right, that is a tad thicker and goes therefore faster in serving, that it will be.
 

 
Also tried the direction of serving. Going with the cuntlines - here serving rightwards - results in the serving line getting stuck in the groove and running of, like seen on the right side of the orange one. So always against the cuntlines, that it means :-)
 
And the result? The modelling ropes have the bad habit to flatten if taken around sharp turns. Totally uncool. Not with Dr. dafis non-patented serving machine! Here a rope of 0,5 mm wraps itself gently around a 0,5 mm drill and nicely keeps its form.
 

 
And smaller parts? No prob, if well planned, some of these can be ...
 

 
... nicely placed on the same line like Münchhausens duck hunting :-)
 

 
So have a nice day until it will be shouted again: "Mom, he did it again!!!"
 
Sincereily, dafi
 
PS: This kind of machines can be found in many variations on the net, either to buy or DIY. But this was a great opportunity to proove dear darling wife that it was a wise decision to keep all these items in the cellar, and not to sell, swoop, give as present - or even through away - already many years ago ... XXXDAN

Colored the shaft and the arms for the chamfers ...     ... drilled the hole for the ring and most was done.     Used my small template to cut the palms ...     ...glued in place, cut ...     ... cleaned up and done :-)
    And here the family shot with all the needed tools that were needed for conception.   All the best, Daniel

It certainly is Daniel, I also picked up on Gil's system and it is my preferred  method of simulating small splices also.
 
As you say it eliminates the fluffy shower plughole effect
 
B.E.

I acheived something of a verdigris patina on the coppered hull of my (as yet unfinished ) Phantom.The technique is from Doanald McNarry's Shipbuilding in Miniature:
 
Sal ammoniac is ammonium chloride, NH4Cl, and I simulated sea water with sea salt dissolved in distilled water. It's a slow process, but looks good when complete.

Thank you so much Michael..  
 
The next task was to start detailing the outboard doo-dads.  First up was the frieze   I recreated the frieze on my computer using Corel Draw.   Then I printed it out on my inkjet printer and used some fixative to prevent smudges.  I actually use hairspray because it has some UV protection and its cheaper..I prepared one in red and another in blue.   I decided to use the red one.
 
​With the paper frieze in position I was able to use the bottom edge as a guide to glue a molding strip across the hull.  It was scraped to create a beaded edge.
 

 

 

 

 
The transom was carefully painted red but I left a 1/16" natural border around the outside.
 

 
At the bow..I added the protective iron strap.   I sometimes use paper for this but this time I used a styrene strip.  It bends easily enough and doesnt fray when you drill through it.  I drilled a series of holes to insert some 22 guage wire.  I snipped off the excess so the "Bolts" would stand proud of the surface.  I carefully painted it black afterwards....you can see that it could have been a bit neater.  I think I cleaned it up a lot after taking that picture.
 

 

You work is an inspiration Remco.
 
 I thank you particularly for your latest mast building posts, which are providing me with a timely and excellent guide on this subject as I am about to start on the masting of my much more humble kit version of Pegasus.
 
B.E.

Ahoy, Mates 
 
While researching a build I came across this link. Thought I would share it.
 
17th Century rigging image with discriptions 
 
http://www.hendrick-hamel.henny-savenije.pe.kr/ship.htm

Detail shots of the completed model


Long boat with the sheep pens beneath.
 

Activity on the Qtr deck, the crew are converted ‘N’ scale rail figures.
 

Poop deck detail.
 

 

Crew ascending the Main shrouds.
 

Fore deck detail.
 

Crew at the Fore Topmast head.
 

 

Head details.
 


 

 

Stern Qtr details.
 
 
Full shots of the model
 


 

 
 

 

 

 

 

Secure in her protective case.
 
I think this has been the most exacting build I have undertaken due to the small scale and my
less than good eyesight, I am very pleased with the result but I don’t think I
will attempt another at this scale.
 
I am much more comfortable with 1:64 scale, as with my current Pegasus build.

B.E.