Landlubber Mike

Hi Hamilton, I logged onto MSW this morning to see the thumbnails on the home page of what was a gorgeous model recently added to the completed gallery. I was really happy to see that it was your Blandford. Really amazing work, especially at that scale. I think I've gone permanently cross-eyed from working at 1:64 - I can't imagine what you went through at 1:100 The sweep ports in particular are a really nice touch to your model. Gardiner's new Frigate book has a picture on the cover of a model with the sweep ports and oars, and yours looks every bit as good as the one on the book's cover. Thanks very much for adding back the pictures to your log. Your approach gives me a lot to work with when it comes to scratching the stern on my Unicorn. What's next for you? I see you have the Hannah SIB kit - have you started it? I've been working on mine in fits and starts over the last year or so, and finished the hull a few months ago. I am complicating things for myself by trying to add the "sea" to the bottle, which is very hard to do given the tiny opening of the bottle. Congratulations again, and thanks very much for sharing your journey!

Looking forward to this build. The LGV is a gorgeous ship. I have the Ancre monographs which are really well done. I wish I had the experience to tackle it

Thanks very much Hamilton, no worries if it is too much trouble. I'm mostly interested in how you handled the structural issues. The Unicorn was around 1748-1771, so if I remember correctly the details about the Blandford, the Blandford preceded the Unicorn. I have the AOTS books on the Blandford and the Pandora (which came after the Unicorn), which have been helpful to me in thinking about some of the modifications). Since the Unicorn fell in between both ships period wise, I figure I should be ok

Hi Vince, thanks again for sharing your build. I've been learning a lot from you, so thank you. The bleach method for the deck planking looks really great. Seems to be a cheaper alternative if you want to use the deck planks that come with the kit rather than buy holly or the like. Just out of curiosity, are you using straight bleach or are you diluting it? Do you rinse the planks after they have soaked in the bleach? Any concern that the bleach may corrode the wood over time?

Really amazing work Hamilton. I'm in the early stages of modifying the Corel Unicorn, and your log details of your trials and tribulations have really helped open my eyes to some of the pitfalls I should expect Your approach to the stern galleries worked out very nicely. I think I'm going to do something very similar. Can I ask you to repost the pictures on how you scratched the transom? That's the one area that I've been struggling with, and it would be of great help to see your pictures if you still have them. I think the post is on page 13 or 14 of your log. Thank so much!

Hi Ian, thank you very much for the heads up on this. I wonder if the issue was from the bulkheads extending too low? Not sure if they fixed that issue on the newer kits, as mine seem to sit higher. I'm going to plan on taking Chuck's approach towards building in the rabbet by adding a thin strip of wood along the edges of the keel that is maybe 3mm wide, so that it builds in a rebate for the rabbet on the 5mm keel. That will give me a little extra room so that I don't run into the issues you ran into. On the keel, do you remember if you sanded down the keel at the bearding line to the edge? That might help alleviate some of the issues you experienced at the keel and rudder. It's good to know, just in case I run into similar problems. For your bulkheads, do you remember whether the tops of the bulkheads were at the height of the keel (and just above at the crown of the bulkhead to account for the curve in the decks)? My bulkheads seem to fit a bit higher, which means I might run into problems like you did at the keel if I lower them. Hope you had fun with the grandkids

For what it's worth, I finally finished sketching out the template for the keel. It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but the white paper templates are the stem, keel and rudder. Because the keel is a relatively straight line, I used the bottom of the plywood piece for the keel line which is why the paper template is hanging off the edge (rather than trying to cut it on the scroll saw and have to true up such a long line) I struggled a bit with deciding whether to shorten the keel, which would pull the stern galleries closer to the last gunport as per the Chapman plans. I decided against it, as it would really throw the lines off the hull I think, particular if it compressed the area of the last three bulkheads. So instead I decided to not shorten the keel, but rather modify the angle of the fore edge of the stern post, and add a stern post. From my measurements, it looks like the fore edge of the stern post needed to be pushed out another 4 degrees to 103 degrees per Chapman. I then added a stern post, which gradually tapers to a narrower width as you go up the post. The rake of the transom in Chapman came to 106% per my measurements, so you can see how that pushed out the line. The dotted line is where the front edge of the transom should end up. I built out the keel a bit more to the right of the dotted line to help serve as a stern extension, which would define the foremost edge of the curved transom. Here is the picture above with a tracing of the stern gallery from the kit's plans. The windows will need to be spaced and oriented a bit differently, but you can see with the modifications how the gallery sits more forward over the stern post and rudder, where in the kit plans, it hangs way aft from them. I also started sketching out the bow section a bit. There are probably three changes I'm making to note here. First, I think a ship like this would only have one set of gammoning. Second, from the Chapman plans and other similar ships like the Pandora, the stem comes up and supports the bowspirit (roughly sketched). Third, I think the kit's bow is missing the gammoning knee, which I sketched in as the part above the gammoning piece that contains the gammoning slot. The gammoning knee has a hole for the main stay collar (not sketched in) - the kit on the other hand has you add a 5mm x 5mm piece at the top of the stem at which to take the main stay collar. Not sure if the kit is correct or not, but I'm going to go with adding a gammoning knee piece to the stem. It's a bit late for me to break out the scroll saw tonight, so I'm going to sleep on the sketch and hopefully start making sawdust later this week

Hi John, I haven't really figured out how I'm going to put the transom together yet. What i might do is start with a thin sheet of basswood or plywood to get the template down in the shape I want, then add better wood over it (either with planks or just solid pieces). I'm also considering your approach of building up to a thicker piece, and then sanding in the contours, versus adding frames or stern extension pieces onto which to mount the transom. The general framing of the stern is really driving me nuts right now. I'm planning to not include the flag locker, which means the top halves of bulkheads 16 and 17 need to be removed. In doing so, I lose out on the end frames on which to attach the hull planking at the quarterdeck. I suppose I could always do what other kits do and create a pseudo gunport pattern for the hull area at the quarterdeck, which would be attached to very thin frames at the two bulkheads which ultimately would be removed.

Wow, gorgeous work!

Maple is a great wood - nice upgrade over tanganyika. I bought the pins from Hobbylinc.com. I really liked using them as they have a longer, thinner profile than push pins, with a relatively sharp point. http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/mid/mid587.htm

Looks great Joe! Glad the gunports are cooperating. Just out of curiosity, did Caldercraft switch to maple for the decks from tanganyika? My Badger had tanganyika, which was a nice wood, but some of the strips were warped and/or not very straight. For what it's worth, I used these red pins that have a very thin needle and a small profile to keep my planks straight on the deck

Hi John, thanks for your thoughts. Thinking a little more on it, I think you and Ian are right that maybe I should just remove bulkhead 17, tilt the transom, and add the stern post to the end of the keel. Attempting to move both the stern post and the transom/galleries further inwards to get the galleries closer to the last gun ports probably will cause me more problems than they are worth. As Ian pointed out, (1) removing bulkhead 17, (2) tilting and curving the transom and (3) widening the stern galleries should get me very close to the Chapman plans without messing with bulkhead 16 and the stern counter. Your approach to the transom sounds like it can actually work very well. That's an ingenious idea to keep things in place, yet build in the curve and extra rake to the transom. How are you thinking about doing the windows? Are you going to paint the modified bulkhead 17 black and fit clear windows against it?

Thanks Ian. I was originally intending to reduce the length of the keel, and add the stern post to it (rather than just add a stern post to the end of the current keel). That would just push the stern further out from the last gunport. But, I might need to reassess given that my keel is actually shorter than the keel diagram on at least one of the plans (it's longer as to the other plans). Keeping bulkhead 17 around as a backup plan does make sense now that you mention it. Too bad it is plywood, as it would be nice to contour it with a little curve. I could always cut a new one out of basswood or walnut to serve as the template for the shape I want, and then plank over it.

Hi Ian, that's really interesting. I always wondered what those scales referred to. I went through my resources last night to research tillers, and unfortunately I didn't come across anything that mentioned for what reasons the tiller would be on the quarterdeck as opposed to below. It looks like the tiller set up takes up quite a bit of room though - I wonder if it really was feasible (or safe) for the quarterdeck to have all that armament on it if the tiller was there? Perhaps descendants of the Lyme class had modified sterns to move the tiller below the quarterdeck? I'm not really sure. The gentleman with the 1:48 scratch build added the quarterdeck tiller to his build, so you're probably right He did add 8 cannons on the quarterdeck forward of the tiller assembly (along with 26 cannons on the upper deck). Thankfully this is something that I have a little more time to think about. If you did go that route, I think it would add a nice touch as it essentially is one of the few ways to expose the inner workings of the ship. I also spent a couple of hours thinking about how the stern modification would need to be accomplished. I really feel woefully in the dark on this as I only have one model under my belt. The Badger and Pegasus kits use gunport patterns and stern extensions to create the curve of the transom and the stern counter. Chuck's Syren kit has you add "L" shaped stern framing pieces to frame the transom and stern counter. Given the curves and modifications, this is fairly complicated for me, and pretty much a critical thing to get right. I'm thinking that I might have to go the framing route and just guess at contours as the Corel kit doesn't use gunport patterns. To move the transom forward, have it slightly curved, and change its rake, I've come to the conclusion that bulkhead 17 has to go and that extensions or framing will have to be built on the after-face of bulkhead 16. I'm thinking too that the stern counter has to be moved forward as well. The kit has you add the stern counter template to what essentially is the after-face of the stern post. In looking at Chapman however, it looks like the bottom of the stern counter should start at the fore face of the stern post. This probably means moving bulkhead 16 forward and/or modifying it a bit so that the curve of the planking to the stern counter is relatively smooth. That modification makes me very nervous as there are a lot of curves at that area. I've also been planning ahead for the rabbets - Chuck has a very interesting approach on the Syren build. Rather than cut the rabbet onto keel only, he adds to the edges of the keel a thin strip of material than is less wide than the keel piece so that you end up with a built-in rebate. From there, he chisels the keel piece a bit to ensure a smooth transition into the rebate. Seems a lot easier to do that than cut a straight consistent groove along the keel - one of those "wow, why didn't I think of that" moments Thanks Chuck!

I marked up a copy of the external hull plans to show everything that appears to be different from Chapman. I'll try and get a good resolution image up tonight.

Ian, take a look at Jay's picture on a thread about ship books. Coincidentally, he posted a picture from the page on the rudder It shows a larger ship, but is worth the look. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/6616-what-are-your-most-interesting-andor-useful-books/?p=195797

Ian, thanks very much for this extra research. I'm going to have to look at zu Mondfeld a bit to figure out how the rudder and tiller assemblies were constructed. It does seem odd that the rudder would extend into the cabin like that. If the rudder did go through the cabin, why add so many windows? Since the Lyme class were based on French vessels, maybe its a French design thing? Thanks for passing along the link to Chuck's build. Very timely! His work clears up a lot on how to scratch the stern galleries. Thanks too for pointing out the double-dotted lines in the Chapman plans. I was wondering how I would change the angle of the quarterdeck to help line up the deck with the open portholes, and that really helps a lot! The one thing I'll have to check is whether the quarterdeck and upper deck generally ran parallel - if so, a change to the quarterdeck might mean some fiddling with the line of the upper deck. I did notice that the line of the upper deck gun ports did differ a bit between Chapman and Corel. A couple of other differences between Chapman and Corel - take a look at where the channels are on the Chapman plans versus Corel. Chapman shows them sitting on the rails. Corel has the aft-most channels correct, but if I remember correctly, the Corel plans have the other channels below the respective rails. Also, the angle of the aft end of the stern post is a bit different on Chapman - if I remember correctly, it's 11 degrees on Chapman but 8 degrees on Corel. The 11 degrees approach probably looks better if one is going to change the rake of the transom.

John, welcome to Team Unicorn! It's great that you're coming back to your build, and that it sounds like our discussion here has been timely. In terms of your planned modifications, I'm not sure if bulkhead 16 is at 16 degrees or not (I'd have to double-check the plans, but it might be fairly close). I haven't mapped this out yet, but I'm thinking of adding two pairs of stern extensions to the after face of bulkhead 16. The inner pair will be longer than the outer pair, to help shape the transom curve from fore to aft. If bulkhead 16 is not at 16 degrees, I can modify the shape of the extensions such that the rake of the transom will be at 16 degrees. I agree with Ian that it might be worth considering scrapping the cast metal transom and build your own, or just use select pieces from it as Joe did on his Fox build. I also agree with Ian that it would be nice if you started a build log on here

Ian, thanks so much! I feel bad that you took a couple of hours on this on my behalf, but hopefully the exercise gave you plenty of therapeutic benefits Thanks also for the heads up on the hawse holes. In planning out the stem, I was trying to figure out where they should go, how to set up the bolsters, etc. I'd like to have everything sketched out so that I have a plan on how to proceed. Joe, as you can see I've been thinking about this kit for the better part of the year (most of that time was while I finished up the Badger), and I'm on page 6 of this log but have yet to assemble any part of the model Part of me wonders whether I should have just built the kit from the box with less ambitious plans. But, this process with Ian, you and others has really been a lot of fun and I've learned a ton. I really have Ian to thank for making me "think outside the box" so to speak and attempt to come up with a more accurate model. This process has ratcheted up my interest and enjoyment of this hobby quite a few notches, so thank you guys! I promise to start the actual build soon.

Hi Joe, The gunport patterns for my Badger were a source of aggravation for me as well. I eventually got them to fit, but I have a foggy recollection of running into a kink near the 3rd bulkhead as well. Like you said, the patterns are great for getting the run of the lines right, but I think they really fight the laws of geometry in force fitting them along the curves of the hull. I didn't try this, but would maybe cutting or removing part of the pattern near the top where the kink is relieve the issue? Not sure that I would cut the pattern completely as you lose the straight run, but I wonder if the kink can be alleviated by cutting or removing some of the material on the pattern. Then again, cutting or removing a piece of the pattern might also throw the straight line off, so maybe it's better to just work with the pattern in two sections? Sorry to hem and haw on this. For what it's worth, I think for my Badger, the slight kink issue went away after some sanding, installing the first planking, and then sanding some more down to almost the pattern at the kink area.

Yes, that's the conclusion I'm coming to as well I think dropping bulkhead 17 is the way to go. You're right that extending and adding a curve to the transom will help me pick up a couple of more millimeters which should set things up nicely. To make the curve, I probably need to modify the keel to fit stern extensions on a modified bulkhead 16 like I had on the Badger and I've seen with other kits. The transom will sit on the extensions, where the inner pair of extensions is longer than the outer pair to help set up the curve. The kit just has you slap the transom onto bulkhead 17, leading to a flat transom. Since I'm planning on adding clear windows and dropping the flag lockers, this might help me add an element of depth if one looked into the windows. I have a feeling that the stern modifications are going to take at least a month and plenty of practice tries to get right.

Here are a few pictures of plans DM1 and DM2. I made five photocopies of each to mark up and use as templates. To get to Chapman's plans regarding the stern galleries, they need to be moved forward so that they forward of the stern post, rather than sit over the rudder. I took a tracing of the stern gallery from the plans, and moving it forward 10mm, it looks much more in conformity with Chapman. Chapman, however, shows the stern gallery almost butting up against the last gunport (indicated by the arrow in the picture below). So, not only would I need to move the stern galleries forward relative to the stern post and rudder, but I would have to actually reduce the keel length by probably another 15mm or so to move the full stern area closer to the last gunport. However, I have a slight problem in using the plans. The kit supplied keel does not match either plan DM1 or plan DM2, and it's not due to creases in the plans. In DM1, the keel is too short at the stern post (almost like it contemplates the addition of a stern post), but the keel matches the plans at the transom area: In DM 2, the keel is too long relative to the plans: What to do? If I go with the keel as is, looking at DM1, the stern and stern galleries will hang even further out from the stern post and rudder than is shown in the plans. That's the opposite result from Chapman where the stern galleries sit forward of the stern post and not over the rudder. At this point, I'm thinking that the stern area of the keel is going to need a complete makeover. It will need to be shortened a bit so that the stern gallery sits closer to the last gunport. I will also have to shorten the extension on which the transom will fit so that the galleries sit further forward. Furthermore, since I'm not including the flag lockers on the quarterdeck I will need to modify the top area of the keel at stern and remove material from the last bulkhead just above the quarterdeck line so that the plywood is not visible. Too late in the evening to make any final decisions. I'll sleep on it and come back to it tomorrow. A bit frustrating that I haven't started building yet, but hopefully all this advance preparation will have been well worth it.

Ian, thanks so much for sharing the results of your research. This is all very helpful! I think you're smart in not making that modification as I think the renovation would have been a nightmare Last night I was all good and ready to cut out the new keel, when I noticed the stern gallery issue. I spent much of the evening last night agonizing about how to address it. It looks like the newer kits have the stern galleries in a similar position, if not even slightly further back as shown with the bottom decorative piece: I ended up using tracing paper to trace out the stern gallery, and used it to move the stern gallery forward until it matched up more closely with Chapman. Interestingly, I got to a very similar re-design as in your last picture - I'm very glad that I wasn't too far off The two things so far that I haven't accounted for are the rake of the transom and its width - thanks so much for sharing that with me. When I moved the stern galleries forward, I came to the conclusion that Corel and Chapman differ probably by about the width of the flag lockers. By moving the last bulkhead to just behind where the second to last bulkhead sits, the result seems to be a little more consistent with Chapman. I'll post a picture later this evening of my markup of the plans to account for the modified keel. Along with the stern, I've been plotting out the thicker wale and modification to the bow area with respect to the figurehead placement, headrail orientation and configuration, etc.

For a quick update, I finally got my workshop set up and new plywood in. Thankfully I was able to find a plywood sheet that was flat I've been working through the plans for the Unicorn and using other reference material I have (e.g., AOTS books for Pandora, Blandford and Diana) to figure out what, if any, other modifications I should make to the keel now, so that I can build the model closer to the Chapman plans. One thing I noticed was that the stern galleries on the Corel plans seem to fit fairly far back on the ship, whereas on Chapman's plans, they sit fairly close to the last gunport. So, I'm thinking of shortening the keel a bit to move the last bulkhead closer in (probably, up to where the second to last bulkhead sits). That should not only make it more consistent with Chapman, but other similar ships of that period as well. One issue in looking at the plans is that the keel part is longer at the stern area on one of the plans and shorter on the other Since the deck templates seem to fit the keel piece as is now, I'm going to work with the outline of the keel piece and just modify it a bit. I'm realizing that I'll also have to modify some of the bulkheads a bit to change the angle of the quarterdeck so that the portholes gradually open up as you proceed toward the bow. That's going to be fairly tricky I think, especially as other builders have had trouble lining up the quarterdeck portholes with the guns. Wish me luck

Hi Joe, nice kit for your next build. Caldercraft makes great kits, I'm looking forward to following along. The only issue with at least the Badger kit was that the walnut was prone to splintering, and the walnut laser cut pieces were on walnut sheets that were not solid walnut, but more like plywood. Otherwise, the plans, instructions, guns and photo-etch parts are top notch. I think there is an AOTS book for the Granado. Are you going to enhance the kit in any way? On the stern extensions, if I remember correctly, my Badger was set up similarly, so that the stern transom would have a slight curve to it. You obviously need to get the stern extension pairs even in order to have a nice smooth curve on the transom. I don't recall it being too difficult when all was said and done. Enjoy the kit!